Is This the Voice of the People?

A numerical majority of voters cannot in itself be held to be the criterion for judging a democratic system. For a system to earn democratic legitimacy, it is the quality of this majority, its ability to make politically responsible decisions that respect cultural plurality, secular values, human rights in the Indian situation, that matter. A wrong cannot possibly become right just because the majority voted for it. Similarly, a public agitation or a mass movement, even if claiming participation by a majority, should be judged by its politics, not popularity.