I am including Seeds of Democracy, a poem from my collection Shrine, released by Cyberwit in 2008. I plan to list a few more from time to time from this and other collections.

 I call democracy a government by discussion and it suits multicultural societies. Democracy is of the people, by the people and for the people. Every group has opportunities to participate in the running of the country. Multicultural societies are most suitable to coexist within the framework of democracy. All kinds of ethno-cultural diversity can be accommodated here, because all have a chance to promote their way of life as long as it does not violate the rights of others. Normally there are laws to forbid, as in Canada, the circulation of hatred against any group. In a democratic setup, the majority learns to live and let the minorities live because of their power of votes. In any case, democracy is a non-ending journey. Citizens learn new things in this long journey. Democracy as I said before is a government by discussion and minorities have opportunities to get across their points of view.

      Democracy is a way to live and let live. Where there is no democracy, there are riots and open persecution of vulnerable minorities. Democracies do not commit genocides and waste hard-earned foreign exchange for the purchase of deadly weapons. Any blow to democracy is a blow to everyone who stands for the progress of the country. Absence of democracy creates grave national problems as well as problems for distant countries, particularly for neighbours in several ways. Freedom is the child of the committed media that protects human rights and the rule of law. In order to keep democracy alive, it is important to keep the media alive and free. The areas of the world where the watchdog is alive and free are known for prosperity and freedoms. There is hardly any democracy that has no freedom of the press. Where there is no healthy democracy, there is hardly any prosperity and where there is no prosperity, best brains try to settle abroad where their skills and hard work are appreciated and rewarded. It is due to its importance to the survival of democracy that the press is often called the fourth branch of the government. The first branch of the government is the legislature; the second branch is the executive; the third is the judiciary. This fourth branch or estate is called the press that acts as a watchdog. This fourth estate, the watchdog, needs the air of freedom to breathe properly. It needs the atmosphere of freedom of expression that has been guaranteed by the Declaration of Human Rights that are based on laws of nature, such as the law of gravitation. When someone says that all are equal before their Creator that also means that all are equal before the law of the country. In other words, laws should not discriminate one citizen from another. It is the right of every citizen to be equal before the law of the same country. A democratic government does not represent any religion and therefore should not interfere in religious matters.

      The main function of the press is to bring awareness. It makes citizens vigilant about human rights. Knowledge is power. 

 

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SEED OF DEMOCRACY

--Anti-war poet Stephen Gill

 

The seed of democracy

sprouts in the open air

of that soil

which is freely fertilized 

by the freedom of expression

and where the tongue of a serpent

does not throw poison of fear

for the thorns of repression to appear.

 

The plant of democracy

blossoms into

the fruits of abundance

and its branches dance

to the tune or the beat 

of a pleasing song for peace.

 

The shade of its tree 

provides the bliss of social equality

through self-governing winds.

Cruelty can uproot a weed

but nothing from democracy’s seed

only autocrats will do it

to cause irreparable loss

to the stems of humanity

to feed the vultures of vanity 

with stolen produce

from the orchards of sanity.