Question of the Day: Is Democracy Good For Everyone?

The last film in our 10 questions feature is In Search of Gandhi. In the early decades of the twentieth century Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy of non-violent revolution or Satyagraha inspired a mass movement of millions of Indians to rise up against the British colonial state and successfully agitate for the establishment of a democratic and free India. In 2007, the country is preparing to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of its existence as an independent nation. But what kind of a democracy does India have today? What does it actually mean to live in the world’s largest democracy? In road-movie style the film crew travels down the famous trail of Gandhi’s salt march, the remarkable mass campaign that galvanized ordinary Indians to join the non-violent struggle for democracy and freedom almost a century ago. Stopping at the same villages and cities, where Gandhi and his followers had raised their call for independence, the film documents the stories of ordinary citizens in India today.

In The News:

• As the situation in Burma has escalated in recent weeks, its close neighbour India has been criticised for not doing enough to condemn the junta's actions. The Burma News blog provides commentary on India's actions.
• One of our guest bloggers, Lalit Vachani, director of In Search of Gandhi provided his take on democracy. Read his contribution here. 

For more clips from this movie and from the other Why Democracy? films, check out www.youtube.com/whydemocracy

Have your say in our forum and watch how celebrities, athletes and politicians answered the question of the day on our 10 questions page.