Democracy, cynics sneer, reverberates with the din of multiple conversations. Each of these conversations, however, is of fundamental importance to the democratic set-up. This is because mutual engagement enriches democracy, strengthening its spirit of accommodation among differences. It is, therefore, a bit disheartening to note the prime minister’s self-congratulatory tone on the completion of the one hundredth episode of Mann Ki Baat, Narendra Modi’s signature radio broadcast, which thunders with his voice alone. Mr Modi insists that his monologue has started a social movement. That is, indeed, a novel claim. This is because social movements, integral to the democratic ethos, are predicated on dialogue — not on a lecture from a pedestal. Dialogues, in turn, are participatory in nature wherein participants are free to debate and even disagree on a subject at hand. The Mann Ki Baat addresses have been noticeably free from such pestilences as free-wheeling dialogues, searching questions and criticism. The prime minister speaks and an obedient nation listens; none dares to ask Mr Modi his views on the challenges confronting the republic — expanding religious fissures, a sluggish economy, heated borders, among other issues. On occasions, the prime minister, perhaps aware of his claim that India is the mother of democracy, deigns to ask questions to respondents who, unfailingly, respond by showering praises on Mr Modi’s policy interventions. This is democracy — but with a difference: it has been stripped of dialogue between the ruler and the ruled.

Perhaps this is to be expected given the prime minister’s penchant for doing things in his own — controversial — style. Mr Modi, after all, is a rarity, a democratically-elected prime minister who is yet to face serious scrutiny from the journalistic fraternity. Dissent and criticism are equally frowned upon by his regime, as some members of the Opposition have found out. Little wonder then that India’s credentials as a democracy have been under global examination, with the current assessments of press freedom and religious freedom being rather bleak, once again. In a nation that has experienced repeated assaults on free speech and criticism, it is fitting that the prime minister chooses to only preach from the pulpit. But the foisting of an elected leader on a pedestal need not necessarily strengthen the roots of democracy. For that to happen, the prime minister, for a change, needs to listen to India’s mann ki baat.