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Why i joined Pirate Party of India?

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world." ― Mahatma Gandhi

I was apolitical1 till UPA government came out with large scale scam. India Against Corruption movement acted as a catalyst in moving me out of apolitical sphere.

To solve a problem we need to find out the root cause. Corruption has bigger role in every problem we face in India. For any problem we can easily link it up with corruption. When we think deep, the problem is in not corruption. The problem is the way in which Indian democracy is actually executed.

Here, typical “Election cycle” of Indian democracy..      

Politicians buy votes. Legally (announcing freebies to get elected) & Illegally (Alcohols, Briyanis & Papers printed with portrait of Mahatma Gandhi)

Goes to Parliament2. Does no work (Literally).  (No one can even request him/her to do some work, say attend parliament).

With more power come more irresponsibility and so more money.

Enacts laws which don’t make any good sense. [say, draconian IT laws, etc.,]

Laws are enacted with no involvement of general public. Move over, laws are enacted without any proper discussion in Parliament.

5 year term ends (sometime even earlier). Go to step 1.

There is really no scope for people’s participation in democracy other than putting vote. All political parties in India are run top down. So, if you see step 2 to 5, we are in dictatorship between elections. As I wrote earlier “Wheels of the Indian political parties are powered by the engines of corruption”.  We cannot remove corruption without attacking the “Election cycle”.

It is a free democratic country, government should not rule, it should govern. India has one of the finest constitutions. Of course, one has to agree that, Indian law books have umpteen number archaic laws of 19th and 20th centuries. Like river, constitution should flow with time. We need to transform laws that are outdated and grossly misused (say sedition laws). Existing generation of political leaders does n’t have real interest in governing. Their interest lies in holding power, multiplying their personal wealth and ruling people as lambs.

When I came across3 Pirate Party of India, it exactly fit into my idea of grass root democratic party which wants to employ young and educated citizens to bring positive change. My first attraction is the name "Pirate Party of India". I wouldn’t have noticed it if it falls in line with typical political party names. Check http://pirateparty.org.in for more details on Pirate Party of India.

We need to shed away hero worshiping of colonial era. Time has come for being our own master. Technology can be employed to provide much better and deeper grass root level direct democracy.  Let us join together and push back political, economical & social evils of our society. I firmly believe that the Pirate Party of India will enable larger participation of people in direct democracy and achieve its goals.

Remember, being apolitical doesn’t solve any of our problems. We need take a stand. We should embrace a political party of “our generation” which uses technology and reflect our shared values. I would say, Pirate Party of India and direct democracy is the next big thing that is coming up in Indian Politics. Go through this conversation to know more on Pirate Party of India.

-- inline references --

1 Except when I polled for a particular party/candidate on best of my judgement. 2 By Parliament I mean both Parliament and State Assembly. 3  I reached Pirate Party of India via this tweet.

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Pirate Party of India - FAQ

Me: What is Pirate Party of India?

Pirate: It is a upcoming political party in India, inspired by Pirate parties world around.

Me: Is Pirate Party of India linked to Pirate Party International?

Pirate: Currently no, it is a separate entity originated in India.

Me: Is Pirate Party of India registered party?

Pirate: Not yet, we will register once we reach required numbers.

Me: Where can I check more details on Pirate Party of India?

Pirate: Please check Pirate Party of India’s official website http://pirateparty.org.in

Me: Why to join Pirate Party of India?

Pirate: In short, if you love freedom & equality, want better governance and direct democracy you should join in.

Me: How to join Pirate Party of India?

Pirate: Read the party constitution, if you agree, send associate membership request to mail list.

Me: How to contribute to Pirate Party of India as a member?

Pirate: Be part of any discussion and add better points. Be part of any working group, discuss/frame related policies. Be part of events occurring near to you. Show your support to Pirate Party on various social media. Lot more ways are there to contribute.

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The Pirate Party of India – my thoughts

“Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people.” - Abraham Lincoln.

Though we claim India as the largest democracy, its democracy just ends in voting booth. Then people’s voice is unheard of till next election. We should change from this state of pseudo democracy to real democracy. A real democracy is one where government is totally transparent and works only for the people and not for the ruling party or businessman. Wheels of the Indian political parties are powered by the engines of corruption. All political parties of India don’t have root level democracy. It is always a top down hierarchy. We don’t have political party which is a group of peers.

Technology connects people. With falling connectivity cost and devices cost, technology can enable us to do wonders. Technology can make lot of things possible, which wasn’t possible few years back. People are more connected online now. As time progress, the total count of people who use internet will definitely go up. At one point in time not too distant almost all Indians would be online. Technology can give voice to the people. I mean real voice in the governance of the country. We need an internet platform to connect all Indians politically.

We need a leaderless political party driven by ideas of a great nation. The idea of political organization run by thoughts of people rather than decision of the leader is indeed new. Indeed a decision made by number people together will be always better than the ones taken by a leader on advice of his/her confidants. We can leverage technology, which can act as backbone of the party connecting all thoughts across the nation. It can enable people to discuss, vote and select the policy of the party. Technology can enable us to completely run the party online. We don’t have to spend a rupee on things that current political party does. By online, I mean everything from end to end. We can collaborate to form policies of the party online. We can frame complete constitution using simple language, online. We can define goals and target to achieve. Lot of things can be discussed and decided. We need to develop the backbone technology stack that is capable of connecting all people and thoughts together. We have online social media, but they just reflect the state of mind of individuals at that point of time. It is more centric on individuals rather than ideas. We definitely lack a political platform which reflects stands of young Indians on various issues.

With falling average age of Indian population, we can redefine the Indian politics. Younger voting population means more connected people. We need to connect all young people on political platform for the betterment of the nation. I strongly believe that many young Indian doesn’t trust any political party. They always try to vote for better of two/more evils (If they vote!!). There really exist a political vacuum for people’s party. 

We need to throw away the ideas of 20th century and move on to produce new ideas for 21st century. As a country we need to move forward from all the social/political evils of past and present. My idea is simple, we need to provide alternative political organization that is completely transparent and run by  young minds of India completely online with the ideas of 21st century.

Note: I wrote this to Pirate Party of India‘s mailing list.