An initiative to learn what democracy is all about

This Saturday, the of International Day of Democracy, the group will come together to host Democracy Dialogues, an event to understand what the term ‘democracy’ means to people from different walks of life in the city; whether they consider it a privilege or responsibility. 

“We have been trying for the last two years to improve participation from the common people and actively involve them to be aware on matters of democracy. When someone informed us that the UN General Assembly has been observing the theme on September 15 since 2007, we thought it would be a great opportunity to bring together citizens, who value democracy, for a dialogue session to share their inputs and seek answers collectively,” said Charu Govindan, one of the coordinators for the event.

The idea is also to take the movement from just social media space and keyboard warriors out into the open, she said. “This can only happen through such public discourse. We want members from all walks of life – students, homemakers, professionals, and so on – to participate and take this forward.”

It is time we started reminding ourselves that democracy is not a spectator sport but very much a participatory event, added the group. “We have conducted other such events in the past, especially one that focused on communities knowing their ward. However, we are happy that the focus will be on democracy this time,”  Charu said.

D Nagasila, an advocate practising at the Madras High Court, and Jayaram Venkatesan, Convenor, activist NGO Arappor Iyakkam, will be initiators to get the dialogue running at the event, which will be held from 4 pm to 5:30 pm at Mangaiyarkarasi Hall in Shastri Nagar, Adyar.