Democracy is the answer to all woes: Sen

Democracy is the panacea for most social ailments as it allows exercise of public reason, said famed economist Amartya Sen on Thursday.

Delivering a lecture on "Democracy and Its Critics" here, Sen entertained questions from the audience that ranged from political empowerment of women to disarmament.

"Democracy is much more than mere public ballot," he said. The essence of democracy lay in public discussion that allowed every participant to make informed decisions. Democracy was a powerful tool to find a solution that was acceptable to all.

Answering a question by founder of UN Foundation Ted Turner on whether disarmament was possible and the way to get started on it, Sen said the first step was to bring all nations concerned on a platform through discussions.

He dismissed the view that weaknesses in democracy slowed down development. "If development means political freedom, then it does not have to be measured against indirect contributions to gross domestic product growth," he said.

Saying that for a long time democracy had been blamed for India's poor growth, Sen added that such views were hard to find today. "With India growing at nearly 8 per cent, such criticisms do not stand."

However, he admitted that democracy in India had its own weaknesses, being highly sectarian. "But caste-based democracy is not harmful if it is aimed at integrating the downtrodden with the rest."

He pointed out the victory of democracy over the divisive politics of the British in India and said sectarian forces couldn't destabilise a democratic people.

Similarly, the apprehensions over putting in place a democratic set-up in West Asia, where highly sectarian politics was in play among various classes of Muslims, were largely unfounded.