The author, Ashwani Kumar, a former Union Minister for Law and Justice, argues that India's democracy is in decline. He points to recurring reports of constitutional transgressions, including the expunging of parliamentary statements of Opposition leaders, disruption of speeches, and the disproportionate penalty of suspension imposed on an Opposition MP for recording the proceedings of the House. Kumar also notes the persistence of historical and social inequities, citing the suicide of an 18-year-old Dalit student allegedly due to caste discrimination and a 16-year-old Dalit student being beaten up by his principal. He further critiques the sentencing of a sitting Member of the Legislative Assembly for blocking a road in a 15-year-old case, and the suspension of bail for a disabled accused charged with sedition. Kumar argues that the quality of political discourse has deteriorated, with profanities hurled by leaders, personal broadsides laced with denigrating sarcasm, and hurtful innuendoes coarsening democratic politics. He believes that India's diminished democracy can only be resurrected through an ennobling political discourse defined by civil conversation founded in reason and faith in the power of decency to make a difference.
