Srinagar, Nov. 1 -- When India gained independence in 1947, it faced an extraordinary challenge. Partition had divided the country, millions had been displaced, poverty was widespread, and society was deeply unequal. India could have chosen authoritarian rule, a one-party system, or a political identity centred on a dominant religion. Instead, its founders entrusted the country's future to democracy.

This was not simply a choice of government. It was a decision about who would own the nation: its rulers or its people.

Why did India choose democracy?

The freedom struggle had brought together people from different religions, castes, languages and regions. Democracy offered a framework in which these differences could coexist under a comm...