India's "inefficient and unequal
democracy" cannot provide answers to
social evils and that is why angry citizens
are taking to the streets, an influential
Chinese newspaper has said.
"The Indian democratic system seemingly
can't solve these problems but provides
legitimacy for them," the Global Times
said in a commentary after the death of a
23-year-old who had been gang-raped
and tortured in Delhi.
"India's democracy is now manipulated by
a small number of elite and interest
groups. This easily ignites massive grass-
roots protests like the current ones and
the anti-corruption rallies in August."
The street protests in New Delhi offered
a lesson to China, said the Global Times
write-up by Lin Xu.
"Six decades ago, China and India
maintained a similar development level,
but there has been a widening gap after
China explored reform and opening-up," it
said.
"Analysts hold that India is about a
decade behind China in economic
development and three decades behind in
social development," it said.
But the Times noted that as the world's
biggest democratic country, India was
seen in the West as having great potential
due to its superior system.
"But an inefficient and unequal democracy
is unlikely to be able to mobilize this
potential. The Indian government is
criticized for having reacted slowly and
India's law enforcement system is
considered sloppy. Rape cases in India
have a conviction rate of as low as 26
percent even when they reach court.
Moreover, the traditional social culture
that devalues women should be
condemned. Democracy should ensure
effective public participation in national
politics and supervision of the
government. Efficient democracy means
more than electoral politics," it said.
Global Times, which represents hardline
thinking in China, went on to say that the
abuse of women in India was shocking.
It quoted statistics to say that 572 rapes
were recorded in New Delhi in 2011, and
rape cases went up seven times in the
past 40 years.
"Over the past few weeks, violence
against women in India received
prominent attention worldwide, most of
which dwelt on the root causes of the
problem."
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