Trust no more... our social bane

Let me recount a story from my school textbook lsquoHaar ki Jeetrsquo the story of a virtuous Sadhu Baba Bharati and a dreaded robber Kharag Singh Baba rode a prized stead called Sultan which was coveted by Kharag Singh Kharag Singh disguises himself as an old handicapped man and places himself on a lonely patch of road Gesturing for help he stops Baba Bharati and robs him of the horse Before handing over Sultan Baba makes a strange request to Kharag Singh Never disclose to anyone that you robbed me disguised as an old handicapped man seeking help A perplexed Kharag Singh is reformed when he hears Babarsquos reason for the request ldquoWarnaa logon kaa duniya main doosron se bharosa uth jayega Because people will stop trusting other peoplerdquo On deaf ears In his constituent assembly speech Dr BR Ambedkar had warned of the dangers of Bhakti in politics mdash there should be no blind faith on political leaders The story of declining trust mdash interpersonal and in institutions leaders and system mdash is the unfortunate story of todayrsquos India It is neither new nor unique to India From Locke and Tocqueville to Putnam many philosophers have emphasised the importance of trust Trust lies at the heart of social capital Social capital as per Putnam refers to ldquofeatures of social organisation such as trust norms and networks that can improve the efficiency of societyu00a0by facilitating coordinated actionsrdquo At one level India doesnrsquot suffer fromu00a0a lack of social capital Families clans and communities often organised around religion sect or caste exhibit high levels of social capital This interpersonal trust within a limited group allows the community to maximise the wellbeing of the individuals in that group But this trust is only about lsquobondingrsquo restricted to within a closeknit group There is no lsquobridgingrsquo those outside the group are approached with distrust incivility and hostility Slowly but surely this is getting reflected elsewhere mdash in diminished political capital The idea of political capital is the modern socialscience version of the classical concept of fraternity along with liberty and equality it is an essential condition for democracy Standard gametheory can explain why trust has to be the basis of any democratic political culture Democracy simplistically put is about cooperative behaviour and collective action for common good Why would anyone support proposals for common good if they do not trust other people or institutions to reciprocate That explains why communities which have historically suffered injustices in India seek power not to create a just society but to perpetuate injustices of their own Or why everyone seeks a bigger share of pie in government jobs for their community expecting all the other groups to do the same Often viewed amorphously political capital actually manifests itself in different forms as trust in the overall democratic system trust in the functioning of democratic institutions trust in people who run democratic institutions trust in the procedures that make these institutions work trust in politicians and trust in various agencies that implement public policies With six decades of successful experience the trust in the overall democratic system in India is inviolable Trust in the institutions on the representational side of the political system mdash parties politicians parliament cabinet mdash is debatable Political parties are partisan by nature Those who support the ruling party will trust the representational institutions while those who oppose that party will usually distrust them When its own supporters start distrusting the ruling party the outcome is inevitable the party loses power at the next elections In any case a certain amount of scepticism is healthy for democracy mdash especially when that scepticism is based on realism and not cynicism After all trusting when there is no good reason to trust is just gullibility In his constituent assembly speech Ambedkar had also warned of the dangers of Bhakti in politics mdash no blind faith on political leaders Moving beyond the conventional political trust in parties and politicians it is the lack of trust in the institutions on the implementation side of the system that is hurting us most Across the country for their safety and personal welfare citizens are more dependent on the institutions that implement public policies mdash police judiciary and bureaucracy mdash than on the institutions that are supposed to represent their interests or ideology A corrupt biased and unfair administrative system influences citizensrsquo beliefs about how society works This dysfunctional system doesnrsquot allow any kind of trust to rise It particularly destroys trust among people And without trust a society canrsquot function What Baba Bharti feared is staring us in the face today u00a0Sushant K Singh is Fellow for National Security at the Takshashila Institution and editor of PragatiThe Indian National Interest Review