The word ‘election’ comes from the Latin word ‘eligere’. ‘Eligere’ means ‘to choose, select or pick’. To elect, or vote, means to select or to make a choice.
The word voting is derived from Latin word ‘votum’ meaning ‘to wish for’. Voting refers to the process of choosing or electing a candidate to run the government’s affairs, usually through a ballot.
In democratic India, general elections take place every five years. All those who are eighteen years of age have a right to vote. A number of candidates seek the election. They move from door to door.
They hold public meetings and explain the programmes of their parties. If they get majority of votes, they win; but if they do not, they lose. An election, therefore, is like a battle. But this battle is fought in a peaceful way. It is a battle of ballots, not a battle of bullets.
It is a pleasure to hear Malala Yousafzai, a victim of terrorism, come back home and speak her mind. Pakistan has suffered because of adventurism which dealt a blow to Jinnah’s Pakistan, which continues to bleed.
Unfortunately this has driven Pakistan to financial insolvency, intrigue and an endless conflict which has resulted in death, misery and displacement of millions of innocent victims.
Malala Yousafzai, the world’s youngest Nobel laureate, made her first trip back to Pakistan last week since Taliban shot her in the head more than five years ago for advocating girls’ right to go to school. She was flown to Britain in 2012 for medical care and then impressed the world with her eloquent defence of women and girls’ education.
Malala is surely a positive face of Pakistan and that is why her compatriots welcomed her enthusiastically on return home.
Malala Yousafzai is one such victim, who had the courage and moral strength to come out of this with added vigour to wage a struggle against this evil mindset which has plagued life and destiny of millions of people.
Jubel D’Cruz,
Mumbai, India
