What, in fact, is its duty to us. Those must seem like naive questions. No wonder the government is reluctant to tell us what's going on with it. No wonder everything the government does is shrouded in secrecy. Democracy, we like to think, is founded on transparency and openness, on our right to know what's going on.
Nobody knows that better than the criminals who wield power.
Hold that thought while I digress to something quite different. It was Republic Day recently, the day when we have a fabulous parade down Rajpath in New Delhi. Troupes of dancers and acrobats perform, and there are also lots of schoolchildren who make their way down Rajpath. So much a part of Republic Day is this display of armed might that a lot of us grew up thinking it was the real reason we were celebrating this day. I know I did.