Are we still a democracy?

Mr. Manmohan Singh, you were wrong when you promised the US Congress that we are the largest democracy. I do not doubt the "largest" part. But are you sure we are still a democracy?

This latest report from Gujrat, which is no doubt an infringement of the personal rights, makes me wonder if we are actually moving towards a so called "moral anarchy". This is supposed to curb the love marriages which take place without the consent of the parents. I as a proud father of a daughter should feel relieved, should I? The Report says:

Officials in the sub-registrar's office said that the state government issued a notification recently, stating that a marriage would be registered only if parents of both the bride and the groom give their consent.

Earlier, marriages were registered even if the bride and groom produced their age certificates, and were accompanied by witnesses.

This is absurd and as Amit Varma rightly points out, are we going backwards?

Yesterday, the moral police led my Mr. RR banned the dance bars, today Mr. Modi decides to ban Love marriages which do not have the consent of the parents.

I remember my Registered Marriage and how corrupt the system (or actually user friendly) was at that time. More on that sometime later.