Remembering 9-11 Comment On This Article Below. Return to the article Naniwadekar comments : > September 11 undoubtedly was an attack on freedom. >----------- The terrorists don't care one way or other whether there is 'freedom' in US. >September 11 was also significant because most peace loving nations >rallied behind the world’s oldest democracy ... >------------------ USA is not the world's oldest democracy. - dn Sunanda Vashisht comments : Dear dn Thanks a lot for commenting on my article. i thought United States is indeed the oldest democracy ( i mean Modern Democracy as we define it now) If i am wrong please let me know which country qualifies as oldest democracy. I had read somewhere that ancient Greece was a democracy too, but i am not too sure. I would appreciate it if you could throw some light on this subject. Thanks Sunanda Naniwadekar comments : Sunanda, I am not an expert, but England is considered to be the oldest Democracy. Its Parliament (which now represents not just England but United Kingdom, which is Great Britain plus Northern Ireland) is often called The Mother of all Parliaments. The Parliament, which today consists of two houses, House of Commons and House of Lord's, has existed at least since the year 1215 AD when the then ruler, King John, was forced to sign Magna Charta, a written constitution, ceding lot of his power to the Parliament. http://www.san.beck.org/WP6-MagnaCharta.html About 300 years later, Henry VIII cancelled Magna Charta and it got replaced by what is called 'the unwritten constitution'. I think the Parliament did survive, though. The middle of the 17th century was a particularly turbulent time in England, with Oliver Cromwell declaring the Monarchy abolished in 1649 and beheading King Charles I. But later, Cromwell himself had his head cut off. Monarchy was restored. But through all the turbulence and occasional blip, democracy and Parliament have existed in England/Briton/UK for almost 800 years now. The balance of power has gradually shifted over those years from the Monarchy to the elected representatives. Yes, democracy was practised in Greece, too. And though Henry VIII did not listen to the Pope and discarded one wife after another, Prabhu Ramchandra listened even to an ordinary dhobi and discarded poor Sita. In short, rulers have sought feedback from people even in times when democracy was not institutionalised in the form of Parliament. England gets credit, though, for having the longest unbroken run of Parliamentary governance. - Dhananjay Naniwadekar Sunanda Vashisht comments : Dear dn Thanks for the research. I was always under the impression that England is considered a Monarchy since the Queen is still the head of state. I could be wrong though. Since England hasn't gotten rid of monarchs yet, it would be appropriate to call it a Monarchy. Thanks Sunanda TheWiseOne comments : Ms Vashist: Let me gently suggest that you read a little more than American newspapers and Sawf. The idea of democracy was not foreign to India. In fact, the political system of the Licchavis during Buddha's time merits special attention. I draw your attention to the following link: http://www.nipissingu.ca/department/history/muhlberger/histdem/indiadem.htm Ta-ta, T-W-O Naniwadekar comments : > Thanks for the research. I was always under the impression that > England is considered a Monarchy since the Queen is still the head of > state. I could be wrong though. >------------------ You are not even wrong. > Since England hasn't gotten rid of monarchs yet, it would be appropriate > to call it a Monarchy. >-------------------------- Such pat assumptions are not put forth even by the fanatical anti-monarchists in UK. UK has Constitutional Monarchy. The Monarch is virtually reduced to a figurehead today. Many sound thinkers in UK are in favour of continuation of Monarchy. William Rees-Mogg, editor of London Times 1967-1980, and currently a columnist in its pages plus a Monarchist, has argued that if it didn't exist, it would be difficult to argue in favour of its creation. But as it exists, it has served the country well. In fact, I haven't read any compelling argument which would justify abolition of Monarchy. But none of this has any bearing on whether UK is a democracy or not. Nobody doubts that it is a democracy and that it has been sort-of 'officially so' (in varying degrees) since the year 1215. The signing of Magna Charta in 1215 was not a chance occurrence. There was lot of ferment in the English society which led to its signing. - dn Uzma Riyaz comments : I liked the sentence, "This war (against terrorism) can only be fought by treating all terrorists alike." But Miss Vashist, don't you think that it is always best not to jump to conclusions? Well, this is exactly what the US has done in September 11 case. No 'real' investigation was ever carried out by the American Government as to what forces could have been behind the tragedy before it attacked Afghanistan in the name of anti-terrorism war. As far as the spread of "Islamic Terrorism" is concerned, I would have been grateful if you had kindly enlightened us as to what term you would use for those people who massacre Palestinians, the ones who killed Bosnians and those who razed the Babri Mosque. Please treat all terrorists alike. Thank you.