The most important thing, the most valuable thing about our country that we must cherish and protect at all costs is its democratic character. This fact needs to be emphasised because except for a relatively brief period during the Emergency, we have enjoyed uninterrupted democracy and have come to take it for granted. It is unlikely that our country will wake up one ugly morning and find itself under dictatorship. But complacence is unwarranted because it is certainly possible that, while