On The 73rd Celebration Of Republic Day, Are We Upholding Constitutional Ideals

The arrival of the Simon Commission in India in 1927 and the challenge given by Lord Birkenhead that Indians are not capable of making their Constitution brought the dynamics of Indian constitution-making to the centre stage.

The initiation draft of the Nehru Report under Motilal Nehru sowed the seeds of the idea of liberal ideologies going to be celebrated by Indian masses in Independent India. In 1934, M.N Roy, ‘doyen of the communist movement in India’, proposed a constituent assembly.

The Blitzkrieg of World War II led to various diplomatic meetings such as August Offer, Wavell Plan and Cripps Mission that implicitly mooted the Idea of Constitution-making for India.

Finally, the Cabinet mission explicitly mentioned the idea of the Indian Constitution and also proposed the formation of the Constituent Assembly in 1946.

The Constituent Assembly was a fully sovereign body and had participation from the entire country – including the Muslim league and princely states. It was chaired by Dr Rajendra Prasad, who later became the first president of India.

The assembly sat for almost 11 months and ransacked the constitutions of 60 countries, including the United States of America, Russia, Japan, Ireland, Britain, Germany and France.

The drafting committee worked under the chairmanship of Dr B.R Ambedkar. It sat for 114 days to prepare the first draft where Dr Ambedkar played an extremely crucial role as ‘father of Indian Constitution’ and ‘Modern Manu.’

Thus the above text makes the picture of the formation of the Indian Constitution clear. It dwells the aspirations and hard work filled with struggle and blood.

The Constitution of India cherishes the ambition of our forefathers and sings the jingles of the ideology of diversity with togetherness. As mentioned by Nani Palkhivala, The Preamble is the identity card of the Constitution that briefly describes the values and morals of our body.

As the Preamble says,

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST

SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and opportunity; and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this
the twenty-sixth day of November 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

How beautifully the power is held sacredly in the hands of people, securing the position of people above all. But do you think India, as a country which recently celebrated 73rd republic day, is upholding the morals?

Taking the keys from the Preamble itself, let us see how contemporary India works on morals.

As the word was added later through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, Jumping straight on the word SECULAR is significantly experiencing a drift in contemporary scenarios. For example, India is considered the world’s religious capital because of religious diversity glorified in every tint of the country.

Indian secularism is based on Sarva Dharma Sambhav (equality of the destination of the paths followed by all religions) rather than Dharma Nirpekshata (secularism). However, during the early years of independence, the government acknowledged the importance of religious diversity and its role in establishing social consensus and collective conscience towards the nation.

Post Independence, the government strictly restricted their action that favoured one religion compared to another. For example, in the early years after independence, Jawaharlal Nehru was requested to rejuvenate the plundered Somnath Temple, but Nehru denied it.

But what we see Currently is placed on the edge of the opposite spectrum. Here I am not going to delve into Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Still, two other incidents – first restrictions on Namaz in public in Gurugram, and the other is Attack on a Christian school in Madhya Pradesh by a right-wing group as there were rumours of forced religious conversions.

Reread the word, “Rumours!” The recent incident of flagrant hate speech calling for a genocide against a particular Thus represents nothing but quixotic dynamics of secular ideology that is threatening the idea of security, identity and sense of equality among various religions.

Aspirations Of Democracy As Laid Down In The Constitution

The idea of establishing democracy was an ancient aspiration of early leaders, and India as a nation performed as a positive outlier in this parameter. Still, in we understand the actual meaning of democracy, it is not just about the occurrence of free and fair elections but also the idea of discussions, debates and deliberations.

The daily protest at Parliament, tearing and flying reports in the house, suspended Question Hour, suspension of MPs for their actions in the previous session and what represents nothing but undermining the quintessential idea of Indian democracy.

According to ADR reports, 43 percent of people contesting elections face criminal charges. The productivity of houses has significantly plummeted. As seen during Farm Laws, there are cries regarding Union jumping in state lists.

The recent summons to the chief election commissioner by the chief secretary is the gravest blot on the idea of Indian democracy. An independent constitutional body considered the most prominent and celebrated tradition of Indian democracy was called to meet political leaders when the election clock was ticking.

According to ADR, only 11 percent of bills were sent for scrutiny by the parliamentary committee and the decrease in sitting from an average of 100 in 1952 to 29 in 2018.

The guillotine closure of budget and absence of Deputy Speaker (Article 93) unfortunately glorify the degradation of the idea of Parliamentary democracy, eulogising the spirit of debates, discussions and deliberations.

The Quixotic Realty Of Justice And Equality

Before I delve deeper into the facts, go for a run-through of the idea of justice in Preamble that explicitly mentions justice, social, economic and political. Still, the practicality lies far from speculative mania.

A country where rape victims are burnt in broad daylight, paraded and humiliated publicly by women (in the national capital). Leaders posited that a patriarchal state is nothing but a country that crafted an unfortunate ideology of utopia.

A country where young women are still committing suicides because of dowry pressure woefully murders the idea of justice and equality. As coined by Utsa Patnaik in her work “Economics of Dowry,” she posited how dowry inflicts injury on women’s minds. The death of Vismaya Nair is an unfortunate example in this case.

Educational disparities are so vibrant that it is tough to gulf the bridge. According to the World Economic Forum, the gender gap index India stands at 112th rank in educational attainment compared to men. Rising incidents of child marriage during pandemics, especially in Madhya Pradesh, further exacerbated the concern.

Caste is another spectrum where injustice is still visible. Untouchability is still prevalent in the country, and there is a pathological division of labour in our nation, unfortunately still encountered. For example, SCs constitute the most significant proportion of people working as Manual Scavengers.

Even after almost 72 years of reservation benefits, the profits are reaped by the top 5 percent, as mentioned in the E.V Chinniah case. This further impedes the accurate idea of adding reservations where the profits reach the poorest of the poor.

At times, the state uses its power and authority to protect itself, which leads to burning the idea of justice from its own hands. For example, the clean chit given to police officers by police officers in the Hyderpora Case digs the grave of justice.

A similar incident was also seen during the Hathras case where police officials burned the victim’s corpse in the middle of the night, snatching the final rights of the family over her daughter. The death of Father Swamy behind the bars of the jail, a patient of Parkinson Disease, where the government felt that giving a “Straw” would be a “threat to national security”.

Singing of economic romanticism – according to the World Inequality Report, 57 percent of the wealth in India is held by 10 percent of the population, and only 18 percent of women are employed in paid labour. These statistics, unfortunately, display a picture of killing justice.

The economics of unpaid labour performed by women in domestic walls and helping men strengthen their position almost accounts for $10 trillion globally.

According to the Multidimensional Poverty Index, India, Bihar topped the list of being multidimensionally poor, thus significantly causing a grievous impact on the state’s health, education, and development, halting the nation’s development.

Fading Liberty Of The Indian Constitution

Regrettably, India’s contemporary stand on the idea of liberty is holding the falling wall. Freedom of the press is not only facing hazard (Press Freedom Index). There is news manipulation and stiff inclination towards one ideology as seen contemporarily.

The idea of freedom of expression has been stringently curbed sometimes through legal tools, for example, the colonial controller under Section 124A of IPC, famously known as sedition.

Where foreign think tanks point to India as a partially free country and political autocracy, India negates these comments calling them bais and vague.

What Is Important Now?

The debate and discussions are never going to end; thus, now is to look back at the leaders’ ideals with countless discussions added in the Constitution for a nation created and crafted to be one. To uphold the morals in letter and spirit and thus provide an ultimate tribute to their hard work to draft one Constitution after years of foreign rule.