This year’s Constitution Day was observed in the backdrop of a year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of India’s independence. It is an important occasion for deep introspection and reflection. We have also, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi put it, embarked on the journey of a ‘new India’ for the next 25 years – the hope of Amrit Kaal, a golden era, that will run till 2047.
Our freedom struggle revolved around the assertion of precious rights such as the right to equality, self-rule, self-determination, freedom of speech and expression, and the right to vote for everyone. The members of the Constituent Assembly incorporated the best features from various sources across the world to prepare what is arguably the “lengthiest written Constitution”. While opting for a federal system with a unitary bias and a parliamentary form of government, it still provided many checks and balances between different organs. It struck a fine balance between rigidity and flexibility. As the supreme law, it has served the largest democracy in the world well for 75 years, though there were dark spots, like the suspension of fundamental rights during Emergency.
The Directive Principles of State Policy are fundamental in the governance of the country and the State is expected to keep them in view while making laws. Article 38(1) urges the State to secure a social order for the promotion of the welfare of people and social, economic and political justice. Article 38(2) requires the State to minimise inequalities in income. Article 39(b) exhorts the State to see “that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good”, while Article 39(c) stipulates that it be ensured that “the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment”. When we see contemporary realities and the staggering wealth of some, it appears as if these lofty principles have been jettisoned.
Democracy rests on the rule of law, protection of human rights, and robustness of its institutions. A healthy democracy requires a vibrant civic space with full guarantees of freedom of speech, expression, freedom of assembly and association. Dissent has an important role to play. Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud termed dissent as a “safety valve” of democracy. While delivering the 15th P D Desai Memorial Lecture in Ahmedabad, Justice Chandrachud said that the true test of a democracy is its ability to ensure the creation and protection of spaces where every individual can voice their opinion without fear of retribution. He further said, “The employment of State machinery to curb dissent, instil fear, and create a chilling atmosphere on free speech violates the rule of law and detracts from the constitutional vision of a pluralist society…The destruction of spaces for questions and dissent destroys the basis of all growth -- political, economic, cultural and social”. Today, unfortunately the civic space has shrunk a great deal.
Democracy is only as strong as its institutions. We need rule of law-based society and robust institutions. We need a culture of autonomy in our country and genuine respect for autonomous institutions. When T N Seshan was the Chief Election Commissioner, he brought great repute to the Election Commission of India by asserting its autonomy. Everyone knows the current realities.
The RTI Act was amended a few years back to downgrade the salaries and tenures of Central and State Information Commissioners. A few amendments were also carried out in the Protection of Human Rights Act which cut tenures and reduce the effectiveness of the National Human Rights Commission. NHRC, which exercised a degree of autonomy and independence about 20 years back, is a pale shadow of its former self.
Women hold up half the sky, but their representation in Parliament is 13% and in higher Judiciary, 12%. Women’s participation in the labour force has been falling. There is a need for reservation for women in Legislature. As Swami Vivekananda warned, no nation can progress if it leaves its women behind.
Is it a crime to own a horse or to ride it? 21-year-old Pradeep Rathod, a Dalit, was hacked to death for owning and riding a horse at Timbi Village, 50 km west of Bhavnagar, Gujarat, in March 2018. In Rajasthan, Indra, a 9-year-old Dalit boy, died after being assaulted by his schoolteacher for drinking water from an earthen pot reserved for the so-called upper caste teachers. Today, there still exist villages in India where Dalit households are not allowed to celebrate weddings with the pomp and show of the upper castes. In May 2022, a Dalit groom was told to get off his ceremonial horse or witness the baratis being burnt alive in Almora district, Uttarakhand. There are several media reports of Dalit wedding parties coming under stone-pelting attacks in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and a few other states. Manual scavenging is a barbaric practice and is an affront to human dignity. Those who are forced to persist in this pernicious practice face caste-based discrimination. We have a long way to go to achieve the constitutional goal of equality under Article 14.
In February, a resolution was passed in a ‘Dharma Sansad’ to make India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, with a Constitution to match. Outlining the elements of it, ‘Swami’ Anand Swaroop, president of Shankaracharya Parishad, said that Muslims and Christians would not have the right to vote in such an India. It would provide for compulsory military training to every Hindu, and everything in society would be done as per the ‘Varna’ system. One only hopes that these attempts to rewrite the Constitution remain a pipe dream of fringe elements and will be rejected by all others.
In 2000, the Vajpayee government constituted the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution under the chairmanship of former CJI M N Venkatachalaiah, an outstanding scholar-judge. The detailed and solid recommendations of the commission, made in March 2002, are yet to see the light of day.
As Babasaheb Ambedkar put it, in his last address to the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949, “The Constitution can provide only the organs of State such as the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. The factors on which the working of those organs of the State depend are the people and the political parties they will set up as their instruments to carry out their wishes and their politics.”
The success of the entire edifice of our constitutional democracy, therefore, depends squarely on the people and the political parties that they establish. Despite many shortcomings, our democratic system has taught some lessons to unresponsive regimes or representatives by throwing them out of power regularly.
(The writer is the Founding Vice Chancellor of R V University, Bengaluru)