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Events
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New Delhi 2 December 2021
Constitution Day
TO REJOICE OR WORRY?
By DrS.Saraswathi
(Former Director,
ICSSR, New Delhi)
India celebrated its Constitution Day on 26
November in the Central Hall of Parliamentin the midst of multiple problems --
political, social, and economic. It was a day to rejoice over the successful functioning of our Constitution
that was adopted this day in 1949,whereas several ex-British colonies and many
others have gone through constitutional crises, overthrow of Constitutions and
adoption of new ones even periodically.
Notwithstanding the boycott of the national
function by 15 Opposition political parties as a routine exercise, the Day has
acquired national significance like Independence Dayand Republic Day as it has
been declared as the Constitution Day in
2015. It was the 125thbirth anniversary year of Babasaheb Ambedkar,
the Chairman of the drafting committee of the Constitution, revered as the
architect and as Father of the Constitution.The aim in celebrating the Day is
to raise awareness about the Constitution and promote constitutional values
among citizens of this country.
The US Constitution Day is celebrated also
asCitizenship Day on 17 September to commemorate the signing of the
Constitution in 1787 and recognise those who have become American citizens. It
is observed as the Day to remember and
reflect on the rights and
responsibilities of citizenship and what it means to be a US citizen.
The nation is going through numerous
challenges from internal and external sources and also from natural causes likeenormous
flood and deadly pestilence that it can hardly afford time to enjoy its hard won achievements. Therefore, without
ending with formal celebrations, we should quickly and sincerely rededicate
ourselves to uphold the letter and spirit of the Constitution and the values embedded in its provisions. As
Prime Minister Modi said, the Constitution is “our greatest strength to remove obstacles being
created by colonial mindset”.
“Colonial mindset” refers to the attitude
of developed nations to impede India’s development
by putting hurdles in its growth.
Colonial mentality is to discourage and even oppose independentthinking and
achievements of their subjects so as to keep them servile and subordinate. It
leads tointernalisation of an attitude of ethnic or cultural inferiority in the
people. It is evident in subjugation of
language and cultural values of a people which leads to acceptance of inferiority and blind
submission tocolonizers by the colony.
It is unfortunate that there are groups in
our country that deride our own culture and misrepresent them at home and
abroad and thus put barriers in our development. Modi tried to bring home
the significance of our Constitution in overcoming obstacles
in our progress and development.It necessarily means sticking to our
constitutional values at any cost which are facing threats internally and externally.
The term “values” used in plural connotes
one’s principles, ideals, or standards, which flow from one’s judgement about
what is important in life. These denote
the qualities or principles viewed
and felt as necessary and desirable and worth preserving at any cost. Values
are cherished by the holderswho may be individuals or groups and
communities or even systems and institutions.
There is no basis to think that values are
always abstract and lofty beyond relevance to everyday requirements, difficult
to maintain, and are spiritualand non-material. For, everything in the world -- structures and institutions, beliefs, customs
and practices, political, social, economic systems and cultural forms, legal
and judicial systems, rights and privileges, goals and ambitions, etc. -- are based on certain values and principles
commonly known as objectives and
purposes.
Values
are not specified or defined; these are understood and respected and cannot
be measured in economic terms or by
practical utility. Those who are conscious of the hidden values absorb these and are certainly different from those
who are not.
The occasion was used by Modi to emphasise
the importance of inner party democracy for protection of democracy in the
country. He lamented that the spirit of the Constitution is endangered when political
parties lose their democratic character. His reference was particularly to family
dominance in some political parties. He did not name any party, butin India, hereditary
leadership in political parties has become common and even acceptable to the
masses.
The term “political parties” does not figure in the Constitution until the
insertion of the Tenth Schedule on Defections. However, parties existed in
anticipation of elected representative government even before India became
independent. A look at thehistorical
account of parties comprising their inception,
structure and organisational set up, their constitution, rules,regulations and
procedures and their
functioning, growth, ideologies,
activities, and interrelations with
others, shows how the values
stuffed into the
Constitution are valued by active players in their own organisations.Modi hinted clearly that inner
party democracy is sine qua non for democratic role in governance.
Political parties are not the only actors on
the political stage to adhere to constitutional values which ought to be
followed by every citizen.Actors like castes, communities, religious groups,
professional groups, labour unions and civil society organisations have openly
emerged to demand as well as to block legislations by the elected. Parliament
is not the only place to generate legislations. They are pushedeven on roads.
All these may be acceptable provided the
letter and spirit of the Constitution are obeyed and
constitutional values are safeguarded.
At the same
time, it is also true that no constitutional document anywhere in the
world may be cited as perfect, suitable
for all times for even the country for which it is framed. We may recall the
upright confession by the Fourth American President James Madison
regarding the US Constitution that, “I
am not one of the number who think that the Constitution lately adopted a
faultless one”. He was instrumental in drafting the American Constitution and
also about ten amendments including the most important Bill of Rights.
At the time of framing the Indian
Constitution, Jawaharlal Nehru made a similar observationthat, “While we want
this Constitution to be as solid and permanent as we can make it, there is no
permanence in Constitutions”. This is validated by over 100 amendments that the
Constitution of India has undergone in 71 years. Whether Nehru said this to
expedite the drafting of the
Constitution or as a pragmatic suggestion, it was not meant to devalue
the values then or now.Amendments
are to reinforce
ideals.
In any case, the basic structure remains unaltered and is
also made unalterable by a verdict of the Supreme Court. This basic structure
stems from certain values that pervade the entire Constitution. The Preamble,
The Directive Principles, and the Fundamental Rights convey the values embedded in the Constitution.
There are many variants of democracy which
are equally legitimate and we have adopted representative parliamentary
democracy based on universal adult suffrage. Electoral mandate based on the
accepted system has to be respected and allowed to run its course. How unruly
disruptions can be accommodated as
normal parliamentary proceedings which
should be the first to promote constitutional values is indeed a cause to worry
on this Constitution Day.---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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