The debate in parliament on the Indian constitution did not rise to the occasion. Neither side focused on how it has helped India stay together as one nation despite the deepening political and economic divisions in the country, how it has helped people retain their faith in the nation even though they have not read or understood its import, how, in spite of failures, it has given the institutions of governance the much-needed orientation for their proper functioning which has kept people’s faith in the unity of the nation.
The constitution has acted as a beacon of hope that things will improve no matter how bleak they may appear at times.
Preamble as a guide
The speeches in parliament attacked the opposition parties for what they had done or not done in the past or the present. Attacking past policies is easy but the context of those policies should not be forgotten. The need is to address how the principles enshrined in the constitution would be implemented. While India has achieved much in the last 75 years, a lot more remains to be done because ‘We, the people of India’ have only partially fulfilled the promises enshrined in the constitution.
The preamble to the constitution promised ‘justice’, ‘liberty’, ‘equality’ and ‘fraternity’. These are its foundations. The constitution as a living document can be amended to meet changing societal needs but these principles would remain and guide the changes needed. If these principles had been adhered to, Ram Rajya would have been established but unfortunately, the ruling party mistakenly equates it with the construction of the Ram Mandir.
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Unfortunately, one can follow the letter of the constitution without following it in the spirit and over time, the ruling dispensation has made a pretence of being constitutionally correct while subverting it.
For instance, elections are supposed to give people representation in power. But winning elections is an art. The use of muscle and money power is rampant. Voters are often disenfranchised or prevented from reaching the polling booth. Caste and communal divides are aggravated before the elections to polarise the voters. Political parties function like well-oiled machines that manipulate the voters rather than catering to the citizen’s concerns.
So, people’s chosen representatives and the parties that come to power rather than representing their voters’ interest largely cater to the vested interests financing them. Even the representatives who are not muscle men usually become arrogant and unapproachable.
As a result, representation and elections get hollowed out thereby undermining the principles enshrined in the constitution. While election fraud and manipulation is a general malaise, there are more specific ways the directive principles are undermined.
Majoritarianism undermining fraternity
Majoritarianism weakens one’s fellow-feeling and empathy towards others. The communal divide being aggravated undermines justice and fraternity. Mobilisation on caste and community lines further weakens fraternity.
The courts, where people seek justice, are increasingly displaying majoritarian sensibilities. Justice should imply siding with the weak and affording them protection. However, most of the marginalised cannot even afford to go to court for justice and suffer silently.
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The bureaucracy and the police often act arbitrarily and to the detriment of minorities. This has emboldened the majority community to become more partisan and to believe that these institutions should work in their interest. The minority sees this as their reduction to being second-class citizens. Thus, the sense of justice and fraternity among both communities is eroded.
All this directly impacts people’s liberty. Not only do the minorities increasingly fear the majority but they also live in fear of victimisation by the state. False cases by the police and lack of timely justice from the courts have cowed down many among the minority. Mothers tell their children not to open their mouths in public. In a telling instance, a teacher asked students to slap a class fellow and she felt what she did was justified.
Clearly, liberty is a casualty.
Liberty truncated
Mainstream media needs to systematically (not just episodically) take up cases of curtailment of liberty. But, it has increasingly become pro-authority to the detriment of the opposition voices because it has business interests that are threatened by the state. In the parliament, the Opposition has increasingly faced the Chair’s partisanship.
In an unprecedented move, the Opposition has filed a no-confidence motion against the Rajya Sabha chairperson. There is also a privilege motion notice against the parliamentary affairs minister. These are reactions to the suppression of liberty in the parliament itself in this 75th year of the constitution.
Various institutions that are needed for effective functioning of democracy have come under the sway of the ruling establishment which has curtailed their autonomy via appointments of their heads. This has been the case for the Election Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the Central Vigilance Commission, etc.
Dissent is sought to be suppressed and demonised as anti-national. Offices of the BBC were raided after they broadcast a film on Gujarat riots. Political parties and opponents are threatened by the official agencies – Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and so on. Many leaders have been threatened and forced to change sides to topple opposition governments. Funding of NGOs like OXFAM (and 6,000 others) working with people and organisations seeking to check abuse of power or corruption (like Amnesty International), has been impacted.
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Equality not on agenda
Equality in society is no more on the agenda. All the marginalised sections – women, Dalits, farmers, minorities, etc. are impacted. This is in both social and economic terms. Economic inequality is rising due to government policies promoting cronies while marginalising the farmers and the workers. The three farm bills and the labour code are an example of the latter.
The result is that while in per capita terms India is at the 140th rank in the world, it has the third largest number of billionaires. Inequality is made worse by the rapid growth of the black economy (ignored in data) but is concentrated in the hands of the top 3% of the people in the income ladder. In a vicious cycle, the rising inequality leads to more of it and slows down investment.
India has the largest number of illiterate and those suffering ill health, malnutrition, etc., in the world. This is because the policy does not prioritise the delivery of social services. No wonder, 40% of children in the age group of 14 to 18 years cannot read or write 2nd standard material. The extent of deprivation is sought to be concealed by claiming reduction in poverty. The government is promoting the organised sector which employs 6% of the workers while putting roadblocks in the path of the unorganised sector via demonetisation, GST, digitisation, etc., thereby aggravating inequity.
The ruling establishment is undermining federalism with its ‘double engine ki sarkar’ slogan. It is playing partisan politics with allocation of funds to the states. The states have faced a shortage of funds thereby preventing them from catering to the needs of their citizens. Consequently, the rich states are demanding allocation of funds in proportion to their contribution and that would be detrimental to the needs of the poorer states that need to develop faster to close the gap. The conflict among the states is likely to grow and threaten the unity of the nation.
The constitution’s promise of a ‘living wage’ remains unfulfilled. Given this and the growing inequality, public has lost confidence in the long-term promises of the political parties and wants something immediately in its hands. These are characterised by the prime minister as ‘revdi’ (freebies). These do not ensure equity – only slow down the rise in inequality.
Clearly, the government working in the interest of the few has given a go-bye to the promises in the preamble of the constitution. The parliamentary debate would have been fruitful if it had collectively reiterated these promises and set a target date for their fulfilment.
One way to ensure these promises would have been for the parliament to pass a resolution that policies would be based on Gandhi’s talisman – ‘Last Person First’ – and unemployment would be eliminated in five years.
Arun Kumar is a retired professor of economics, JNU and the author of ‘Indian Economy’s Greatest Crisis: Impact of the Coronavirus and the Road Ahead’. 2020.
