As India prepares to celebrate Jan. 26, the 72nd year of implementation ofits Constitution, experts said the reason behind its success and longevityin a pluralistic country has been its secular nature.
But with the vision to turn the country into a Hindu nation, the stablestructure of secularism is at risk, they claimed.
Prashant Bhushan, a public interest lawyer and constitutional expert, toldAnadolu Agency that efforts to dismantle India’s republic are causing areal threat to the Constitution.
“To be able to protect fundamental rights of the citizens of India, we needto have a strong democracy. With the attacks getting real on the secularityand freedom of rights in the current regime, the threats to theConstitution are serious and insidious,” said Bhushan, who faced contemptproceedings for tweeting his opinions.
He said that with an exponential rise in vigilante groups attacking freedomof speech and the state using sedition laws against dissent, the evil inthe government is personified.
“With the introduction of laws like love-jihad and anti-conversion law, theMuslims in the country are being reduced to second class citizens. If thisunder the will to turn India into a ‘Hindu-nation’ continues, it will posegreater threats to the secularism and in-turn Constitution,” he said.
Some state governments in India recently introduced a controversial bill tocurb so-called “Love Jihad” — a term used by right-wing Hindu groupsalleging that Muslim men target Hindu women for conversion to Islam bypretending that they love them.
In recent years, law enforcement agencies have increasingly used thecolonial law of sedition to curb intellectual dissidence. Enacted in 1837,it was originally meant to prevent incitement against the British monarch.
Legal experts said it emerged as a lethal tool in the hands of police tobook dissenters.
It is a non-bailable offense and has life imprisonment as maximumpunishment. Mahatma Gandhi was charged with sedition by British officialsand tried in 1922.
According to the data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau, thenumber of registered sedition cases doubled from 35 in 2016 to 75 in 2018.Of these, only one was convicted in 2016 and two in 2018.
Between 2019 and the first three months of 2020, when the country protestedanti-citizenship laws, more than 3,000 Indians were charged with sedition.
Bhushan said that while the threats rise out of the subverted, if taken toofar, the resilience of Indian citizens will help the country survive.
Constitution’s success and longevity
While constitutions around the world that were adopted about the same timeas India have been abrogated or floundered, the Indian Constitution hassurvived the test of time.
Subhash C. Kashyap, former head of the inter-parliamentarian union atGeneva and a political scientist, said the Constitution remained successfulbecause of its spirit of adjustment, compromise and interest towardsensibilities of all sections of people.
“The constitution-makers worked very hard to prepare a draft which wouldbring together a fragmented, diverse society and will be acceptable in thelength and breadth of the country. Even till today, it is the greatestnational integration force,” Kashyap told Anadolu Agency.
He said that while 104 amendments have been made to the Constitution, allhave been in accordance with the Constitution.
Kashyap pointed out that how the Constitution affects citizens will dependon those who work it, their honesty and capability.
“If the Constitution is targeted, what is wrong is with the people workingit and their integrity. Men of integrity will revert even the bad to good.A lot depends on the political behaviors and understanding of theconstitution,” he said.
Kashyap added that electoral reforms are required for the success of theConstitution.
Just like, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the father of the Constitution warnedyears ago: “It is perfectly possible to pervert the Constitution, withoutchanging the form by merely changing the form of administration and to makeit inconsistent and opposed to the spirit of the constitution.”
Republic day celebrations and the importance
India was a colony of the British for more than 200 years until it freeditself in 1947, following a long independence movement. Despiteindependence, the country continued to follow British laws set in 1935under the “Government of India Act” until 1950 when India became asovereign republic.
The Constitution of India, drafted by a committee headed by Ambedkar, wasadopted Nov. 26, 1949, by the Indian Constituent Assembly and came intoeffect Jan. 26, 1950, with a democratic government system.
Each year since, a magnificent parade constituting a march by militaryforces and a display of the latest defense equipment and weapon systems isconducted at the Rajpath – a ceremonial boulevard across Parliament Houseand India Gate.
This year, however, the parade will be subdued because of the ongoingcoronavirus pandemic and protests from Indian farmers to revert the newlyintroduced farm laws, on the borders of New Delhi.
The “overall traditional character” of the parade, which showcases thecountry’s military might and cultural diversity, “will, however, bemaintained” despite restrictions necessitated by the pandemic, confirmedofficials.
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