India marked its 72nd Republic Day amid customary fanfare and ceremonial grandeur with the traditional parade at Rajpath, New Delhi. However, this year the day was marked by a showdown between the government and protesting farmers, who have been opposing the recently passed farm laws pertaining to the price of food grains, new ways of farming and the availability of farm-produce in the market.
While there may be some who agree with the efficacy of these laws, all those who understand democracy and constitutional values see these laws as symptomatic of the steep “fall from grace” by the Republic of India. The dictionary meaning of a republic is “a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.”
Furthermore, we are a constitutional republic that has committed itself to certain goals and values as indicated in the Preamble to our Constitution. It 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 of 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 26th day of November 1949, do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution.”
In Book 8 of Plato’s magnum opus – “The Republic”, Socrates describes four unjust constitutions: timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. He contends that society will deteriorate and pass through these stages in succession, before finally turning into a tyranny. It is indeed a sad state of affairs that after 72 years as a republic and nearly 75 years after gaining Independence from the British one is reminded of the concluding couplet of Alexander Pope’s – ‘The Dunciad’ which runs thus: “Thy hand, great Anarch! Lets the curtain fall; And universal darkness buries all.”
So how do we evaluate ourselves as a republic? Let us look at the state of our democracy and the condition of our economy for a quick appraisal.
THE STATE OF OUR DEMOCRACY
The research wing of the world-renowned magazine The Economist comes out annually with a “Democracy Index” providing a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide. The five criteria that they use for calculating the democratic index serve as a good starting point to understand democracy.
(1) Is the electoral process robust and transparent or it can be tampered and the outcome decided by a few men? The entire controversy over Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and electoral bonds is a huge embarrassment over our claims as to the greatest democracy of the world.
(2) Are all citizens eligible to exercise their right to vote or there is discrimination and the minorities are systemically eliminated from the power structure of the nation through various ingenious schemes of delimitation and denied tickets by mainstream political parties to contest elections? Our fulfilment of this criterion is demonstrated by the fact that for the first time in India’s history, the winning party in the general elections had no Muslims in its parliamentary group in the Lok Sabha.
(3) Is the functioning of government without bias and prejudice or it caters to the rich and powerful, neglecting the vast majority of underprivileged, marginalised and the oppressed communities?
(4) Is the political participation inclusive and political culture truly liberal and ready to listen to the voice of the people?
(5) Basic civil liberties like the right to dissent, the right to question and the right to know must be guaranteed in a true democracy. To judge ourselves against these criteria (3, 4 & 5), a simple scan of some of the recent events on the political map of our nation shows the unilateral abrogation of Article 370 and the prolonged communications shutdown including mobile and internet services in Kashmir. We arrested our mainstream pro-India Kashmiri leaders and incarcerated a large number of students and activists under draconian laws. We deprived nearly 2 million people of the citizenship of India through the NRC exercise in Assam and cracked down on our citizens while they exercised their fundamental right to dissent against the CAA and farm laws. The list of cataclysmic events for the largest minority group of India – the Muslims is so long and painful that it truly puts to shame any claims to greatness that we may harbour about ourselves as a republic.
THE STATE OF OUR ECONOMY
In a research paper for London School of Economics, Rajeev Sibal writes – “India’s economic history is commonly divided in four periods: roughly independence to 1965, 1966 to 1980, 1981 to 1991, and post 1991. The periods are defined as such because they mark clear breaks in economic policies in India and can be identified with shifts in economic growth rates (see table).”
| Phase 1 1951-65 | Phase 2 1965-1981 | Phase 3 1981-1991 | Phase 4 Post-1991 | |
| Prime Ministers | Nehru | Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Desai | Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi | Rao, Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh |
| Compound Annual Growth Rate | 4% | 3.5% | 5% | 6.3% |
| Growth Rate Standard Deviation | 2.4% | 3.7% | 2.1% | 2.3% |
| Years of Sub Zero percent growth | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Phase 5 that starts with the Modi-era has so far been a case of form over substance. While our overall economic growth and progress in undeniable, we must look at the gap between what we could have achieved and what we have in the light of the various reasons and hurdles in the path of economic growth. That gap between potential and achievement has particularly widened in the last six years. As is often stated, the twin body blows of demonetisation and GST rollout to India’s economy have been humongous to say the least.
Covid-19 was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Our GDP growth rate that was already at 4.1% in the last quarter of 2019-20 saw a phenomenal dip of -23.9% in Q1 of 2020-21. Q2 results of 2020-21 show a -7.5% contraction in GDP. According to an expert opinion, around 200 million people lost employment in the month of April 2020. Even as the government is touting a V shaped recovery for the economy, the fact remains that it will not be easy to revive demand for discretionary items. Consumer sentiment and capacity utilisation is likely to remain low key along with investment. The banking industry continues to be jittery and the stock market is in bull-mode exposing its divorce from the real economy.
THE WAY AHEAD
It is a well-documented and acknowledged fact that an organised group in our country dreams of converting India to a theocratic majoritarian totalitarian regime. This will effectively lay to rest our claims to be a vibrant republic. Our Constitution is the biggest obstacle to their nefarious design and diabolical plan. As citizens, we have two responsibilities. The first immediate requirement is to keep a keen eye on their activities and resist their agenda, using all peaceful and democratic methods.
The second task is long term and continuous, which is to cleanse our society from the poison of polarisation, communal hatred and fascism that has entrenched at the social level. In addition, it is important for policymakers and economists to explore all avenues to reduce our debt-burden and encourage equity financing. Allowing the emergence of interest-free banking and boosting the informal sector through zero-interest microfinance will go a long way in resurrecting India’s economy.
India will do well to heed the warning that American lawyer and jurist gave by saying – “Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.”