We the people of India had solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and had given ourselves a constitution on the 26th November 1949. Much water has flown down the Ganga, Jamuna and countless rivers and rivulets during the last more than seven decades. The memorable day was celebrated all over the country especially in the capital New Delhi on November 26.
It is not a matter of celebration but an occasion of stocktaking and heart-searching. Speaking at the Constitution Day function, the CJI NV Ramana stressed the importance of safeguarding our Constitution and its spirit. He also said, “We should not shy away from standing up for what is right, and against what is wrong.” This is what we need today. The 140-crore strong Indians are ultimately a family and it is the responsibility of every citizen to see that our Constitution is safe. It is implemented in word and spirit. We should fight against all efforts to devalue the Constitution and the cherished principles which it wants to promote among the Indian citizens.
Overt and covert efforts are being made by interested parties to subvert the spirit of the Constitution. If these elements succeed in their efforts, India would be degraded from a democracy to a mobocracy. Our Constitution in the Preamble itself stresses that our aim should be to secure justice: social, economic and political. Do we find justice in our society? It is the fundamental fact of India’s past that Indian society is built on hundreds of castes, high and low. Our Constitution speaks about equality of all citizens without any discrimination based on religion, caste or gender. We know that the so-called low castes are continuously suffering all sorts of discriminations, indignities and atrocities. The same is true of the religious minorities, especially the Muslims. Despite being about 15 per cent of population, they have not been given in the national life what is their due share. They have been relegated to a backward position.
Anti-Muslim propaganda with the connivance of the powers-that-be is made. The Muslims have been marginalised – socially, economically, politically and educationally. Just to quote one factor in the light of the figures of the 2011 census, in the Muslim community graduates are 2.67 per cent, while the national average is 5.6 per cent. They are at the lowest level as regards per capita income, family income, agriculture land ownership, employment, government jobs, grant of bank loans, etc.
To top all these, they are being accused of being a burden on India and open calls are being made continuously by fascist forces that the Muslims are anti-national and violence-prone. The present government wedded to Hindutva philosophy is looking the other way while Muslims are denigrated and demonised. Extremely poisonous persons have been given full freedom to spew anti-Muslim abuses.
During the last seven years we have also witnessed a surge in attacks against Dalits, weaker sections. The spirit of the Constitution is violated when action is not being taken against the people who are torpedoing the cherished principles enshrined in the Constitution.
It’s time for the civil society to make a resolve to rebuild India on the basis of the Constitution and protect its principles with our full strength.