Ram Puniyani
(Asian independent) The coming of Indian Constitution on 26 January 1950 was the major landmark in the life of our country. It gave us the core values of Liberty Equality, Fraternity and Justice. It was welcomed by all except the Hindu Nationalists, who said that there is nothing Indian about it, there are no values in it, which our Holy Manusmriti has given. They stated that Manusmriti is the law today (Savarkar). We were fortunate that forward looking Nehru and champion of democratic value Ambedker were at the helm to steer the journey forward. The architect of modern India, Nehru ensured that on one hand the center of Indian policy would revolve around the Public Sector, Education, Scientific research, irrigation and health service improvement among others.
The directive principle of promoting scientific temper was being followed till late, though with lots of lacunae. Despite the massive tragedy of India’s partition and migration of lakhs of Hindus and Muslims across the border and terrible violence, the country was steered towards improvement in the basic necessities like, hunger, health, education and employment. This was the foundation which Indian leaders firmly planted in the country. The communal groups while doing their work behind the curtain and sometimes orchestrating violence still were a marginal force till 1980. The firmness in promoting social justice was appreciable, but it still could not eradicate the caste system and there was a deep-rooted bias against the dalits.
The other major flaw was the spread of misconceptions against religious minorities, mainly Muslims, and later Christians who were also drawn into the orbit of ‘Hate and consequent’ violence. After the Shah Bano fiasco the communal forces made big strides on the pretext of appeasement of minorities (particularly Muslims). The implementation of the Mandal Commission report giving 26% of reservations to OBC’s was used as an occasion for Hindu nationalists to show their deeper designs. They pushed forward the issue of Ram Temple being underneath Babri Masjid and so Ram Temple should be built there. On this issue massive mobilization of Hindus was done. The social perceptions about Ram temple being underneath the mosque was articulated and spread far and wide by the vast network of RSS Shakhas and its affiliates. This led to the demolition of Babri mosque and orchestration of violence against Muslims, particularly in Mumbai, Surat and Bhopal.
This massive violence was to be followed by carnage in Gujarat (2002), Delhi (2019), UP (2013) and Kandhamal (2008). In Keonjhar Orissa Father Stains was burnt by Rajendra Pal (Dara Singh) of Bajrang dal and massive anti Christian violence was unleashed in Kandhamal later. The issues of Holy Cow, beef eating and love jihad and innumerable other jihads have been floated and the intimidated Muslims are forced to live under tremendous fear. Muslim ghettos are the order of the day in many cities. Post communal violence the phenomenon which was observed was that in these areas, where the violence had taken place, BJP became stronger in the electoral arena. A sense of fear is also building up among sections of Christian community.
This trajectory from the beginning, where democratic values, pluralism were to be the core of the country, was gradually undermined. Last ten years in particular have seen the worst situation with the rule of BJP. Though nominally this rule has been under the cover of NDA, it is BJP and its agenda of Hindu Rashtra which has been ruling the roost. This period has seen the state institutions like ED, IT, Intelligence agencies, Election Commission and to some extent judiciary, have been internally fallen prey to the influence of Hindu Right and this has weakened the values of our Constitution to no end.
The increasing poverty, income disparity, worsening of education and health is extremely disturbing. The minorities are being relegated to second class citizenship. The political representation of Muslims has fallen dismally. There is not a single MP from ruling BJP and no Muslim minister in the Cabinet. Scientific temper, the part of our directive principles of Constitution, has gone for a toss. The top academic institutions are organizing lectures on producing something like ‘Master race’ (Garbh Sanskar knowledge). Various such centers have come up dishing out such advice. Even IIT Madras director praised the use of cow urine as a panacea for many diseases. The rise of Babas dishing out all round wisdom is a worrying phenomenon. Many such Babas are promoted indirectly by the state.
The values of the Constitution are being mauled subtly, with the claims that India got real Independence not on 15th August 1947 but on 22nd January 2024 when Ram Temple was inaugurated. The claims that the Constitution does not conform to our Civilizational principles is picking up and demand to scrap the acts like ‘Freedom of Places of Worship’ (1991) are becoming stronger by the day. This act states that the status of old places of worship will be retained as was on 15th August 1947.
In this dismal scenario, where is the hope? The atmosphere of relief began partly with ‘Bharat Jodo’ and ‘Bharat Jodo nyay yatras’. (Unite India for Justice) There is a growing realization amongst a large section of the population that the party which promotes and uses religion for political goals is the real danger to our democracy and our Constitution. This rising awareness is running parallel to many political parties trying to form INDIA coalition.
To add on to these multiple campaigns to promote harmony and amity are being undertaken by social groups. Many of the social groups which have massively contributed to the rights of people are coming together as platforms to raise the popular awareness about dangers of misconceptions being promoted by communal parties and its parent organization. They are also trying to spread awareness about the real meaning of Constitutional morality and what it should mean for the country. The general awareness about these issues in the society is very heartwarming. These novel efforts which aim to promote fraternity and other core values of the Constitution are moving in the positive direction.
Our neighboring countries which have followed ‘fundamentalism-communalism’ have been in a dismal condition. The communal forces are trying to push us in that direction. Need is to reinforce the values of our Constitution today with greater vigor.
