HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY

India celebrates its 71st Republic Day today. The Parade as a spectacle of gaiety and splendour, is held every year at Rajpath in Delhi, as a mark of our military strength on the occasion. On January 26, 1950, the Constitution of India came into force, and the Republic Day is celebrated to honour that event. The Country adopted the Constitution on January 26, a date specially chosen to coincide with the anniversary of 'Purna Swaraj Diwas'. On January 26, 1930.

The President, in his address to the nation on the eve of the republic day last year, had emphasised the need for open conversations in society even on difficult subjects. “Partnerships are enhanced by open communication, honest conversation and unstinting compassion... This is also true with sections or groups that have been historically disadvantaged and whose grievances must continue to be heard and addressed. It is important to create avenues for such conversations, even if they are inconvenient,” President Kovind had underlined the strength of pluralism as the driving force behind India’s development. He said the ‘Indian model’ of pluralism rests on a tripod of diversity, democracy and development. “We cannot choose one above the other; we must have all three and we will have all three,” India’s greatest slogan, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (?????? ?????????) , which is engraved in the central hall of parliament, epitomizes this philosophy that inculcates an understanding that the whole world is one family and calls for acceptance and respectful coexistence. This year he has emphasised People power.

He said the modern Indian state comprised three organs — legislature, executive and judiciary — that were interlinked and interdependent, but it was the citizens who made up the state.

“We the people are the prime movers of the Republic. With us, the people of India, rests the real power to decide our collective future,” he said.

Mr. Kovind stressed that the government and the Opposition had important roles to play, and “while giving expression to their political ideas, both must move forward in tandem to ensure the development of the country.”

Mr. Kovind stressed how Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals were more than relevant in the present times, and pointed out that the Constitution not only guaranteed rights to every citizen but also placed a responsibility to follow the tenets of democracy — justice, liberty, equality, fraternity.

The constitution of India, in its Directive Principles, directs the state to create social and economic conditions under which the citizens can lead a good life. “Also, the State shall strive to minimise the inequalities in income and endeavour to eliminate economic inequality as well as inequalities in status and opportunities, not only among individuals, but also among groups of people residing in different areas or engaged in different vocations. State shall aim for securing right to an adequate means of livelihood and dignity for all citizens, both men and women The State should work to prevent concentration of wealth and means of production in a few hands, and try to ensure that ownership and control of the material resources is distributed to best serve the common good.”

It was the intention of the Constituent

Assembly that in future both the legislature and the executive would not merely pay lip service to these principles enacted in this part, but that they would be made the basis of all executive and legislative action that may be taken hereafter in the matter of the governance of the country. It is also an occasion, therefore, to scrutinise the score card.

The richest 1 per cent in India cornered 73 per cent of the wealth generated in the country last year, a new survey showed today, presenting a worrying picture of rising income inequality. Besides, 67 crore Indians comprising the population's poorest half saw their wealth rise by just 1 per cent, as per the survey released by the international rights group Oxfam. The country added 17 new billionaires last year, taking the total number to 101. The Indian billionaires' wealth increased to over Rs. 20.7 lakh crore -- increasing during last year by Rs. 4.89 lakh crore, an amount sufficient to finance 85 per cent of the all states' budget on health and education.

It also said India's top 10 per cent of population holds 73 per cent of the wealth and 37 per cent of India's billionaires have inherited family wealth. They control 51 per cent of the total wealth of billionaires in the country.

Oxfam India CEO Nisha Agrawal said it is alarming that the benefits of economic growth in India continue to concentrate in fewer hands.

"The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system. Those working hard, growing food for the country, building infrastructure, working in factories are struggling to fund their child's education, buy medicines for family members and manage two meals a day. The growing divide undermines democracy and promotes corruption and cronyism," In a country from which freedom of competition, equality of opportunity and social fraternity begins to disappear, political equality becomes illusory, and democracy becomes a sham. What is more worrying is that the economy is reeling under a slow down which makes these inequalities more ominous with no hopes of immediate redressal.

In spite of the constant refrain of unity in diversity, today, we are a menacingly divided lot. In fact, over the years the fault lines have deepened further and have taken an ugly turn. The constitutional obligation to complete the task of truly bonding all the Indians into a psychological and emotional matrix as a single identity, rising above caste and creed and region, has not materialised.

But ominous as it may sound, with the erosion of the autonomy of the institutions, we seem to be losing faith in democracy as a governing model. Nobody will dispute the proposition that politics has become basically a struggle for power Political rhetoric often seems contrived and everybody agrees that political discourse of all political stripes dived has nadir deep and we sadly witness a total refusal to accept any restraint of law, morality or custom upon political warfare. Barred from genuine action, politicians have become more strident in their debate and more vicious in their personal attacks. The painful irony is that the powers that be have scant regard for the directive principles and yet lay claim to ready submission to their authority. Not only that, they have no remorse, for example, in the assertion that the emergency was proclaimed, the country is being governed, and civil liberties have been suppressed in complete accordance with the provisions of the constitution.

Not surprisingly, It seems Indians aren’t too happy as a people - or so found the United Nations in its 2018 World Happiness Report (WHR). India ranked 133 out of 156 countries surveyed by the UN. That is an 11-places drop from last year, and 15 spots behind the year before. India ranks below all developed countries in the world on the happiness index, and finds itself in the bottom two of SAARC nations as well. India now lags ball SAARC nations barring war-torn Afghanistan in the global happiness index. It means India’s less developed neighbours - Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka are ahead of it on this count.

On this solemn occasion, let us, therefore, take a pledge not to continue to succumb to the minority, a tiny minority appeasement policy which has led to the concentration of 70% of the wealth of the country in the coffers of the 1% of the country which prevents empowerment of all the citizens to live up to the fullest of their abilities.

But Indians are finally coming to see that their constitution marked a special moment in global history says Madhav Khosla. "The constitution aimed to provide a new framework in politics - a framework where we would all like to be treated as free and equal beings, where we

would be independent agents. The ongoing protests aims to recover this conception."

The recent months mark a shift, says Rohit De, legal historian and and author of A People’s Constitution." in the past, the constitution was involved by particular groups to protect particular interests, so landlords agitated for the right to property, prostitutes for right to profession, writers and artists for right to speech. Today we see the involvement of groups cutting across demographics" De says.

There is also a reason why pre-amble has come into focus. The pre-amble is the soul of the constitution. The arguement is not just for a particular right but a government guided by law and structured on the founding principles of the republic. At a tlme when all opposition is branded ant-national, protesters are defining patriotism in terms of the constitution rather than relion or language" He says.

This new visibility has a long term impact on the place of the constitution in public life in India. It has certainly resulted in an increase focus on civil liberties, minority rights and due process, says De. While the protests have been on CAA, we can increased public awareness about tools of government control (curbing Assembly, internet ban etc), and an emerging popular critique base on civil liberties. Says he.

V P Jain