The Shortfalls Of A Constitution & Rights Of A Citizen

What we learn on paper and the realities of the world have stark differences. The constitution is an aspirational text that directs a Nation's moral compass. While citizens have an enormous amount of faith in the text, the constitution has certain loopholes that end up creating contradictions to its very nature and core.?

On this episode of A Niche Thing, Aneesh Bhasin and Priya Mirza , host of the podcast 'The Longest Constitution', get together to explain the constitution, law, state surveillance, and its implications on democracy.?

The constitution might give us a vision of creating an ideal fantasy world, but the path to that world is not without hurdles. As the world gets smarter and people get power-hungry, it has become easier to manipulate and cherry-pick parts of the constitution for one's benefit. Be it taxes, elections, influencing public opinion, labeling things as dangerous and harmful for public consumption, or outright, uncalled-for defamation.?

Priya explains how the composition of the Lok Sabha and other high offices of the government and parliament have changed over the years, tending towards becoming more and more composed of the wealthy. This forms an assembly that doesn't truly represent the nation, creating biases in judgment that are detrimental to democracy.?

Through the episode, they discuss the changing nature of the electoral bond scheme and its implications on corporations, funding and the floating around of black corporate money. They also talk about how much information a government can have on its people and the interaction of privacy laws with social media intermediaries and apps.?

In the past, governments have created unconstitutional grounds for discrimination and disqualification of candidates based on arbitrary issues. When tackling surveillance and defending the right to privacy, people who make a strong case for it are often wrongly accused of doing it because they have something to hide.?

The episode will open your eyes to some loopholes and contradictions that need to be better thought out and fixed. What you see isn't all there is. Critical thinking is essential for the survival of a democratic state.