Between Hope and Despair: 75 Years of Indian Republic

The coming into being of the Indian Constitution on January 26, 1950 was a 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 was nothing Indian about it, there were no values in it, which our Holy Manusmriti has given. They stated that Manusmriti is the law today (V D Savarkar).

We were fortunate that forward-looking Jawaharlal Nehru and the champion of democratic values, B R Ambedkar, were at the helm to steer the journey forward. The architect of modern India, Nehru ensured that the centre 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 several lacunae. Despite the massive tragedy of India’s Partition, migration of lakhs of Hindus and Muslims across the border and terrible violence, the country was steered toward improvement in basic necessities, such as hunger, health, education and employment.

This was the foundation that Indian leaders firmly planted in the country. The communal groups, while doing their work behind the curtains and sometimes orchestrating violence, were still a marginal force till 1980. The firmness in promoting social justice was appreciable, but it still could not eradicate the caste system and a deep-rooted bias against 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 case fiasco (1985), the communal forces made big strides on the pretext of appeasement of minorities (particularly Muslims).

The implementation of the Mandal Commission report giving 26% reservations to OBC’s (Other Backward Classes) was used (1990) 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 mobilisation 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 Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (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), Uttar Pradesh (2013) and Kandhamal (2008). In Keonjhar in Orissa, Father Graham Stains was burnt by Rajendra Pal (Dara Singh) of Bajrang Dal and massive anti-Christian violence was unleashed in Kandhamal later.

The issues of the ‘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, a phenomenon was observed that in areas where the violence had taken place, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) became stronger in the electoral arena. A sense of fear is now also building up among sections of the Christian community.

This trajectory from the beginning, where democratic values, pluralism were to be the core of the country, was gradually undermined. The past 10 years in particular have seen the worst situation with the rule of BJP at the Centre. Though nominally this rule has been under the cover of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), it is BJP and its agenda of Hindu Rashtra that has been ruling the roost. This period has seen state institutions like the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department, intelligence agencies, the Election Commission and to some extent the judiciary, internally falling prey to the influence of the Hindu Right. This has weakened the values of our Constitution.

Rising poverty, income disparity, worsening of education and health is extremely disturbing. The minorities are being relegated to second class citizenship. Political representation of Muslims has fallen dismally. There is not a single Muslim Member of Parliament from the ruling BJP and no Muslim minister in the Union Cabinet.

Scientific temper, the part of the directive principles of our Constitution, has gone for a toss. Top academic institutions are organisng lectures on producing something like a ‘master race’ (Garbh Sanskar knowledge). Various such centres have come up dishing out such advice. Even the IIT Madras director praised the use of cow urine as a panacea for many diseases.

The rise of Babas (godmen) 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 claims that India got real Independence not on August 15, 1947 but on January 22, 2024 when the Ram Temple was inaugurated in Ayodhya.

Claims that the Constitution does not conform to our civilisational principles are being made with the demand to scrap Acts like the ‘Freedom of Places of Worship’ Act (1991) becoming stronger by the day. This Act states that the status of old places of worship will be retained as was on August 15, 1947.

In this dismal scenario, where is hope? The atmosphere of relief began partly with the Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatras (Unite India for Justice).

There is a growing realisation among a large section of the population that a party which promotes and uses religion for political goals is a real danger to our democracy and our Constitution. This rising awareness is running parallel to many political parties trying to form the INDIA coalition.

To add on to this, 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 popular awareness about the dangers of misconceptions being promoted by communal parties and its parent organisation. 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 that aim to promote fraternity and other core values of the Constitution are moving in the positive direction.

Our neighbouring countries which have followed ‘fundamentalism-communalism’ have been in a dismal condition. Communal forces are trying to push us in that direction. There is need to reinforce the values of our Constitution today with greater vigour. 

The writer is a human rights activist, who taught at IIT Bombay. The views are personal.