By Sandhya S, NewsKarnataka -Mangalore
On November 25, 1949 during the Constituent Assembly Debates at the Lok Sabha Secretariat at New Delhi, Dr BR Ambedkar had delivered a speech wherein he said “We must make our political democracy a social democracy. Political democracy cannot last unless it lies at the base of its social democracy.”
He questioned, “What does social democracy mean? It means a way of life which recognizes liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life.”
“On the 26th of January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. We must remove this contradiction at the earliest moment, or else those who suffer from inequality will blow up the structure of political democracy which this Assembly has so laboriously built up”, he added.
It has been more than half a century since Dr Ambedkar had given the speech that still applies to the present scenario. While we need to admit the verity that India has a thriving democracy.With the various religions, languages, customs in India, democracy is truly vibrant. But we cannot neglect the fact that there are still numerous contradictions, the questions that arise are: Are we truly democratic? Are we truly free? Does social democracy exist in the society?
The very first reason of getting democracy in the Indian Constitution under the fundamental right is freedom and social equality. In the capital of the country, a girl does not travel with freedom just because of the fear that she would get raped.Is the country truly free? In different states across the country people are thrashed in the name of Moral policing, is this democracy? The SC has criminalized the right of the transgender, is that the social equality that was drafted in the constitution? There are still people getting exploited due to the hierarchical caste system, where is the equality?
The Constituent Assembly of India debates on secularism, federalism, minority rights, structure of the judiciary and the belief of being democratic. The directive principle is comprehensive and gives priority over those fundamental rights which have been allowed to be relied upon to frustrate social reforms for implementing the directive principles although the constitution states this but the application is still skeptical.
Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally in social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice. The parliament and the State Legislatures embody the will of the people and the essence of democracy is that the will of the people should prevail. The system of caste, gender, social role in Indian society is in a transitional phase but it might take time to disappear.
It is essential for India to adopt the liberal democratic system which is basically based on equality, liberty and justice. It also gives importance to individual initiatives to develop one’s faculties. So if we have to abolish caste, hierarchy or remove gender difference from this country that seems to be a distant dream.
Rather, India must make efforts to implement the principles of the liberal democratic system in right earnest. If it does not happen in our society, and India is not able to create a classless society based on social justice, then we are bound to get into a collision of dissents. The disagreement may be on political, social, economical grounds the effects of it will be adverse to the society.
The Indian Republic Day honours the date on which the Constitution of India came into force replacing the Government of India Act as the governing document of India.Rather than spending a day in leisure or treating it as just another day of holiday let us come together and look beyond the virtuosity.
Let us not just raise the flag, distribute sweets, go on parades and listen to the speeches delivered by the acknowledged. But let us celebrate the date knowing the true meaning and essence of the Indian Republic day.Rather we must learn, study and understand the most important document of the Indian society, adhere to the rules and recognize the fundamental rights.
