The Republic Day and the Constitutional spirit

The nation celebrates the Constitution as the Republic Day’s Gift. It is a different story that nobody follows the Constitutional spirit but follows the sectarian spirit. The Indian Constitution, the entity of our Republic Day adoration, has been at the centre of a number of political controversies. Due to these rows, the Constitution has become weaker and more and more voices are shriller against its fundamental spirit.

Even legal voices are not fighting honestly for the protection of the spirit of the Constitution. This is palpable, in the latest example, from the way SC and ST Act and triple talaq cases have been fought and argued within the courts. In this matter, we need to understand two things.

First, when politicians squabble over varied elucidations of the Constitution it shows that they, knowingly or unknowingly, hold vote banks only in their mind. The Constitutions has no meaning for them. In showing disrespect to our Constitution, all would have wanted to penetrate its control room, as often as they do, to justify their political positions.

One would never clash over something that is essential without profit. The Constitution also becomes a very commonly played tool; it is just like a tree that has to be shaken every time for ripe fruits. This takes us to the second concern. Always they find morality and constitutionality at their handiness and that is really bad news. As the two functions on divergent ideologies and for them both the issues are on their side and one and the same thing.

These new-generation moralists, invariably lock up people in their own boxes. This is achieved on the basis of caste, religion, language, gender, customs, quotas, Sharia etc, with tough active supporters and prescriptions, widely accepted well-knit followers.  A democratic-election constitution compulsion and greed to votes and power guide them and they justify their approach in the right direction, and for them, it upholds s inclusiveness and social justice.

SC and ST activists and cohorts of triple talaq claim themselves as moralists and claim they actively promote and strengthen unity among people for a strong secular and inclusive nation and society.  It is then the job of the Constitution to set them right these wrongdoers by our basically pre-democratic character, to take the corrective moral ground.

A liberal, democratic constitution is very difficult to made and implement. Here our Constituent Assembly failed. It failed to understand the real and hidden mind of Indian leaders and citizens. They simply borrowed or copy-paste most of the principles from foreign constitutions effortlessly as it requires narrow-mindedness, not intellect, to strengthen it.

Separating oneself from others begins and ends with adoring oneself to disruption. A democratic constitution, defiantly, emphasizes to make one with those who are diverse from us for our shared gain. Therefore, to expect a constitution to correct everything is to expect from a dying man to fight for us.

When the SC and ST Act was corrected by the Honourable Supreme Court, the leading mover was morality and human rights and not the law. When the Supreme Court changed and softens it down, it acted constitutionally and legally, because it cannot allow to trample down the human rights of a group of people. But SC and ST Act case is it known, also proved the limitations that five unarmed judges can have over a violent and armed mob.

One may differ with what the judges pronounced but this is something only other judges can change or overturn not the street rioters. If the conflict and riots raged on this issue is because SC and ST activists realized the fact that they were morally wrong and cannot get the Constitution’s endorsement.

Same, with triple talaq. Here we have an additional immoral issue because it is essentially separatists’ conspiracy as it privileged men over women among Indian Muslims. The Constitution must clearly oppose these wrongs and wrongdoers. Moreover, it is the duty of the Supreme Court to take a tough and uncompromising stand on such issues of equality and human rights. It is bizarre if a liberal democratic constitution allows for such caste, religion and gender-based discrimination.

In these circumstances, a moralist cannot stand but reach out for violence, riot and hate instruments. Yet, once the highest court has criminalised instant “triple talaq” it is now of no significance whether a Muslim man utters these cuss words, or not. He may get only sadistic “cheers” or anything else, thrice, or in multiples of three, but all will be useless and senseless and may take him to jail as a criminal.

If a Muslim man has divorce in his mind, uttering “talaq” thrice in a quick sequence is a futile exercise now, as far as the law is concerned. It is at this point that immoralists come into rioting, but the Constitution and the court will always be the policeman on the streets.

One set of moralists want the man to be punished for simply saying “talaq” thrice, even though those words are now useless and accomplish nothing. This is Islamic practice separates Hindu men from Muslim men and hides the existing constitutional law against domestic violence that applies to all the people equally.

Such laws and practices are against the very spirit of Indian constitutions. These laws are the mockery of secularism and equality. It is not the question of caste and religion. But there are people and vested interests who want to keep such laws and practices.

This is because they are they are straightening out themselves from the SC, ST and Muslim communities by not emphasising the caste-neutral and religion-neutral laws against caste violence and domestic violence. Unfortunately, both sides are forcing to our Constitution, judiciary and lawmakers to make them stronger.

Moreover, the constitution guarantees the right to equality to all the citizens under the law.  It is the responsibility of the state to enact such policy that does not distinguish between its citizens on the basis of caste, religion, and gender.  But in practice, the country's governing system is the most racist system, which has converted the nation into an ethnic-state, where caste and communal identities are the most powerful tags.  In all walks of life our system practices apartheid policy.

The Indian Constitution has faced many such caste and religious challenges and has come out the dark horse. When we look back at these failures, every Republic Day has no meaning left for it. If the Rajpath is only festive but cannot face diverse moralities, have those have lost in caste and religious egos and merged into it.