This issue is focussed on the fact that our Constitutional Values and Democratic Institutions are under serious threat. The first article is by Pratap Bhanu Mehta, the scholar interpreter of our maladies, offers an overview. Mehta asserts that “The biggest challenge we face in acknowledging … that we are still bewitched by the pseudo constitutional façades of our Republic — as if the forms and processes of Parliament, rules of procedure, legal redress, constitutional morality, institutions or even the terminology of parliamentary democracy can save us. The recourse to this formal language of democracy serves increasingly to provide a constitutional veneer to what is in effect, an unconstitutional concentration of power.” This article was first published in The Indian Express, December 22, 2023 and is reproduced with gratitude.
The second article is by RGICS Visiting Fellow, Arnab Bose written with the guidance of the undersigned. He carried out a detailed study of various constitutional violations and over 30 such cases have been documented in detail, which will be published separately. In this abridged article, the violations are grouped along the four Preamble values – Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity and three sets of Democratic Institutions – the Legislature, the Judiciary and the Executive. Arnab Bose demonstrates that the Executive has not only encroached upon the powers of the Legislature and the Judiciary, but also of States and even the Fourth Estate – the press. These constitutional violations have created fissures in the social cohesion of India. Social cohesion is what the third article, by Col (retd.) Ravinder Pal Singh strongly argues for, based on the foundation of the values and principles of the Indian Constitution.
Apart from stating that social cohesion is necessary as mankind needs to live in harmony in an inclusive society, Ravi Singh, formerly of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), argues that social cohesion provides essential preconditions for socio-economic development and national security. He asks: ”Can divided societies develop a security structure that will protect the country without an ideology of national unity?”
In a practical attempt to build social cohesion, Rahul Gandhi had conducted the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir in 2002-2023. Earlier this month, Rahul Gandhi embarked on Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra which started in Manipur on 14th Jan 2024 and will end in Mumbai in March 2024. The Yatra is an assertion of our Constitutional Values and Democratic Institutions. His first Bharat Jodo Yatra was first and foremost an assertion of Mohabbat – Fraternity, and the second one is an assertion of Nyay- Justice. In both he asserts fearlessness which is the very foundation of Liberty. And everywhere he talks about Equality – the need for all of us to appreciate that the value of all human lives is equal.
We carry two links to videos of Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. The first video is titled Nyay: The Path To Peace In Manipur. It shows the women of Manipur in conversation with Rahul Gandhi during the first day of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Manipur. And the second video is on day 2 when Rahul Gandhi reaches Relief Camps In Moirang, Manipur .
Policy Watch: Constitutional Values and Democratic Institutions – January 2024
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