Archaic mindsets

Republic Day marks the adoption of the constitution of India and the transition of the country to a republic on January 26, 1950. January 26 was the chosen date since it was on this day in 1929 that the Indian National Congress issued the Declaration of Indian Independence (Purna Swaraj), opposing the British Regime’s Dominion status. While India gained independence from the British Raj in 1947, it wasn’t until January 26, 1950, that the Indian Constitution came into effect, and India became a sovereign state, declaring it a republic. The Constituent Assembly, meant to draft the Constitution of India, held its first session on December 9, 1946. The last assembly session ended on November 26, 1949, and then the Constitution was adopted a year later. Thus, Constitution Day is celebrated in India on November 26 every year, as on November 26, 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India. Though young, over those seven decades, the Indian Constitution has undergone tremendous change such as the modification of elements of the constitution, such as human freedoms, federalism, political participation, judicial scrutiny, etc. During some periods, such amendments were not usually introduced to strengthen constitutional rights. Unlike in the years before 2014 , successive governments have made the celebrations of Republic Day and Independence Day an all-India events where the main focus was on drawing inspiration from the sacrifices and contributions made by India’s freedom fighters and enlightened pioneers. Since around a decade now, the narrative in India has been divisive politically, socially and ideologically. Today one section of India ruling the nation, is laying claim to exclusive nationalism and accuse those on the other side of being anti-nationals. Hyper-nationalism that is being injected across India is a dangerous trend. One favourite alibi for change is to against whatever that is being seen as colonial- be it names of places, roads, institutions etc. A particular narrative is to attack a ghost called ‘colonialism’ and blowing it out of proportion. It does not make anyone more patriotic just by condemning colonialism and to give it a bad name. The reality is that India itself is a creation of colonialism. India’s military, laws, parliament, education etc are all colonial inheritances. For example, Republic Day celebrations have been held at Rajpath since 1955. Rajpath was once known as the Kingsway, in honour of India’s then emperor, George V. The road was renamed Rajpath after independence, which also means King’s Way in Hindi. Another point is that while Netaji deserves to be honoured for his sacrifices, it is appropriate that his statue is to be placed at India Gate. However when the government sought to link this by saying that independence is not given but taken, it meant that India got independence through military victory. India got independence after Second World War when the colonial rulers, facing mass uprising decided it was time to leave before the Indian masses made their stay too hot and at a time when the Sun was setting on the British empire. These rhetoric are a sad reflection of how some leaders are trying to re-write or re-invent the 75 years of modern Indian history and refuse to accept that India has come of age. Their narratives only seek to divide a vibrant nation and such ideology should have no place in a diversified and unified Indian polity.