Dec 18, 2024 08:35 PM IST
The Constitution debate in Parliament was lost in partisan squabbles instead of discussing new challenges before the nation
India’s Constitution turned 75 last month. Among its impressive achievements are establishing a thriving democracy against all odds, making the difficult but morally correct choice of excluding no one from casting their franchise, and taking yeomen steps to level the sociopolitical field in a society riven by millennia-old inequalities. The framework of laws that it proposed has helped hold together a country of incredible diversity and contradictions. So, when Parliament decided to mark the anniversary with a special debate, it only seemed apt. The discussions that spanned over four days, though, were less about the Constitution and more about contemporary politics. Citizens got a glimpse of a combative BJP, boosted by its victories in Maharashtra and Haryana, looking to turn the tables on the Opposition. It was no coincidence that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah chose to corner the Congress on the question of changing the Constitution — the issue that hurt the BJP by trimming its tally to 240 in the 2024 general elections. They were aggressive in their attempt to delegitimise the Opposition’s credentials on the Constitution. The Opposition implemented its own version of this strategy, trying to dissociate any Right-wing ideologue from the freedom struggle and the process of Constitution writing. In both Houses, Opposition members spoke about attacks on minorities and Dalits, accused the government of not being able to ensure the safety of vulnerable communities, and brought up issues such as the violence in Manipur to underline the government’s failures. Both sides attempted to claim the legacy of the nation’s founders, especially BR Ambedkar, while accusing each other of appropriation, a trend reflected in the needless controversy over Shah’s comments in the Rajya Sabha.
Instructive as it was though, the debate failed to rise above partisan politics or move beyond the past. The Constituent Assembly was populated by members with sharply divergent views, yet discussion was always civil, always forward-looking. India today stands at a similar crossroads. It needs the kind of deliberative thinking and cooperation seen between 1946 and 1949. How will the world’s most populous nation ensure a better life for everyone? Will inequality erode prosperity? Is it moral to tolerate caste discrimination and faith-based bias? How will policymakers reconcile lopsided development, anxieties about economic migrants, and rising regionalism? And how will India deal with the climate crisis? These questions needed astute responses and long-term thinking, possible only in Parliament. There were none.
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