Finally, it has also proved that the political pundits and the entire media, which was very confidently predicting 2024 Lok Sabha results, is totally disconnected from the ground reality in the country.
Deceptive Slogan
If one were to attribute any one factor for the above outcomes of the recent Lok Sabha elections, then it should be the slogan ‘Constitution is in Danger’. The clarion call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking not less than 400 seats victory in 2024 elections was very mischievously and effectively converted by the ‘united’ opposition parties into ‘Constitution is in Danger’ as their main election slogan.
The voters seemed to have been convinced by the opposition parties that Modi’s demand for a 400 plus majority is meant to take away the provisions of Caste-Reservations, Secularism from the Constitution and declare India as a Hindu Rastra. And by constantly alleging that Modi is anti-minority these parties were also successful in consolidating Muslim votes in their favor.
Projecting themselves as a “savior of Constitution” the opposition assured to conduct a National Caste Survey and provide caste-based distribution of national income and wealth. Rahul Gandhi went ahead and stated that Congress will provide benefits on the criteria of “jiski jitni aabaadi, uski utni bhagidari”.
Interestingly, the slogan is being continued to be used by the opposition parties even after the election results, like during the oath taking ceremony in the new parliament session. Articles are being published, intellectuals are holding lectures and public discussions on strong belief that ‘Constitution is in Danger’.
Therefore, it will not be wrong to conclude that the election results were skewed by the overall effects of this diabolic slogan - ‘Constitution is in Danger’.
Inherent Limitations
One has to recollect that the circumstances prevailing during the framing of Constitution were far from being favorable. The British were in a great hurry to leave the country and at any cost. The country had to be partitioned to ensure independence and Pakistan was created entirely on the religious ground. Country was a conundrum of religious hatred and massacre. Dr.B.R.Ambedkar’s book Pakistan or The Partition of India very lucidly narrates the prevailing socio-political circumstances of country’s partition. Departure of Gandhi from the scene had cast an emotional shadow blackmailing every effort, including the constitution making..
A dispassionate and scientific scrutiny of Constitution Assembly debates will substantiate how the existing circumstances adversely affected its making.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar – Burn the Constitution
Dr. Anup Singh: Last time when you spoke, you said that you would burn the Constitution.
Dr. B.R.Ambedkar: Do you want a reply to that? I would give it to you right here. My friend says that the last time when I spoke, I said that I wanted to burn the Constitution. Well, in a hurry I did not explain the reason. Now that my friend has given me the opportunity, I think I shall give the reason. The reason is this: We built a temple for God to come in and reside, but before God could be installed, if the Devil had taken possession of it, what else could we do except destroy the temple? We did not intend that it should be occupied by the Asuras. We wanted it to be occupied by Devas. That is the reason why I said I would rather like to burn it.
[Source: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, The Man and the Message, A Commemorative Volume, Ed. Sudarshan Agarwal, Secretary, Rajya Sabah, Prentice-Hall Pvt Ltd., New Delhi, 1991, page 22]
He had made one more remark which demonstrated his frustration regarding the way Constitution was finally formulated. His statement goes thus:
People say to me “Oh, you are the maker of the Constitution.”
My answer is ‘I was a hack. What I was asked to do, I did much against my will.”
Above statements made within the first five years of its implementation, by the very person who is acclaimed as the Father of our Constitution, should give a correct perspective of the limitations in our Constitution. He was categorical that instead of Gods it was Devils who have occupied the Constitution. However, the situation in the country has deteriorated during the past six decades and the Constitution has undergone phenomenal transformation.
The Most Amended Constitution in the World
Interestingly our Constitution is declared to be the most Amended Constitution in the World. So far, it has undergone 106 amendments, at an average of roughly twice a year. Of these, 96 amendments were made before 2014. That should clarify that our Constitution is not sacrosanct, and has been and can be amended to provide for the contemporary political demands of the nation.
Point to be noted is that the Congress, which is crying hoarse of Constitution being in danger, has the stigma of amending the Constitution most times. Further, Rajiv Gandhi amended the Constitution just to nullify the Supreme Court judgment in Shah Banu case and to mollify the minority community. Congress has the ignominy of amending the Constitution during the Emergency period, when all the democratic institutions were shut down and all powers were vested with the Prime Minister and her cabinet. It was during the Emergency that the words Socialism and Secularism were inserted into the Preamble of the constitution. These amendments changed the very essence and spirit of the Constitution, beyond the scope enshrined by the framers.
Why is that during all these amendments by the Congress our Constitution was ‘not’ in danger?
Era of Vote-Bank Politics
However, now a very strong minority vote bank has emerged in our democratic structure. The Congress, which has lost its all-India presence, is leading from the front in this regard. Muslim appeasement has become capital of the dynastic political parties, the and competition among them is intense to garner the minority votes en-block. Certain political parties, claiming to be protectors of minority community interests, are adorning communal names and yet, claim to be secular.
Consequently, today there is presence of a strong political undercurrent that the Constitution has failed to protect the heritage and culture of its majority community – the Hindus. Ranganathan Anand’s book Hindus in Hindu Rastra – Eighth-class Citizens and Victims of State-Sanctioned Apartheid provides detailed narratives of how the Hindus are being discriminated in Bharat by the successive governments.
Today religious terrorism has destroyed the glorious cultural heritage of Kashmir. Demographic structure and cultural history of West Bengal and Kerala have been deeply compromised. Conversely, the personal laws – marriage, inheritance, adoptions etc, of the majority community are fully regulated, their thousands of temples and temple lands are legally under the control of state governments, temple rituals and management are made ‘secular’. The donations to deities are usurped by the governments. All these under the title of ‘secularism’.
Most of the opposition political parties have now resorted to caste-based approach to garner Hindu votes. Caste is a strong demographic glue which further weakens the unity amongst the Hindus. This is yet another very smart move to further divide the Hindu community in the performance of their democratic rights. Rajiv Malhotra and Vijaya Vishwanathan in their book Varna, Jati, Caste – A Primer on Indian Social Structure have very succinctly explained what and how Varna and Jati were mischievously misinterpreted into divisive caste for the sake of political gain.
Newly adopted Free-bee culture by few opposition parties to gain political power has injected a new dimension to further weaken the Hindu community. Such blatant misuse of democratic framework to win over the electorates at the cost of national resources is definitely against the true spirit of democracy. But neither the ruling governments, political parties or the judiciary is interested to stop this wanton disregard for the national interests or the spirit of democracy.
Now some academicians are even looking forward to the North-South divide based on socio-political differences they derive from the recent Lok Sabha election results.
Bharat’s Dilemma
Bharat is once again confronted with a dilemma forced upon her by the recent Lok Sabha election results. Modi has to work under the coalition-compulsions during his third term. But it was during his third term that he wanted to carry out necessary fine-tuning of the laws which have been anti-Hindu and pro-minority appeasement causing huge damage to the cultural heritage of Sanathana Dharma. There was also an urgent need for extensive judicial reforms. All these needed a clear majority in both the houses of the Parliament, which he does not have today.
Secularism and western world
Very interestingly, it is intriguing that it is not only Bharat which is confronting the existential threat to its religious and cultural moorings. Entire western world is also suffering similar situations. Large scale racial confrontation and conflict between the followers of Judaism, Christianity and the Islam. Media is replete with the activities of Hamas, Taliban, Hezbollah, ISIS, Al-Qaida, Muslim Brotherhood and Bokoharam in some part of the world or the other. American flag is being burnt within the United States triggering wide-spread anti-Muslin political reactions. North America seems to have realized that it has gone too far in being tolerant under secular and liberal immigration policy.
The situation in Europe is still worse. Islam is considered to be the “fastest growing religion” in Europe. There is sudden fear in Holland that if their soft immigration policy continues, soon it will be converted into a Muslim country. Many other European countries such as Germany, France Italy, Greece are openly declaring a very severe scrutiny in their immigration policies, particularly the immigration of Muslims.
Western world which preached the lessons of Secularism, though furthered their Christian faith, are now unabashedly calling for protecting themselves from ‘Islamisation’.
Review of Constitution – A Must
India’s Constitution has failed to protect the Civilisational Culture of the country. It has also been misused and abused only to further damage the country’s Sanathan Dharma, which in itself imbibes the spirit of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam and Sarva Dharm Sambhav. True secularism is intrinsic to Hinduism. Otherwise how does one account for the significant increase in the population of the minority community since Independence? That is despite the fact that there is stark reduction in the minority population in Pakistan. Excepting the frequent communal flare-ups, the minority is living in peace and enjoying the political rights.
Therefore, the right slogan should be that ‘Sanathana Dharma is in Danger’, and Not the Constitution. Constitution needs to be fine-tuned to protect the country’s civilisational culture and set a standard to the world for racial harmony and peaceful co-existence.
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