India’s constitutional journey has etched a remarkable arc
India's democracy thrives despite challenges, showcasing constitutional endurance through people's commitment
The statement of Winston Churchill cynically doubting the sustenance of democracy in India has long ago been put to rest. Election after election, we, the people of India, notwithstanding all possible distractions which may arise in a democracy and more so in a nation of unparalleled diversity, have demonstrated our unflinching allegiance to the endurance of the Constitution. Much has been written about in legal and political literature about the endurance of constitutions, though with focus on Asian and South American countries, but not closely enough to capture the kaleidoscope of India’s democracy.
Legal scholars in India have considered their job done by discussing what the courts have done towards strengthening the rule of law. The symbiotic connections of people, processes and institutions, again notwithstanding some deficiencies and frailties, need to be written. Maybe even the theme of how these connections contributed to the making of our Constitution needs to be studied to understand how ours is a special story of constitutional endurance.
Democracy and constitutional endurance are intertwined, the one reinforces the other. How have matters such as people’s affection with, attachment to and confidence in the democratic process, which requires an intimacy and connection between the elected and the electorate, been made possible in a huge republic like ours? It has been argued in the early days of American democracy that the kind of intimacy that generates trust and faith in a closed social setting would be impossible in a continent -sized republic. It was asked how governments could retain the confidence of the people if one weakened the foundations on which that confidence was based.
There can be many an answer to this question. As we are celebrating 75 years of Indian constitutional journey, we can proudly say that this journey has been essentially an indigenous journey without any external advice or instructions or dictations. As we have confidently poised ourselves in the emerging global context, in my view it is sufficient if we look at the milestones which our republic has crossed by itself. These milestones were not the exclusive product of any one institution or factors. They were the confluence of contributions of Parliament, executive governance, the courts and the people.
I do not propose to go on the traditional lines of compartmentalising our constitutional history into a few phases of early stages, pre-1970, the Emergency period, the post-Emergency, and the post-liberalisation etc; it is necessary to see the continuity of the confluence of the symbiotic connections I mentioned earlier. It is unfortunate that in recent times, voices are being raised by going beyond our shores, to dub the ongoing democratic faith of the people of India as superficial. What is happening today in the political field is a product of history and not some intrusive aberrations. We need to go through our current transitions and understand them as a common journey of India as a nation with faith in oneness built on plurality.
Dr. BR Ambedkar and Gandhiji contemplated this element of our nation in their own ways. In a brief preface to a booklet by Swami Vedananda Teertha, Dr. Ambedkar wrote, “The work would have been of greater value if the author had considered why the positivism and optimism of India’s ancient past gave place to the pessimism of later days.” While one may agree with Dr. Ambedkar to engage with this question on our quest for the unbiased discoveries of many Indias or rediscovering India beyond attempts to denigrate anything about our past, we need to know who pushed the pessimism project beyond what was true. We do not need any external advice or instructions, legal or political, on how we will live as a nation and how we will design our future. As all nations are globalised, we will also navigate the new globalisation ushered in by unprecedented technology and resources movements with attention to new ways of social, economic and political freedoms and regulations.
Political pundits exaggerate the play of money and power or such close cousins in our public life. The power of money itself has undergone changes. It plays itself through party and corporate hands. The valiant attempts over a period to tame the shrew have met with new means of deviations. Maybe it is important that we pay tribute to the genius of we the people of India, who have learnt not to be absolute victims of this phenomenon. We will not yield to any pessimism in this regard.
The inimitable part played by the Supreme Court in ensuring a rights-based governance and balancing the interplay of fundamental rights and Directive Principles of State Policy is one part of our constitutional journey embedded in democracy. This role will continue, and we must enable as much independence for our judicial institutions as proportionately as their roles deserve. That this role was never sought to be contained, embedded, impeded or obstructed by the political processes except during Emergency is another part of our constitutional journey. The failures in our neighbouring countries will always remain as pointers of slippery slopes. The attempts on the part of political parties to ambitiously condition the minds of people through ingenious electoral promises have seen their own limitations though some parties continue to believe in freebies and deceits.
We cannot, however, rest on mere rhetoric. Living with democracy through the constitutional rule of law and raising its heights will mean more and more people’s participation, participation with knowledge, participation with wisdom and participation with the will that all of us unobstructed by caste, religion, faith or language will participate on an equal regard basis. Both governance institutions and the courts may have to play complementary roles in this regard, the one not usurping the field of the other.
Democracy is more than a form of government; it is primarily “associated living.” The Constitution demands from us such associated living, and this means we will endeavour to eliminate from our social fabric, exclusions and disabilities. Any factors that debilitate this associated living, be it caste or other factors, must be dealt with firmly, clearly and sagaciously. Our political scene, one hopes and is confident, will shed its petty confines and open up to the contemporary challenges which call for new vistas of enquiry.
The vigilant younger generation will draw their own understanding of the interplay between the role and wisdom of the people, parliamentary responsibilities and judicial restatements of law and justice. They will answer the questions by continued insistence on ethics, values and togetherness.
R Venkatramani is attorney general of India. The views expressed are personal.
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