79th Independence Day: Whither Democracy!

Our Independence was a huge achievement of people’s struggle against the British. The Independence struggle had the participation of people of all religions, castes, genders, languages and ethnicities. The principles that guided our movement were Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and Social Justice. The likes of Bhagat Singh emphasised the values of rights and liberty for all sections of society irrespective of the bondages of class and caste. B.R Ambedkar focussed on Equality (social Justice) for the all people, trying to break the bondages of caste/varna, and Gandhi, who was the overarching leader of the movement, emphasised on Fraternity.

The people who supported these leaders belonged to the rising class of industrialists, businesspersons, workers, women and indigenous people. The triad of a modern state was there in these three major icons – Bhagat Singh, Ambedkar and Gandhi -- who left a deep impression on free India. It was these values of the Independence movement that form the foundational triad of the Indian Constitution.

These rising classes, coming up due to industrialisation, communication and modern education, looked forward to a country where an inclusive nationalism would ensure peace and progress of the country. Class-wise, this was a broad generalisation, while a few exceptions were scattered here and there.

To oppose or ignore these trends toward modern India, we also had the declining sections of earlier rulers/dominant sections of society who were steeped in the feudal values of hierarchy of caste and gender. They were rooted in the values of patriarchy and glorified the times when the values of kingdoms/feudalism prevailed. They mostly opposed the freedom movement and insisted on ‘glorious ancient’ times.

They imposed a method of looking backwards while walking forward. These tendencies came from landlords, kings etc., who were scared of the ripples of empowerment of workers/Dalits/women and adivasis. They typically glorified the kings of their religion and the social values related to those times.

The Muslim League had mainly support from the nawabs and landlords, while the Hindu Mahasabha-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS had support from the Rajas, landlords and clerics. They opposed the emerging values of democratic society, modern education for all and struggle against the British. These tendencies regarded religion as the base of the Nation, well-articulated by V. d Savarkar in his book, Hindutva or ‘Who is a Hindu’. This was a painful counter to the ongoing anti-British struggle of the national movement. The partition of the country on the basis of religion was the biggest stab in the back of Indian nationalism.

The Constituent Assembly well represented the diversity of our country. Ambedkar, who had burnt Manu Smriti, was asked to chair the crucial drafting committee. Soon after the Constitution was formed, the RSS mouthpiece, Organiser, came with a scathing criticism of this on the grounds that it does not have the ancient values of Manu Smriti. The images of Ambedkar and Nehru were burnt by these elements.

Independent India had the twin leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel, both staunch followers of Gandhi. While Patel successfully integrated most of the princely states, Nehru implemented the vision of modern India by ensuring that the Constitution was implemented in letter and spirit.

‘One person One Vote’ was implemented successfully and the roots of democracy were planted deep with Nehru’s undying faith in democracy and secularism, which in a way are twins. His plan of modern education (IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, to name a few) laying the foundation of the public sector, focus on irrigation and implementation of reservation policy did ensure some march toward equality.

Some commentators who compare Pakistan and India’s plight a few decades earlier, have stated that India’s achievements and Pakistan’s failure (In education, industrialisation) could be attributed to many factors, but the central factor was the presence of Nehru in India.

Since the past few decades, the rise of the Hindu Right RSS and its progeny have changed the direction of national goals and ideas. Today, authoritarian politics in the name of Hindu religion is taking the centre stage, and is undermining the ‘idea of India’ that emerged during our freedom movement. Those who were standing on the bylanes and opposing the freedom movement and its values of inclusion and equality of all, are now dominating and the development of the country has come to a halt.

Walls of hate against religious minorities have been erected to demolish the values of fraternity in our society. The recently held movement against the failure of the examination system has definitely broken the arrogance of this regime, but the direction and goals of Hindu nationalism are very much intact. The battle to restore our democratic spirit and values of the Indian Constitution needs a protracted and long struggle.

The RSS combine has sowed hatred very deep in our society, it has also infiltrated all the facets of the Indian State. Dissatisfaction due to its policies peaked and surfaced strongly recently with the Gen-Z movement. This has ensured that the inhibition imposed by the ‘elected autocratic’ regime may loosen up a bit for the time being.

The deeper wound inflicted by the RSS combine in the body politics may not be easily overcome. A regime change from the one committed to Hindu nationalism to the one devoted to the Indian Constitution is what is needed. The falsehood-based narratives that have made a place in popular understanding need to be countered by the narratives built around love and friendship of Indian people from centuries, the narratives that Subhash Bose, Gandhi, Patel and Nehru strove to instil among the Indian people. The recent Jantar Mantar phenomenon is the first step toward recovering India’s being as a centuries-old civilisation struggling to take its deserving place in the comity of nations.

The condition of the religious minorities needs to be brought to the level of ‘equal citizenship’. The authoritarianism of the government needs to be undone and we need to resume nation-building on a rational and scientific basis. The Jantar Mantar initiative is just the beginning, there’s a long way to go to restore the dreams of Gandhi and Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh and Subhash Bose, Maulana Azad and Sardar Patel. Wishing all a happy Independence Day.

The writer is a human rights activist, who taught at IIT Bombay. The views are personal.