BOOK

After seventyfive years of Independence where do we stand today? This is a very apt question we must ask ourselves. We talk at length about various institutions , about our achievements and failures in the areas of economy, education, health etc. Some praise one set of governments , some praise another set of governments. But do these discussions really matter without some debates about our values, morals, ideals and philosophies? When India became free from the British imperialism we Indians through our representatives gave us a fabulous Constitution as a guiding instruments and hoped ideals of our Constitution as enshrined in the Preamble and in the different Articles would dictate our life. Today when we evaluate our standing after seventy five years we find we have largely lost directions set by our Constitution. Our Constitution has a fine blend of Indian traditional philosophy and modern values  but we have lost our commitment towards those values like freedom, equality, dignity, free debate, secularism. We have shunned these ideals for the sake of  communal divisiveness, unequal distribution of wealth, restricted public discourse, and hate speech. Democratic ideals have been given up for authoritarian rule. We have, in fact lost those dreams which our forefathers had cherished during the days of our freedom struggle. Journey of a society is decided by the policies adopted by her holders but the qualities of policies and their direction are decided by the values and philosophies adopted by them. When values are full of hatred, divisiveness, communal thinking, authoritarian rule we can't hope some common ground for progress.

THESE ARE THE INDICATORS

    First we must recall what democratic ideals our Constitution and our value system have valued. Democracy itself is predominantly modern system of rule but it's roots were prescent even in the ancient India. In the ancient time some parts of the world including Greece and India had some forms of democracy . Even during the medieval period when India was being ruled by Muslim rulers, certain kings/Emperors encouraged basic tenates of democracy though full fledged democracy was never a choice of any ruler. But our freedom struggle marked our journey towards modern democracy and end of imperialism in India also commensurated with the adoption of full fledged modern democracy. Freedom struggle in our country was really a journey towards modern democracy and in this sense it was unique in the world and was also unique in the history of freedom struggles of all colonies of 18th to 20th Century. From the days of establishment of colonial rule in India struggle for freedom started. History of establishment of colonialism in India is coincided with the opposition of colonialism . As the Brush Rule progressed in India, first under the British East India Company and then under the British Royal the struggle for freedom crystalized more and more. And soon after the freedom struggle of 1857 Indian leadership showed her clear inclination for democracy. Various phases of freedom struggle of India were very emphatic journey towards democratic self government. In no period of freedom struggle Indian leaders ever advocated any other form for their self rule and freedom. Democracy was the only choice that our forefathers adopted and advvocated . 

    Democracy is a form of government which gives people a chance for self governance on the basis of shared values with shared goals. In democracy there is respect for all views and opinions and dissent is accepted as absolutely natural but dissent and disagreements have smoke spaces to be negotiated civilly . Ultimately a shared view is emerged which is accepted by all . Our Constituent Assembly was the great place for expression of disagreements and dissents which were freely debated and ultimately a shared view emerged in the form of our Constitution. Indian Constitution is a product of free debates on disagreed views and dissents. In fact the emergence of the Constitution is the best example of resolution of disagreements and dissents by debates in the most democratic manner. All views and opinions were tabled fearlessly and they were debated extensively till the shared agreement was reached. Most conservative views were treated with respect as the most progressive ones. There was no bullying . In this way when India became independent democracy was deeply ingrained in the society. Democracy is characterized by  a Constitution . Acceptance of the Constitution, respect to dissent, open debate, rule of law, equality before law, devolution of power, federalism, division of powers among three branches of the government, universal suffrage, independent Judiciary, Fundamental Rights, positive discrimination etc are some of the features of our Constitution. As we have seen that our Constitution was the product of extensive debates among representatives of all classes of the people of India , it is the best compendium of the shared values of the Indians. And se this is the best compendium of shared values the ideals and goals set by our Constitution are the common good which must be shared by all Indians and we should evaluate our commitment to our nation on the scale of our commitment to these shared common good as enshrined in our Constitution.

WHERE DO WE STAND