State of the Republic
As the nation prepares to celebrate seventy-five years of being a Republic, it is also a time to pause and review the political balance sheet of the country. One must assess the major achievements and outline the key challenges. It is important to record that less than two per cent of the current population of the country was born prior to January 26, 1950. Our current central council of ministers led by the Prime Minister belongs to a generation born after India became a republic. This is also true for our serving bureaucrats.
In a nation where half the population is below 25 and has largely seen only the 21st century, remembering our journey as a 'Republic' becomes vital. Additionally, 15 per cent of our population is between 26 and 35 years of age and was born in the closing decade of the last century. As a result, two-thirds of our population is in the below 35 age group and is keen on investing in the next twenty-five years as we move towards a century as a republic. A young nation that seeks to carve out a space in a globalised world would surely need to reflect on the benefits of three-quarter century progress and achievement.
If one were to introspect into the state of the republic and its journey in working out our constitution, three sets of alternatives merit attention:
a) Our intent and their implications, b) Our effort towards inclusion and the challenges of ensuring meaningful involvement; and c) Our aim of securing integration and the multiple interpretations of this integration.
Thus, our intent, inclusion, and integration on the one hand, and the implications, involvement, and interpretation on the other are at the core of our assessment of our journey as a republic.
The intent is to clearly manifest in the promises made and assurances held out by various political parties when they sought voter support during an election. The implications are reflected in what happened to those promises five years down the line when the ruling party completed five years in office.
Very often, there is a significant gap between what is promised and the actual outcome. There is sufficient empirical evidence to prove that when the citizen perceives that a ruling party has lived up to the promises it made, it is often given another term in office. On the other hand, when the perception visibly indicates a gap between performance and promise, the ruling party is invariably shown the door to leave.
There is sufficient truth in the assertion of leaders, in the last seven decades, that when the voters believe that the intentions of the political leadership are honest and sincere, they have been offered another chance in power, even if their achievements fell a little short of promise. Often, this is a battle of perceptions, and the political actor/party who wins this perception battle is often rewarded with the opportunity to be in power.
The debate on inclusiveness has been the core of aspirations of citizens in the last seven decades. Every political party has formulated catchy political slogans to demonstrate their commitment to inclusiveness. The pledge to take 'everyone along' has been at the core of political contestation. While winning elections has been about popular support, the aspiration for inclusiveness goes way beyond mere electoral victories.
Inclusiveness in practice in society, inclusiveness in benefiting from economic achievements, inclusiveness as reflected in the nature of political participation, and inclusiveness as participants in nation-building are some of the multi-track manifestations of this inclusiveness.
While inclusiveness remains a critical voice of citizen expectation, has it translated itself into the core vocabulary of politics?
As a republic, do the four goals enshrined in our Preamble – equality, liberty, justice, and fraternity, remain the key ideals that shape our aspiration for inclusiveness? The third set of alternatives focuses on forms of integration and the interpretation of the same. There is near unanimity that the philosophy of the Constitution succinctly represents the idea of integration.