About the Author
Safi Mohan MR is Assistant Professor in Law, Government Law college Trivandrum. He is the secretary of CK Chandrappan Centre for social justice and the founder of Law and Justice Research Foundation.
In commemoration of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, he was not only just the architect of the finest written Constitution that the world has ever seen but also a visionary and a national icon who led India towards the realization of the true aspirations of equality, social justice and fraternity enshrined in the Constitution. He was the one who saw the dream of an inclusive egalitarian democratic nation, as the father of the Indian Constitution and as the creator of the ideals that paved the way for the democratization of India’s cultural and social life.
As a revolutionary, through his relentless efforts, he lent credence to the principle of power-sharing, religious neutrality, and democratic governance in the Indian Constitution. His diligent endeavours towards achieving an egalitarian society, devoid of social discrimination, resonates powerfully even today. The renowned historian Shri Ramachandra Guha, rightfully stated in his book “India After Gandhi” that these were indeed the ideals that India inherited through the sovereign, democratic Constitution. . As the Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee , his final address to the Constituent Assembly marked a culmination of his efforts by emphasizing the paramount importance of the three guiding principles to the Indian democracy.Ambedkar ended his speech with three warnings about the future.
The first was concerning the place of popular protest in a democracy. In his viewpoint, there was no place for bloody revolution and no room for Gandhian methods either. He had stated the abandoning of the methods of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha. “Under an autocratic regime, there could be some justification for them but not now, when constitutional method of redress were available,” he said. Effective public opinions based on constitutional standards and seeking proper judicial remedies through constitutional courts are the key methods which are more effective in solving our future problems rather than bloody revolution and peaceful satyagraha, he had stated in the Constituent Assembly in 1948. Still after 75 years of our independence people are depending bloody revolutions and Gandhian methods for solving their problems. Lack of constitutional literacy and lack of proper social auditing of our democratic institutions are major reasons why India society still ignoring Ambedkar first warning.
The second warning concerned the unthinking submission to charismatic authority. Ambedkar quoted John Stuart Mill, who cautioned citizens not to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man, or to trust him with powers which enable him to subvert their institutions.. His famous quote resonated as “Bhakti in religion may be the road to the salvation of the soul but in politics Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship.” His legacy of reverence reflects upon the consequences of hero worship in the realm of democracy. By acknowledging the pitfalls of hero worship, he identified alternative paths for a society that draws its strength from its people.
Ambedkar’s final warning pertained to urging Indians to not be content with what he called ‘mere political democracy’. He stated that “Once the country formally became a sovereign democratic republic on January 26, 1950, it was going to enter a life of contradictions.”
“In politics, we will have equality and the recognition of the principle of ‘one man, one vote and one vote, one value’. In socio-economic life, we will have inequality. and we shall, by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of ‘one man, one value’ philosophy. How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life? If we continue to deny it for long , we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril.” he remarked.
In conclusion, the legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar encompasses both political and social dimensions for a just and equal society. His work stands as a testament to the fact that without ensuring social justice, India cannot fully achieve the ideals of its Constitution. To make India a true democracy, it is crucial that all political and social forces recognize and respect the values of equality, justice and fraternity enshrined in the constitution. Even in contemporary times, Ambedkar’s dream for actualizing his economic doctrine of “state socialism” in the draft order still remains unfulfilled. He was very optimistic about our Constitution, 1949 in the constitutional assembly he said very important statement about Indian Constitution, he said “ I feel that it is workable, it is flexible, and it is strong enough to hold the Country together both in peace time and in war time. Indeed, if I may say so, if things go wrong under the new constitution, the reason will not be that we had a bad constitution. What we will have to say is, that man was vile”. The best way to fulfil his vision and mission of all these democratic ideas remains on the hands of the constitutional institutions including legislature, executive and judiciary. Democratic Governments have to take an initiative of constitutional literacy among its citizens. Cultivating constitutional morality in every walk of life is the primary responsibility of the State. In fact, Ambedkar said, “Humans are morals. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering. Otherwise both will wither and die.” There is still hope that our democratic States will propagate constitutional ideas among its citizens.
