Sir, at the outset i would like to convey the greetings of our leader Ms Mamata Banerjee, hon’ble chief minister of West Bengal to the hon’ble members of parliament on the occasion of the Constitution Day celebrations and her deepest homage to the architect of Indian constitution and champion for the emancipation of backward classes and the downtrodden Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on his 125th birth anniversary.
Sir, when i look back through the eyes of my mind at the great hall just behind this august house, i can visualize the day, i.e, 26th November 1949 when Dr Ambedkar was presenting the most sacred book of our country, the constitution of India to Dr Rajendra Prasad, the chairman of the constituent assembly.
It took 2 years,11 months and 17 days to finalize the constitution containing 395 articles and 8 schedules after disposing of 2473 amendments to the constitution that were moved. Since then the constitution is being amended from time to time to keep pace with the demands of the time.
All of us know that four guiding principles of governance were embodied in the preamble to the constitution, viz, justice, liberty, equality and fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation. After 66 years of adoption of the constitution, we as parliamentarians must introspect-how much the nation has achieved while implementing the constitutional mandates, in the matters of social justice, economic justice and political justice- in the matter of liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship- in the matter of equality of status and of oppurtunity.
On the 25th November 1949 Dr BR Ambedkar while presenting the draft constitution for adoption interalia commented and i (quote) “…….. Principles of liberty,equality and fraternity are not to be treated as separate items in trinity, because these are the principles of life.” (unquote). Hence,dr ambedkar taught us that denial of liberty,equality and fraternity leads to denial of life. If we want to preach or practice some agenda against the principles of liberty,equality and fraternity for the sake of politics or for any reasons whatsoever, there would be end of the road built up by our ancestors after hundreds of years of subjugation,deprivation,intolerance and exploitation for ushering into a dignified nation qualified to enjoy liberty,acquire equality and maintain fraternity amongst ourselves irrespective of caste,creed,religion,sex language or territorial boundaries. Looking at the bewildered situation prevailing today, i am sorry to say that we are still at the cross roads of ‘one step forward and two steps backward’.
Because when article 51a (e)(f) and (h) demand from every citizen “ to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious,linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to develop the scientific temper , humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform,” these articles,no doubt,are not mere synthesis of words but require devoted action by citizens towards that goal.
Sir, the hon’ble leader of the house in his eloquent speech has mentioned about federalism and separation of powers. It is no doubt that certain pillars of our democracy are triving for more and more authority. Authority has been given by our constitution framers to perform certain duties effectively, not to enjoy for themselves,nor to misutilize such authority endangering the very existance of its independent,neutral and constitutional character. Conflicts among the constitutional institutions must br avoided to desist all forms of authoritarianism.
So far the centre –state relations are concerned, we know that two commissions were set up- Sarkaria and Punchi commissions. While some recommendations of sarkaria commission were implemented, government is sitting idle on the punchi commission report submitted to the government in march 2010 . If government is serious about co operative federalism, it must accept the Punchi Commission report and implement its recommendations in letter and spirit.
Sir, recently, the first citizen of India, being the constitutional head of the state was first amongst us who expressed his deep concern and anguish over certain untoward incidents culminating into a sordid state of affairs which no citizen or the functionaries of the government can ignore. I am only referring to the statements which are in public domain. On 8th October 2015, a press communique was released from the Rastrapati Bhawan which referred hon’ble president interalia saying,(quote) “…….tolerance and co-existence are basic tenets of our civilization. We hold them very dear to our hearts…….we should not permit religion to be used as a mask to satisfy hunger for power and control of some individuals……….” (unquote)
Then again on 13th October 2015 ,while addressing a gathering in his native place, the hon’ble president said referring to teachings of lord Ramakrishna Paramanhansa said (quote) “…….jato mat ,tato path…” meaning ‘as there are number of beliefs, there are a number of ways’.
Indian civilization has survived for 5000 years because of its tolerance.it has always accepted dissent and differences.a large number of languages,1600 dialects and 7 religions co-exit in India .we have a constitution that accommodates all these differences” (unquote).are we listening to the first citizen of India? Have we thought as to what prompted the first citizen to advise all to be tolerant? Let us introspect.
Sir, in 1924, Mahatma Gandhiji appealed to all those Indians who had received awards and titles from the British rulers to give up.they numbered about 4500 Indians out of them only a few responded to the clarion call of Gandhiji.
Today we don’t have bapuji.no call or request from any quarter ,yet more or less 450 intellectuals comprising of scientists,writers, acamedicians,social activists,film personalities, journalists who had the credentials of receiving national awards have relinquished all those to protest in principle the growing incidence of intolerance. Should we ingnore these intellectuals and hurl abuses to them? If an actor expresses the fear and helplessness of his wife, should he become a victim of rue or hate campaign of any political outfit? Isnt it a complete madness suddenly encompassing our conscience,our culture,our legacy,our civilization?should we debate on food habits of ourselves when we are growing matured in 21st century? If we want to respect our constitutional ideals, if we would seriously like to pay homage to baba sahib, we must introspect, as otherwise everything said shall only be expression of words meaning nothing.
Sir,this is the solemn occasion when we must recall and recapitulate the debates of eminent Indians who manned the constituent assembly( and compared to whom we are pigmies) particularly Baba Saheb Ambedkar,of thoughts and expressions they perceived to arrive at a consensus in presenting the constitution of India which is unique and unparalleled to all other contemporary constitutions of the world.
We must also remember the word of caution of Dr Ambedkar and i quote, “….. In india,bhakti or what may be called the path of devotion or hero-worship,plays a part in its politics unequalled in magnitude by the part it plays in the politics of any other country in the world. Bhakti in religion may be a road to the salvation of the soul. But in politics, bhakti or hero-worship is sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship.”
Times are fast changing.people are getting tired of government by the people. They are prepared to have governments for the people and are indifferent whether it is government of the people and by the people.
If we wish to preserve the constitution in which we have sought to enshrine the government of the people, for the people and by the people,let us resolve not to be tardy in the recognition of the evils that lie across our path and which induce people to prefer government for the people to government by the people,nor to be weak in our initiative to remove them. That is the only way to serve the country. I know of no better.” (unquote)
Now the question is –are we serving the country in the constitutional way that Baba Saheb desired? Whenever i put this question to myself,pat comes the reply-“no”. Because we are still pursuing a cause to divide. We are encouraging the divisive forces in one form or the other, knowing it fully well that forces of destabilization can never contribute in any manner to the task of nation building.
This is pathetic to note that some of the responsible people have also forgotten to act responsibly and reasonably, as otherwise we would not have heard after 40 years of incorporation of the word “secularism” in the preamble through 42nd amendment of the Constitution that a very responsible person holding a high and important position is saying—– secularism was not within the scheme of constitution at the beginning.everyone knows it. Then he says babasaheb did not want to include ‘securlarism’ in the preamble. What is new about this? What he has not said is that Babasaheb while explaining the ‘freedom of religion’ in our Constitution said and i quote,”the state “ is neither religious,nor anti religious,nor irreligious.it is totally detached from religious dogmas.” Unquote.
Sir,on this solemn occasion, my party ,the All India Trinamool Congress led by Ms Mamata Banerjee once againresolves to rededicate ourselves for the cause of the Nation and to help strengthen all constitutional schemes, mechanism and institutions in achieving the cherished goals of Indian constitution.
Sir, While saying so i would like to refer a few line from tagore’s nobel prize famed “song offerings’ or geetanjali—- quote
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where tireless striving streches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the deary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever –widening thought and action-
Into that heaven of freedom, my father,let my country awake.
