On August 15 we are observing 75 years of India’s independence. But truly there is nothing to celebrate or cheer about. There is a lot to ponder and worry about while our nation is ebbing away from democracy.
The basic fundamentals of our Constitution are being fiddled with and even our fundamental rights are sought to be trampled on. We have a lot to reflect on what has been going wrong with the very guiding principles being flouted with impunity. On November 26, 1949, the Constituent Assembly adopted our Constitution which was drafted by a committee headed by Babasaheb Ambedkar who played a pivotal role in its drafting. Perhaps the founding fathers never visualized or anticipated that Money and Muscle Power would one day rule the roost in our country’s political arena. So now there is need of urgent amendments to our Constitution to safeguard those fundamentals while leaving no grey areas for manipulation and towards this the legislature, executive and judiciary must look within. The Election Commission, Reserve Bank and some other vital institutions whose autonomy also stands blatantly ruptured. The CBI, Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Authorities are functioning under political duress. The world’s largest democracy is at crossroads while we are witnessing an undeclared state of emergency. And more importantly there are attempts to even compromise the vital independence of the judiciary. Let us work dedicatedly towards unitedly ensuring a truly independent and democratic India.
