The National Aim for India: Addressing Poverty, Unemployment, and More
Explore Justice Markandey Katju's perspective on India's national goals and the role of the Constitution. Learn why he believes that a people's revolution is essential for addressing poverty, unemployment, and other societal issues, and for achieving rapid industrialization and modernization.
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| The Path Forward: Uniting for a New Political and Social Order in India |
Our national aim and the Constitution
By Justice Markandey Katju
Our national aim must be to abolish poverty, unemployment, hunger, malnutrition, lack of proper healthcare and good education etc. and create a political and social order under which our country rapidly industrialises and modernises, so as to give our people a high standard of living and decent lives.
When India became independent in 1947 large parts of the country were feudal, as that was the policy of our British rulers.
The Limitations of Constitutional Reforms: Why a People's Revolution is Essential
Our Constitution makers created a modern Constitution in 1950, borrowing largely from the unwritten British Constitution and the U.S. Constitution, with modern rights of liberty, equality, freedom of speech and freedom of religion for the people, and modern institutions like Parliament, an independent judiciary, etc
Their thinking was that this modern Constitution, transplanted from above on our backward, feudal society, would pull up Indian society from its feudal state, and uplift it into the modern age.
The fallacy in this thinking was that a radical transformation of society cannot be brought about by just enacting a Constitution. After all, a Constitution is just a piece of paper.
Instead of society being modernised, the modern institutions were feudalised. Thus, parliamentary democracy largely started running on the basis of caste and communal vote banks
Historical experience shows that it is only by a mighty people's struggle and revolution that such a radical transformation in society can take place. This is because the feudal rulers will fiercely resist any such transformation, which will destroy their rights. The British revolutions of the 17th century, the French revolution of 1789, the Russian revolution of 1917, and the Chinese Revolution of 1925-49 are clear proof of this.
Hence such a mighty united people's struggle led by patriotic, selfless, modern minded leaders determined to create a political and social order under which India rapidly industrialises and modernises and our people get decent lives is the only way out of our present predicament. No amount of amendments to our Constitution, or enactment of a new Constitution, will be of any avail.
https://indicanews.com/justice-markandey-katju-the-coming-great-revolution-in-india/
https://indicanews.com/justice-markandey-katju-a-call-to-indian-patriots/
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)
