Independence Day: Justice Katju on Freedom, Poverty and Economic Justice in IndiaIndia’s Independence Day: Justice Markandey Katju Questions Freedom Without Economic and Social Justice

Independence Day: Justice Katju on Freedom, Poverty and Economic Justice in India

Justice Katju on India’s Independence: Why Freedom From Poverty, Unemployment and Hunger Matters

• What Does Real Independence Mean According to Justice Markandey Katju?
• Has India Achieved Economic and Social Independence 79 Years After 1947?
• Can Political Freedom Exist Without Freedom From Poverty and Unemployment?
• Why Did Franklin Roosevelt Argue That Economic Security Is Essential to Freedom?
• What Are the Socio-Economic Rights Needed for Real Freedom in India?

On India’s 80th Independence Day, Justice Markandey Katju questions whether political freedom is meaningful without freedom from poverty, unemployment, hunger, poor healthcare and inadequate education.

Independence Day

By Justice Markandey Katju

Tomorrow, 15th August, will be celebrated in India as Independence Day, with great fanfare, pageantry, and razzmatazz. The Prime Minister will hoist the national flag at the Red Fort in Delhi, in a function in which there will be a large number of dignitaries, Indian and foreign, and he will address the nation. Similar functions will be held in state capitals all over the country with the Governors hoisting the flag. Other celebrations will be held elsewhere in India.

I regret I cannot join these celebrations, for the short and simple reason that to my mind, real independence is independence from poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, lack of proper healthcare and good education, etc, and we have not achieved this real independence even 79 years after 1947.

Without these socio-economic freedoms, the formal civil rights, e.g. liberty, freedom of speech and expression, equality, etc., mentioned in the Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution are to my mind, illusory and meaningless. Does a poor, unemployed or hungry man want freedom of speech and liberty, or food and a job?

This was realized by former US President Franklin Roosevelt, who gave a famous speech on 11th January 1944 in his State of the Union Address called ‘The Second Bill of Rights’. In this speech, he said that the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution, which guaranteed liberty, freedom of speech, equality, freedom of religion, etc. had clearly proved inadequate. Now the need was for a Second Bill of Rights which guaranteed to all Americans the socio-economic rights, e.g. employment with a decent income, healthcare, housing, nutritious food, etc which gave real freedom and independence.

In this speech, President Roosevelt said :

''We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. Necessitous men are not free men. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made ''.

Have poverty, unemployment, hunger, lack of proper healthcare and good education, oppression of minorities, etc. been abolished in India ? The answer is a categorical no. In fact, even today, there is massive poverty, massive unemployment, skyrocketing prices of essential commodities like food, fuel, and medicines, appalling level of child malnutrition (every second child in India is malnourished, according to Global Hunger Index), lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses, oppression of minorities, dalits etc. So where is the ‘independence’ which will be celebrated?

So my fellow Indians, celebrate Independence Day as much as you want, but don't expect me to join you in this charade.

(Justice Markandey Katju is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India and a former Chairman of the Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.)