Greetings on the Republic Day, January 26

Greetings on the Republic Day, January 26

We the people of India are celebrating one of our National Days; the Republic Day on January 26. India became Republic on January 26, 1950 when the new Constitution of India formally came into effect. India that is Bharat has become a mature Republic in 75 years without much hassle, thanks to the Constitution, barring a couple of hick-ups like the imposition of Emergency in 1975, demolition of Babri Masjid in 1981, Operation Blue star at Darbar Sahib in Amritsar in 1984, Hindu-Sikh riots of 1984, Godhra communal riots of 2002 and may be some more such bad dreams which we need to forget in the largest interests of the country. It is a matter of gratification to note that we are surely though slowly remained on track in spite of these aberrations. Again, it could happen only because of our very potent and effective constitutional framework provided by our forefathers led by Babasaheb Ambedkar. With this background, to my mind, the first pledge we the people of India should take on the Republic Day should be – Save and Guard the Constitution of India by all means at our command. This is the only way which will lead us to make and see India a developed country – Vikshit Bharat as visualized by PM Narendra Modi.

Why I said so? Let me elaborate a bit. Of late, it has been witnessed that - i) Indian politics is getting polarized on communal considerations rather than ideology and agenda ii) Credibility of Constitutional outfits like ECI, CAG, UPSC, NCSCs is increasingly

diminishing iii) Integrity of originations like CBI, ED, IB etc. is getting sullied over the years iv) Federal credentials of the country is increasingly coming under stress v) last but not the least, a much need sense of constitutional morality in protecting the constitutional values could not be cultivated and nourished over the last 75 years. I wish that the political elite particularly the ruling dispensations take due note of these, if we intend to remain on track with regard to progress and prosperity of Bharat. On the Republic Day, this is the second pledge which we should take that we would understand and do our best to control the avoidable damage already done consciously or otherwise.

The next thing which should not skip our attention is the warnings of Babasaheb Ambedkar to safeguard our freedom in the Constituent Assembly especially his speech of November 25, 1949. Sounding these warnings loud and clear, "Political democracy cannot

succeed where there is no social and economic democracy. Social and economic democracy is the tissues and the fiber of a political democracy. The tougher the tissue and the fiber, the greater the strength of the body”. The third pledge we should make on this solemn day of India becoming Republic is to see and ensure that we the people f India transform our constitutional and political democracy into a social and economic democracy as visualized by Babasaheb Ambedkar.

With this, I close my narration of Greetings with the hope that Indian public opinion has really come of an age to save and protect the Republic of India that is Bharat.

Chupa Kar Asteen Mein Bijliyan Rakhi Hain Gardoon Ne
Anadil Bagh Ke Ghafil Na Baithen Ashiyon Mein

The sky has kept thunderbolts concealed up its sleeve
Garden’s nightingales should not slumber in their nests