The Indian Constitution, following the British model, created a system of parliamentary democracy. Up to 1947, when India became independent, it was still a largely feudal, agricultural country. The British policy was to keep us largely un-industrialized, since an industrial India, with its cheap labour, could become a powerful rival to British industry.
The Indian Constitution was based on western models. We borrowed parliamentary democracy and an independent judiciary from England, federalism and the fundamental rights from the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy from the Irish Constitution, etc. Thus we borrowed a modern Constitution from western models, and transplanted it from above on our largely backward, feudal society.
Democracy is a feature of an industrial, not feudal, society. But the intention of our founding fathers – Pandit Nehru and his colleagues – was that democracy and other modern principles, such as liberty, equality, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, liberty or equality, as well as modern institutions such as Parliament and independent judiciary, etc would pull our backward, feudal society into the modern age.
They set up a heavy industrial base (which the British had prohibited). Consequently India became partially industrialised and made some progress since 1947. However, midway between 1947 and now our democracy was hijacked by the feudals.
Caste and religious vote banks, which could be craftily manipulated by many of our politicians to serve their selfish ends, emerged and became a normal feature of elections and other political activity in most parts of India.
It is for this reason that many persons with criminal background have often been elected. Democracy was never meant to be run in this manner, and this has blocked our progress. Hence fundamental social and political changes are now required.
The unfortunate truth is that most of our people are still intellectually very backward, with faith in casteism, communalism and superstitions. ‘Honour’ killing, dowry deaths, female feticide, etc are prevalent in large parts of India. Unemployment is massive in India, with even postgraduates seeking a peon’s job. Healthcare for the masses is abysmal. Poor people in India can hardly afford doctors or medicines, and hence they resort to quacks. Education is in a shambles.
Our national aim must be to make India a modern, powerful, secular, highly industrialised country, in which all its people (and not just a handful, as is the case today) get decent lives, and the great social evils like poverty, malnutrition, unemployment, skyrocketing prices, lack of healthcare and good education, etc which are widespread today in India are abolished forever. Backward and feudal ideas like casteism, communalism and superstitions must be replaced by modern scientific and rational thinking. How is this to be achieved? To my mind this can be achieved by the struggles of the people using their creativity.
All patriotic people in India must strive for this goal, and join in this great historical task. This will no doubt call for great sacrifices, and will probably require a long, painful and sustained struggle for about 20 years or so. But if we do not do this we will be cursed by our descendants for having betrayed the nation.
