Author: Mihir chandra, I year of B.A.,LL.B from Babu banarasi das university lucknow, Uttar pradesh.
ABSTRACT
This article deals with another face of the Indian constitution that is its dark side. In this it is clearly mentioned how our system plays with our constitution and disrupts the rights of our people.
What is the exact meaning of democratic government and exactly what is happening is mentioned wisely. How our political system is deteriorating continuously and how it will effect the lives of people. The recent hypocrisy of the media on different situations and how they quell the facts so that the real matters would not be thrown out and the image of their masters is also mentioned.
The country misses using the powers for their own good. There is also detailed research on our law and justice system. The features of our constitution and their exact meaning have been given.
KEYWORDS: Democracy, human rights, India. Constitution, law
INTRODUCTION
Democracy is a system of government in which the citizens exercise power directly or elect representatives from among themselves to form a governing body, such as a Parliament. But in the era of global democracy where military power is no longer fashionable, ‘democracies may not die in the hands of the military but of elected leaders who change the very process that brought them into power. India is the world’s largest democracy. India became a democratic nation post its independence in the year 1947.
Thereafter, the citizens of India were given the right to vote and elect their leaders. In India, it gives its citizens the right to vote irrespective of their caste, color, creed, religion, and gender.bIn the latter sense, it is quite different from the reality.
Once in power, authoritarian leaders begin to destroy democracy by changing the very process that brought them to power – attacking democratic institutions. In the view of the authors, authoritarian leaders change democracy by playing constitutional hardball; exploiting laid constitutional provisions to give it a democratic shape, which is often done not necessarily in the spirit of the law but in its letter.
An essential test for democracies is not whether such figures emerge but whether political leaders, and especially political parties, work to prevent them from gaining power in the first place – by keeping them off mainstream party tickets, refusing to endorse or align with them and, when necessary, making common cause with rivals in support of democratic candidates.
In this article I will tell you how our democracy is being disrupted by evil forces. And how some of them use our hearts and soul of our constitution.
INDIAN DEMOCRACY
We are all familiar with the idea that democracy is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Democracies fall into two basic categories, direct and representative. In a direct democracy, all citizens, without the elected or appointed officials, can participate in making public decisions.
Such a system is clearly only practical with relatively small numbers of people – in a community organisation or tribal council, for example, the local unit of a trade union, where members can meet in a single room to discuss issues and arrive at decisions by consensus or majority vote. Every citizen has the important right to vote her/his representative.
People elect their representatives to all levels from Panchayats, Municipal Boards, State Assemblies and Parliament.
The Indian Constitution emerged from intense and open discussions within the Constituent Assembly. Thus, its vision or ideological content as well as the process or procedure by which it was formed was democratic. In 1939, Gandhiji wrote an article in the ‘Harijan’ called ‘The Only Way’ in which he said “… The Constituent Assembly alone can produce a constitution indigenous to the country and truly and fully representing the will of the people” one based on “unadulterated adult franchise for both men and women". India exists at so many levels.
The multi-religious and multicultural composition of the population with distinct streams of tribal culture is one aspect of the plurality. The impact that culture, religion, and caste have on the urban–rural divide, rich-poor divide and the literate-illiterate divide is varied.
However, there are some basic objectives laid down in the Constitution and which are generally agreed in the Indian political world as being obviously just. These would be empowerment of the poor and marginalised, poverty alleviation, ending of caste and positive steps to treat all groups equally.
The Constitution is not just a ready reference of do’s and don’ts for social justice. It has the potential for the meaning of social justice to be extended. Social movements have also aided the Courts and authorities to interpret the contents of rights and principles in keeping with the contemporary understanding of social justice.
Law and Courts are sites where competing views are debated. The Constitution remains a means to channelize and civilize political power towards social welfare.Competing interests do not always reflect a clear class divide. Take the issue of the close down of a factory because it emits toxic waste and affects the health of those around. This is a matter of life, which the Constitution protects. The flipside is that the closure will render people jobless. Livelihood, again, is a matter of life that the Constitution protects. It is interesting that at the time of drawing up the Constitution, the Constituent Assembly was fully aware of this complexity and plurality but was intent on securing social justice as a guarantee.
POLITICAL PARTIES IN DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM
In a democratic form of government, political parties are key actors. A political party may be defined as an organisation oriented towards achieving legitimate control of government through an electoral process. A political party is an organisation established with the aim of achieving governmental power and using that power to pursue a specific programme.
Political parties are based on a certain understanding of society and how it ought to be. In a democratic system the interests of different groups are also represented by political parties who take up their case. Different interest groups will work towards influencing political parties.
BORROWED FEATURES OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION
Our Indian constitution has been taken from many countries, for example, from U.K:
Cabinet system of ministers
Post of prime minister
Parliamentary type of government
Bicameral parliament
Lower house is more powerful
From U.S:
Written constitution
Fundamental rights
Supreme court
Preamble
From USSR;
Fundamental duties
Five year plan
From Australia:
Language of the preamble
Concurrent list
From Ireland:
Concept of directive principles of state policy
Method of election of president
Nomination of members in Rajya sabha
All these features are meant for bringing peace, justice, equality among citizens and maintaining fair share of powers among the government of the state and centre. There should be enough responsibilities from both the citizens of the country and the government to manage a fair system in the state or where people live. There should be no partiality among different religions and societies.
ANOTHER SIDE OF OUR INDIAN CONSTITUTION
INSPITE of all rights and regulations, the system of our government is not quite appealing. Since the end of the Cold War, the most democratic breakdowns have been caused not by generals and soldiers but by elected governments themselves.
Like Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, elected leaders have subverted democratic institutions in Georgia, Hungary, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Ukraine.Newspapers still publish but are bought off or bullied into self-censorship. Citizens continue to criticize the government but often find themselves facing tax or other legal troubles. This causes public confusion. People do not immediately realize what is happening. Many continue to believe they live under a democracy.
let us look at what had happened in our nation India in 2020 and past years. We all know about the JNU mob attack. How brutally students have got attacked by outsiders.
According to the students of JNU, the attack happened at a peaceful meeting called by the JNUTA . when they were wrapping up the programme, they saw a masked mob approaching with lathis and stones.
They started to beat everyone. Many students and teachers were injured.
Also, in the period of lock down, how a false rumors in Maharashtra got a mob lynched some shadhus.
They were returning from their work when some masked mob attacked them, and the main thing is that the police were not able to maintain peace and harmony in this case just like what had happened in the USA.
From all these experiences and life seen, can we say that the democracy is in danger?
For this we have to overlook the working condition of our government and its members.
Taking an example from India, at the time of the monsoon parliament sessions, our central government canceled this session saying that we can’t hold this because of covid-19 issues and public safety.
Basically that session includes FAQs where the opposition party asks questions from the ruling party. Also, in the time of the farmer protests which are still going, they demanded to draw back all three bills, but government is not in favour to their problems. Talking about law and order in Jammu and Kashmir, no right to freedom and equality has been provided by the government.
By looking at all these incidents in recent months, I think this the the actual frame of democracy is what we have learned in our lower classes and what our Constitution defines.
Democracy is for the people, of the people and by the people. The things that I want should be done first without any delay. We choose our leader so that there should be a system of good and power-changing government.
Threat of CAA and NRC to derail India's Democracy
India knew only about the Citizenship (Amendment Bill) of 2016 (CAB) and Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC). The CAB has now become the Citizens (Amendment) Act of 2019 (CAA), and a nation-wide NRC has been proposed by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The CAA has sparked a country-wide protest led by students in more than 20 campuses and internet connections have been shut down in many parts of the Northeast, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal for weeks. More than 10 people have committed suicide in West Bengal alone as the NRC spread and migrant workers are rushing home to collect their documents.The CAA provides for citizenship on the basis of religion but specifically excludes Muslims from it.
The question is: why only Muslims? If our constitution provides the right to equality for every citizen, it does not matter from which religion, they belongs or from where did they grow up. At least they all are Indian on the paper and off the paper as well. They are not a threat to our democracy or to our constitution.
We all know how both Hindus and Muslims struggled for the freedom of our India from the British. If they are really the real culprits, so in the time of our freedom, they will not support us at any cost.
We should not forget our great Muslim leader like A.P.J Abdul Kalam, also known as the ‘missile man of India’ how he contributed to our country by making missile technology for India. We should also do not forget our great of the greatest Ustad bismillah khan how awarded (bharat ratna award) played clarinet and many people visited their ceremony for listening to him.
COVID-19 AND ITS EFFECT ON OUR DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL SYSTEM
THE COVID-19 PANDEMAIC HAS TRIGGERED A NUMBER OF LEGAL RESPONCES FROM GOVERNMENT ARROUND THE WORLD AS THEY SEEK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO MANAGE THE THREAT. TALKING ABOUT India’s condition in 2020 was far better than the current situation which we are facing in 2021.
In 2020 our government has taken all measures and initiatives to stop the spreading of the virus across the country. Talking about political rallies during the time of Bihar elections, virtual rallies were organised so that the spread of the virus should be stopped, and we were successfully able to break the chain of transmission. Also during the time from mid November till February less cases were reported across the country.
But due to the negligence of the people and our system, all the things have gone disrupted.
All the people started enjoying their festivals and creeds at the extreme levels, and they stopped wearing masks. Our system also became lenient in the matter of virus, and they started celebrating their festival that is elections advertisement in west Bengal and Assam.
Also there were no restrictions on Khumb Meela, and weird types of statements were coming from ministers. The delay in vaccination process and its availability also indicates how our system failed. In the matter of health equipment, were also ignored during the easy time. When people demanded or shouted for help, their voice was being suppressed by the officials to just protect their image on the global level.
Twitter has pulled down at least 50 tweets at the behest of the Indian government, criticizing it for the poor handling of the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. The data available on Lumen database shows that the micro blogging platform deleted more than 50 tweets that belonged to people like Revanth reddy, an MP from Telangana.
MEDIA’S HYPOCRICY
media is fourth pillar of democracy. They have the rights to inculcate the matters all around the nation and present them before the citizens. They can organise the debate or programme for us to know more facts. They may even criticize the ruling party or opposition party for their non-fullfillment of the promises which they promised to the citizens.
But in a few years, the role of media towards the nation and its people is now changing. Now they are a puppet for the system. They work according to the direction of the system. The genuine trial of dynamic popular government is the autonomy of media. Over the previous couple of years, media in our nation has become supporters of various political gatherings and the voice of corporates. In the race of melodrama and TRP, media houses have taken a corporate turn.
Obligingness to the media house they have made individuals like Kanhaiya Kumar and Hardik Patel a medium-term superstar. The news which is TRP producing is appeared in dull circles, while remarkable news gets disregarded. We can say it's particular with regards to inclusion.
Assam's floods did not get the required inclusion as around then Pratyusha Banerjee's suicide was broadcast for TRP. Media houses have turned so low that they are eager to bargain national security and mystery. Be it broadcasting 26/11 or addressing careful strikes. To pick up prominence and benefits, they have begun confining allegations to IB, the Supreme Court, and even the Army. Now they are the protector of the government’s false doing and never let anything negative about the government out. In the time of a crisis, they are busy to shade the false deeds of their masters.
As of late Former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee resoundingly made a point to the Indian media that "discourse and disagreement are essential for an energetic vote-based system, and it must consider open organizations responsible for every one of their activities and actions". There ought to be consistently room for the factious Indian and not the bigoted Indian. The media must be the guard dog, the arbiter between the pioneers and people in general".
CONCLUSION
It is useful to understand that there is a difference between law and justice. The essence of law is its force. A law is law because it carries the means to coerce or force obedience. The power of the state is behind it.
The essence of justice is fairness. Any system of laws functions through a hierarchy of authorities. The basic norm from which all other rules and authorities flow is called the Constitution. It is the document that constitutes a nation’s tenets.
The Indian Constitution is India’s basic norm. All other laws are made as per the procedures the Constitution prescribes. These laws are made and implemented by the authorities specified by the Constitution. A hierarchy of courts (which are also created by the Constitution) interpret the laws when there is a dispute. About these laws and rules, it is also mandatory that our political system, our government, our rulers and our people should follow.
There must be an equal representation of everything. The government should acknowledge their duties towards the nation and should follow that. Law is supreme, and no one is above the law, even the lawmakers. Each and every individuals should binded by some duties and those duties should be commenced. According to John austin’s theory which states that “As long as a government exists, the power of the person or persons in whom the sovereignty resides over the whole community is absolute and unlimited”
Therefore if not government, then we have to take the responsibility because everything that we need and what we want is based on our choice. We choose our leader so that they fulfill our requirement. We have the power to change the leader who is not proper with their work, and we can force them to make the policies for our welfare. We have to be educated in the matter of law and order so that nobody can fool us easily. If we can't do these, so there is no need for any protest, groups, mechanism or even such a Constitution because if we cannot raise our voice for the wrong, it is better to become a slave or act like a slave and do whatever our master commands us.
Reference
4https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/caa-and-nrc-these-two-pose-a-serious-threat-to-indias-development-story-muslims-religious-fundamentalism-secular-amit-shah/story/392319.html