Eight eminent personalities, including former Supreme Court judge J. Chelameswar and former chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, have appealed to people to “introspect and audit” the working of the Constitution ahead of the republic’s 70th anniversary on January 26.
“Is the Constitution a mere administrative manual which enables the elected governments to claim legitimacy for abuse of power, and allows the citizens to convert liberty into license disregarding rights of others? Is it simply another text penned by ink, or a sacred text written in the blood of innumerable martyrs who transcended the barriers of caste, religion, region, ethnicity and language?” they have asked in an open letter under the title 70 years of Indian Constitution — A Defining Moment.
Their appeal has come at a time protests have broken out against the new citizenship law.
The signatories urged people to “introspect whether truth and non-violence — the two values held very dear to the heart of the Father of the Nation — continue to inform our actions in the public sphere”.
“We appeal to all citizens to utilise this solemn occasion to celebrate our success, reflect on our current concerns, particularly about our plural, secular society, and resolve to fulfil the Constitutional goals envisaged by Dr Ambedkar and our forefathers as summed up in the Preamble,” they said.
The other signatories are film personality Sharmila Tagore, former army commander Lt Gen. H.S. Panag, filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, musician T.M. Krishna, former UGC chairman Sukhdeo Thorat and former member of the Planning Commission Syeda Hameed.
The letter was released exactly two years after four senior judges of the Supreme Court, including Chelameswar, had mounted a virtual revolt against the then Chief Justice, listing a litany of problems they said were afflicting the court and which they warned could destroy Indian democracy.
The signatories said each generation had a “solemn
duty to constantly introspect and audit the working of the Constitution”. “The 70th anniversary of the Republic is an appropriate moment to celebrate and introspect…,” they said.
