Babasaheb Dr. Ambedkar On Indian Democracy And The Need For Strengthening It
By Umakant
08 April, 2014
Countercurrents.org
As India’s tryst with democracy continues it would be pertinent to look at Babasaheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s views on democracy in theory and in practice. His views were quite prophetic in nature and on a careful reading one would always find its relevance even now. After more than six decades it is necessary to not only take a re-look at the way democracy has been practised but perhaps there is also a need to re-visit the concept of democracy as propounded and initiated through a modern Constitution based on the egalitarian principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. Today when the threat of a communal majoritarianism and crony capitalism looms large on the horizon on the one hand and on the other the guilt driven middle class is trying to create a new space and a new discourse by harping on strengthening Gram Sabha’s and Muhalla Sabha’s and ending up justifying the role of Khap Panchayats, it is but necessary to challenge all kinds of reactionary ideology and politics. Brahmanism in its current and new avatars must be fought with all the sincerity that is required.
Babasaheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar as we all know played an extra ordinary role in not only drafting the Constitution but also in piloting it clause by clause in the Constituent Assembly. On 25 November 1949 when the members in the Constituent Assembly were getting ready to give their seal of final approval, Dr. Ambedkar spoke in an impassioned yet rational way about Indian democracy and the need for strengthening it in future. While thanking the members he expressed his frank opinion on several issues. In his own words he expressed his gratitude to them in following words:
“I came into the Constituent Assembly with no greater aspiration than to safeguard the interests of the Scheduled Castes. I had not the remotest idea that I would be called upon to undertake more responsible functions. I was therefore greatly surprised when the Assembly elected me to the Drafting Committee. I was more than surprised when the Drafting Committee elected me to be its Chairman... I am grateful to the Constituent Assembly and the Drafting Committee for reposing in me so much trust and confidence and to have chosen me as their instrument and given me this opportunity of serving the country”.
He went on to say that the working of a Constitution does not depend wholly upon the nature of the Constitution. The Constitution can provide only the organs of State such as the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. The factors on which the working of those organs of the State depends are the people and the political parties they will set up as their instruments to carry out their wishes and their politics.
As a visionary he reminded the members that “on the 26th of January 1950, India would be a democratic country in the sense that India from that day would have a government of the people, by the people and for the people. What would happen to her democratic Constitution? Will she be able to maintain it or will she lose it again”.
In order to maintain and also sustain democracy and democratic institutions, Dr. Ambedkar spoke in a prophetic manner. He cautioned the members, “If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do?” The first thing in my judgment we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It means we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha...These methods are nothing but the ‘Grammar of Anarchy’ and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us.
The second thing we must do is to observe the caution which John Stuart Mill has given to all who are interested in the maintenance of democracy, namely, not "to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man, or to trust him with powers which enable him to subvert their institutions"... In politics, Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship.
The third thing we must do is not to be content with mere political democracy. We must make our political democracy a social democracy as well. Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy. What does social democracy mean? It means a way of life which recognizes liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life. These principles of liberty, equality and fraternity are not to be treated as separate items in a trinity. They form a union of trinity in the sense that to divorce one from the other is to defeat the very purpose of democracy. We must begin by acknowledging the fact that there is complete absence of two things in Indian Society. One of these is equality. On the social plane, we have in India a society based on the principle of graded inequality which elevation for some and degradation for others. On the economic plane, we have a society in which there are some who have immense wealth as against many who live in abject poverty.
“On the 26th of January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. In politics we will be recognizing the principle of one man one vote and one vote one value. In our social and economic life, we shall, by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of one man one value. How long shall we continue to live this life of contradictions? How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life? If we continue to deny it for long, we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril. We must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible moment or else those who suffer from inequality will blow up the structure of political democracy which this Assembly has so laboriously built up”.
The second thing we are wanting in is recognition of the principle of fraternity. What does fraternity mean? Fraternity means a sense of common brotherhood of all Indians-if Indians being one people. It is the principle which gives unity and solidarity to social life. It is a difficult thing to achieve.
He further elaborated, “I am of opinion that in believing that we are a nation, we are cherishing a great delusion. How can people divided into several thousands of castes be a nation? The sooner we realize that we are not as yet a nation in the social and psychological sense of the world, the better for us. For then only we shall realize the necessity of becoming a nation and seriously think of ways and means of realizing the goal. The realization of this goal is going to be very difficult... But we must overcome all these difficulties if we wish to become a nation in reality. For fraternity can be a fact only when there is a nation. Without fraternity equality and liberty will be no deeper than coats of paint”.
As a final word of caution he thus spoke, “Independence is no doubt a matter of joy. But let us not forget that this independence has thrown on us great responsibilities. By independence, we have lost the excuse of blaming the British for anything going wrong. If hereafter things go wrong, we will have nobody to blame except ourselves. There is great danger of things going wrong. Times are fast changing. People including our own are being moved by new ideologies. They are getting tired of Government by the people. They are prepared to have Governments for the people and are indifferent whether it is Government of the people and by the people. If we wish to preserve the Constitution in which we have sought to enshrine the principle of Government of the people, for the people and by the people, let us resolve not to be tardy in the recognition of the evils that lie across our path and which induce people to prefer Government for the people to Government by the people, nor to be weak in our initiative to remove them. That is the only way to serve the country. I know of no better”.
Could there be actually any other way? A democratic India in its true sense of the term is the only guarantee for a meaningful life and politics in a Socialist, Secular and Democratic Republic called India. It is also a reminder to people who are engaged in promoting and protecting all human rights for all that we need to re-strategise and carry forward the struggle for justice, human rights and accountability and not remain a mute spectator. Babasaheb Dr. Ambedkar is very much needed not only in the present time but also for building a strong foundation for future. It should be emphasised in a loud and clear terms that no social group, let alone Dalits, could fight in isolation. The need of the hour is to forge solidarity links with different groups of discriminated and disadvantaged people who are struggling in different parts of the world.
Dr. Umakant is an independent researcher and human rights advocate based in New Delhi
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