by
Dr. P.S. Sahni
Image
courtesy: The Statesman
In
such troubled times
More
so than at any time in the past
The
Constitution of India shall be our shield
Against
all oppressive/repressive acts
Of
communal/caste/racial hatred or bias
On
religious minorities/subordinate castes/tribals
On
women/LGBTQIA community/differently abled
And
on workers/farmers/toiling masses
I
shall stand up for my constitutional rights
And
of those less privileged
And
shall always carry the Constitution (pocket sized)
In
my right hip pocket
Rather
than the kirpan as dictated by my faith
Since
one sees religion no more
Than
a personal equation with a Creator
And
that’s all to it for me
Shall
not use this document
To
‘shoot anyone from the hip’
But
only to use it as a shield
Against
all onslaughts
My
non-violence will go beyond
The
Gandhian concept of non-violence
Which
allows exceptions in rare circumstances
However
one shall always be non-violent till one’s end
Buddha’s
non-violence inspires me but more so Mahavir’s
So
too, Nanak’s Sufism
All
these three – Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism
Constitute
the three rebellions against the then established order
The
myriad diktats constantly being bombarded –
What
to eat/what to wear/whom to marry
With
violators qualifying for lynching,
Criminal
assaults, public humiliation
Of
being made to feel as second class citizens
Of
day to day insecurity in all aspects of life
And
externment from the local community
Even
threats of deportation to a neighbouring country
The
use of draconian laws stands perfected –
UAPA,
NSA, PSA and provisions of IPC/IT Act
As
also filing cases of defamation/sedition
Against
those struggling for justice
Would
the people submit to authority
Or
would the people remember
The
time tested tools for bringing about a change
Nay,
a Sampoorna Kranti?
Then
Paash’s poem “The Most Dangerous” shall reverberate all around
Coalitions,
alliances, networking of organizations
Of
workers, farmers, students, academicians
Poets,
writers, artists, journalists, individuals
The
good old struggle, mass mobilization, resistance and protest
Dharna,
rally, hunger strike, satyagrah,
Court
arrest, jail bharo,
Would
get tested all over again
One
remembers the slogan one had heard
For
decades after independence
“Hindu
Muslim Sikh Isai
Aapas
me sab bhai bhai”
The
bourgeois press would continue
To
dole out party propaganda
About
raids conducted by police
In
houses/offices of activists
Where
the only documents recovered
Would
be copies of Constitution of India
Could
this be adjudged prima facie incriminating evidence
For
charges of sedition/anti-national activity to be proved?
But
what if the Constitution is amended
And
the words “secular”, “socialist” deleted
And
its spirit all through made secular & socialist – mukt
Through
brute majority in Parliament
Then
the agents of PIL industry
Would
move the apex court
What
if the judiciary were to rule
Through
a Constitution Bench of more than thirteen judges
That
the basic structure of the Constitution has not been destroyed
By
the constitutional amendment
Though
de facto it would mean
That
Kesavananda Bharati stood overruled
Would
the usual sequence unfold –
Popular
protests, mass arrests,
FIRs
and disappearances
No
bail or relief through habeas corpus?
If
so then the charge sheet prepared by the police
Would
be more voluminous than the Constitution
As
one would confess voluntarily to have
Demanded
implementation of every right guaranteed to all citizens
In
prison one would still ask for a copy of the Constitution
Since
the pocket sized Constitution would have
Been
confiscated by the investigative authorities
During
custodial interrogation or upon entry into the prison
Arun
Ferreira wrote in his book
“Colours
of the Cage - A Prison Memoir”
That
a copy of the Constitution was denied to him
By
the jail librarian for the reason – that it is too bulky!
If
convicted and jailed and awarded capital punishment
Then
unlike Udham Singh I would not spit on the judge
Who
pronounces the judgement
Since
for me spitting on a fellow human being is a violent act
Rather
I would respectfully bow my head and accept the verdict
I
would not plead for mercy
Since
you don’t ask for mercy
When
you have done no wrong
With
long years of incarceration in jail
Successively
in anda cell
Waiting
for execution in solitary confinement/death row
And
cut off from developments outside the jail
When
the D-day arrives
The
last wish before the hangmen puts
The
black hood over the head
And
tightens the rope noose around the neck
Would
be to check if the then Constitution
Still
retains the words “secular”, “socialist”
Or
worse has the Constitution been replaced
By
an ancient document!
First Published in Countercurrents.org: https://countercurrents.org/2019/06/the-constitution-of-india-is-more-powerful-than-an-ak47
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