Have we negated EGALITARIANISM in India?

Egalitarianism and India

We in India, like other ancient civilizations, have inherited egalitarian values right from the ancient times. During the prehistoric period, till the adoption of the "Varnashrama Dharma", the tribal life and culture in India were by and large egalitarian in nature. Different families of a tribe used to live together, either under a patriarchal or a matriarchal system. In their pastoral life, while wandering from place to place in search of food and shelter, men and women of almost all tribes enjoyed relative equality.

Even in the agricultural stage, while people gradually settled in the river valleys, the different human settlements initially started with relative equality among myriad sections of people. Gradually, patriarchal societies emerged in different clusters and in course of time, monarchy became the established order, under which, the most powerful male adult would be declared as the king.

The concept of egalitarianism emerged from the word "egalite" which means relative equality in the socio-economic lives of the people. Such equality was very common during the early period of our civilization but gradually in the quest for power, some persons, by virtue of their apparent physical, moral and economic superiority started dominating over the lives of a vast majority of people.

In the Indian context, during the phase of renaissance and freedom struggle, the writings of Swami Vivekananda, Dadabhai Naoroji, M.N. Roy, Subhas Chanra Bose and Gandhiji, the egalitarian values have figured very prominently.

From this, we infer that egalitarianism is basically concerned with equality and lack of discrimination or segregation. The Preamble to the Constitution serves as a soul of the Indian democracy. It is indeed an embodiment of egalitarian values. Let us broadly look at the prominent egalitarian features of the Preamble.

After a major amendment (42nd) to the Indian Constitution introduced on the 18th December 1976, the concerned provision reads:

"We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign, socialist, democratic, secular republic and to secure all its citizens:

• JUSTICE, social, economic, political;
• LIBERTY, of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
• EQUALITY, of status and opportunity and promote among them all;
• FRATERNITY, assuring the dignity of the individual and unity and integrity of the Nation;

In our constituent Assembly, this twenty sixth day of November, 1949 do hereby Adopt, Enact and Give Ourselves This Constitution".

We have to make an indepth analysis as to clearly understand the import of these egalitarian features. On a critical evaluation, we can identify the following specific characteristics that lead to people’s empowerment in the real sense of the term.

First, the Preamble clearly establishes that the Indian people are one, irrespective of their socio-economic status and are the ultimate source of all authority. While justifying the sovereign power of the people in a famous Supreme Court Judgement, in 1950, Justice Patanjali Shastri observed, "There can be no doubt that the people of India in the exercise of their sovereign will, as expressed in the Preamble, adopted the democratic ideal which assures to the citizens the dignity of the individual and other cherished human values as a means to the full evaluation and expression of his personality, and in delegating to the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary their respective powers in the Constitution, reserved to themselves certain fundamental rights".

Second, the four basic principles of an egalitarian society—Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity are very categorically highlighted in the Preamble. In the words of a famous jurist, L.M. Singhvi, "These four conceptual objectives of our constitution are intended to animate its value system, to enliven its institutions and instrumentalities and to inspire not only the exertions and actions of the state but also the endeavours of the society and the individual citizens". These goals may sound rhetorical and appear grandiose but they are for that reason no less real and no less pressing. They may seem distant but they have a constant sense of immediate urgency about them.

Third, the main aim of our constitution is to establish a Welfare State and an Egalitarian Society projecting the aims and aspirations of the common people of India who made unparalleled sacrifices to achieve freedom. From the Preamble, we can infer that it is the people of India who have given to themselves the Constitution. The idea of a Welfare State and an Egalitarian Society can be realized by providing socio-economic justice to the people alongwith political justice.

In this regard, three fundamental aspects to be remembered are:

(a) the essence of socio-economic justice in a country can be valued only in terms of positive, material and substantive benefits to the working people in the form of services rendered by the State. In other words, socio-economic justice would demand removal of alienation, and gaps between sections of society. It also suggests mobility in social and economic life. It expresses concern for the common man, for the poor and deprived sections of the society, those who have suffered for centuries and have borne silently the sufferings of social and economic exploitation. Thus, socio-economic justice, in, the negative sense means, curtailment of the privileges of a few in our society, while positively it suggests that the poor and the exploited sections of our society should have all rights and opportunities to improve their status and rise to high positions of power.

(b) socio-economic justice is qualitatively higher than political justice. Pandit Nehru has said: "There will be no freedom in this country or in the world as long as a single human being is unfree. There will be no complete freedom as long as there is starvation, hunger, lack of clothing, lack of necessities of life and lack of opportunity of growth for every single human being."

(c) the stability of the ruling elites is relative to their ability to promote the cause of socio-economic justice for the common man. For an empty stomach, adult franchise soon becomes a mockery.

In the words of Dr. Radhakrishnan, "Poor people who wander about, find no work, no wages and starve, whose lives are a continued round of sore affliction and pinching poverty, cannot be proud of the Constitution or its law."

Let us bear in mind that social justice is as crucial as economic justice in our country. The father of Indian Constitution, Dr. Ambedkar in his concluding remarks at the Constituent Assembly Debates said: "Political democracy cannot last until there lies at the base of it social democracy. What does social democracy mean? It means a way of life which recognises liberty, equality and fraternity which are not be treated as separate items in a trinity. To divorce one from the other is to defeat the very purpose of democracy". As a matter of fact, liberty, equality and fraternity are very closely interlinked and cannot be divorced from one another.

In short, the preamble of our constitution clearly emphasizes on the egalitarian values like socio-economic and political equality. It also highlights the imperative need to establish a just society, where there would be no discrimination of any citizen on the basis of caste, creed, colour or sex.

(Source: An article by by Mr. PK Mishra)