On November 26, the nation once again observed 'Constitution Day!' There will be the usual plethora of speeches (ad nauseam!) of "how important the Constitution is for all of us," "why it is important to safeguard it," "the fact that we have the best Constitution among all nations in world," etc. All empty, hypocritical platitudes by those in power: they will surely wax eloquent on the 'Constitution!' Nobody believes them because they are hell-bent on destroying the sanctity, rights and freedoms which the Constitution embodies.

Since 2014, the Constitution of India has been subjected to meticulous assault. Several Constitutional matters have come before the Supreme Court, at least for a hearing, in recent years. There is the case of Umar Khalid and others who were protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Umar has been languishing in jail for more than five years now. His bail application was rejected by the lower courts for no reason. When it came up for hearing in September, his plea was adjourned for a week since "the files came in late!"

Then there is the challenge to the anti-conversion laws. The Supreme Court still has to take a call on the constitutional validity of the slew of anti-conversion laws passed by several BJP–ruled states (including Rajasthan; the one in Maharashtra is in the offing). The constitutionality of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, remains in abeyance; the Apex Court has already held that some clauses of the Amended Act need to be struck down. The fraudulent Bihar Elections are over; there were several challenges to the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Bihar electoral rolls and of the SIR being conducted in many other States just now, but nothing seems to be happening!

The very fact that such matters are coming up in the Apex Court is a matter of grave concern. There is something rotten! India is on the brink! There are fascist, fundamentalist and fanatical forces at work, determined to take the country back to the "dark ages" of history. At stake are India's pluralism, diversity and democratic ethos! "Good Governance" is pathetically lacking! Article 19 (freedom of speech and expression), Article 21 (the right to life and liberty), Article 25 (which guarantees freedom to preach, practise and propagate one's religion), for that matter, all fundamental rights are consistently denied to citizens.

At the receiving end are the poor and the vulnerable, the marginalised and the minorities, the excluded and the exploited, the Adivasis, the Dalits and the OBCs; the small farmers, the casual workers and migrant workers; women and children; the differently-abled and other sexually-oriented persons; human rights defenders, journalists and all those who take a visible and vocal stand to protect and promote the idea of a democratic, pluralistic, inclusive and secular India!

The ruling regime clearly has a 'method in their madness.' There is a serious lack of political will to address the systemic issues that have been burning the nation. There are hurried, biased legislation and prejudiced policies (all designed to decimate the Constitution) which include the National Education Policy, the Citizenship Amendment Act, the anti - conversion laws, the anti-farmer laws, the four anti-worker and pro-corporate labour codes which after a long lull have suddenly become 'implementable, the Universal Civil Code, the 'One Nation, One Election,' the Waqf Bill, the Imposition of Hindi as the national language, the delimitation plan, the delisting of tribals /adivasis who have accepted Christianity or Islam.

Constitutional bodies like the Election Commission (which is blatantly biased), the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the police and even sections of the judiciary (the new CJI does not have an impressive track record) are compromised; they have become caged parrots. Corruption has become the new normal with this regime! First, it was demonetisation; then, the Electoral Bonds scam. The rich become richer and the poor, poorer!

In light of the systematic and frequent attacks on the Constitution, it is imperative to revisit post-independent India and be inspired by the vision and commitment to the idea of India by the Constituent Assembly. On November 26, 1949, we, the people of India, gave to ourselves a path-breaking Constitution; thanks to all the members of our Constituent Assembly, eminent women and men, from every section of India's society, led by the visionary stalwart, and regarded as the father of our Constitution, Dr BR Ambedkar!

A day earlier, the eve of the adoption of the Constitution (November 25, 1949), Dr Ambedkar gave a long but very passionate speech to the Constituent Assembly. His speech set the vision and spirit for the new Constitution of India. Ambedkar said, "If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do? The first thing in my judgement we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives... where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for ... unconstitutional methods. 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 power 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".

Ambedkar's final words in that epochal speech sum up his views on the measure of responsibility owed to preserve the idea of India, as envisioned in the Constitution. "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."

The visionary he was, Ambedkar was actually envisioning and speaking of India 2025, when the Constitution is genuinely at stake! The Constitution guarantees fundamental rights (rooted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948) to every single citizen of India; they are based on the four non-negotiable pillars of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. The promotion and the protection of human rights for all and the respect for pluralism and diversity are sine qua non for good governance. Sadly, in the past few years, we have witnessed the systematic erosion and the destruction of human rights by those in power.

On January 28, 2025, the respected Calcutta daily 'The Telegraph' carried an article entitled "Rub your eyes: Hindu Rashtra Constitution to be unveiled at Mahakumbh on Basant Panchami." The seemingly innocuous inside-page article speaks volumes not only of the insidious yet meticulous plans which are being made but also of the calculated attempts to destroy the secular character of the nation and ultimately the sanctity of the Constitution of India.

The news item highlighted that a 501-page document, prepared by a 25-member committee of "scholars," draws inspiration from the Ramayana, the rules and teachings of Krishna, Manusmriti and Chanakya's Arthashastra. The so-called "constitution" based on the Hindutva ideology was unveiled at the Mahakumbh on Sunday, February 2, when the Hindus celebrate Basant Panchami.

Whether it will actually be implemented is anyone's guess; the painful fact, however, is that no one from the ruling regime, who swear by the Constitution of the country, has dared to say that the very thought of propagating such an idea should be regarded as anti-national! The proponents of such an idea are totally opposed to all the values enshrined in the Constitution and to what the country has consistently radiated since its independence in 1947!

The committee which has put together this Constitution is known as the 'Hindu Rashtra Samvidhan Nirman Samiti' and apparently consists of so-called "scholars" of the "Sanatana Dharma." Swami Anand Swaroop, patron of the committee, told reporters at the Mahakumbh that their target was to make India a Hindu nation by 2035 (the original plan was to make India a Hindutva nation this year, 2025, the centenary year of the RSS, but their plans failed miserably when they did not get the required numbers in the last Parliamentary elections, to make any undemocratic Constitutional changes). That is why every effort is made to rob the elections(#VoteChori) and buy the electorate (#VoteKhareedi), as the entire nation has witnessed in the fraudulent Bihar elections.

We must honestly admit that the Constitution is at stake; therefore, we must all do our bit:
1.    to protect the Constitution and to promote the values and the rights enshrined in it;
2.    to study the Constitution: developing an ownership of it in letter and spirit;
3.    to participate actively and conscientiously in the democratic process;
4.    to organise in-depth training in social analysis and advocacy;
5.    to create an awareness of important aspects of the Constitution in all institutions;
6.    to make sure that all official policies/legislation which are draconian, anti-people, anti-poor and anti-Constitutional, which go against the democratic and pluralistic fabric of the country, are rescinded immediately and unconditionally;
7.    to ensure that all eligible voters are on the electoral rolls and exercise their franchise for democratic, secular parties/individuals;
8.    to organise/participate in rallies/public programmes/ demonstrations/campaigns in support of the human rights/fundamental rights of all citizens;
9.    to participate in initiatives of civil society groups/organisations in defence of the common person.

Several groups and individuals are doing plenty across the country on the above. There is no doubt about that! Vinay Kumar from Bangalore is one such person. Professionally, he is an aerospace engineer. He is also an activist who focuses on an initiative he launched with several others some time ago. It is called "Reclaim Constitution" (www.reclaimconstitution.in), which propagates the Constitution's message and ideas and systematically addresses the prevalent ignorance about it. This year, they organised a National Quiz on the Constitution in which 1500 students (500 teams) from 200 schools across 20 states and 5 Union Territories participated.

In an interview with Frontline (March 29, 2024), Vinay said, "I think the Constitution is part of our existence on this land; it plays an important role in defining who we are as a people and how we live, or how we aspire to live as a society. Confusion is there in our lives every day. But it's so matter of fact that we've taken it for granted. Today, it's largely seen as something of a document that belongs to lawyers, judges, the government, bureaucracy, and those kinds of people. But we need not delve too deep into understanding the Constitution to realise that this notion is false. If you look at the very first three words of our Constitution, it says 'We the people of India.' So the Constitution was made by us, the people. And the Preamble, which I regard like most other scholars do, as the soul of this Constitution, ends with the lines' we give to ourselves, this Constitution.' So nowhere in the Preamble of the Constitution of India would you find mention of a government, political party, or even the judiciary or any of those pillars of democracy, right? It is a people's Constitution. It's a people's document as well, made by people like you and me. If you look at the background of the people who made this Constitution, after an arduous freedom struggle that stretched over centuries, and generations of people who sacrificed their lives for the people to be able to make this Constitution, you realise that this is as close to each one of us as it's just people from various walks of life who came in to build this Constitution." Plenty to learn indeed from this defender of the Constitution.

As we observe Constitution Day 2025, we must all pledge to fight the fascist, fundamentalist and fanatic forces who are destroying the sanctity of our Constitution. We can no longer sit in our comfort zones; "We, the People of India," must rise as one, and "reclaim the Constitution." The Constitution belongs to us! In the words of Ambedkar, "we are determined to defend it with the last drop of our blood!"