Constitutional literacy is missing in India, Bengal governor R. N. Ravi said at a programme organised at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science to mark the 135th birth anniversary year of B. R. Ambedkar.
“How many of us are familiar with the Constitution? We know that there are promises... made. We know that there are provisions. We have the legislature. We have the judiciary. But constitutional literacy is missing,” Ravi said.
During his 40-minute address, Ravi praised Ambedkar and criticised those who question institutions like the Election Commission and the Supreme Court, both created under the Constitution.
Ravi, a former IPS officer, claimed Ambedkar did not support the idea of secularism because it was a “European concept”. “Bharat has equal respect for all faiths. Having equal respect for all faiths is not secularism. Secularism is distancing itself from all faiths. So Babasaheb rejected it, and the Constituent Assembly rejected it. Secularism was brought in through the back door during the Emergency,” Ravi told students and teachers.
Ambedkar, however, did not oppose secularism. He argued that explicitly inserting the term into the Constitution was unnecessary because the Fundamental Rights guaranteed religious freedom and prohibited religious discrimination.
Ravi said that Ambedkar’s contribution as chairman of the Constitution’s drafting committee had been marginalised over the years by successive Congress governments. “It was deliberate. Babasaheb... was erased from or attempts were made to erase him from public consciousness. He was defeated by the then ruling dispensation...,” he said.
Ravi added that Ambedkar believed institutions created by the Constitution must grow and enjoy public trust. “We know how independent our judiciary is. The world swears by the Election Commission of India. Conducting elections in a large country... in a transparent manner... Unfortunately, today, there are people within who are undermining the credibility of the institutions.”
“When you do not get a favourable order, (you say) judiciary is compromised. When you lose an election, you say the Election Commission is compromised. These are the enemies within against whom Babasaheb had cautioned,” Ravi added.
He said 75 years after the adoption of the Constitution, social justice continued to elude the poor.
“It is the third generation. How many more generations will we need to attain justice? Why is justice, supposed to be a public good easily available to citizens, perhaps the most expensive commodity today?” he said.
“People are scared to go to police stations. I think they are far more scared to go to court.”
He said prisons were filled with poor people “not necessarily because they have committed a crime”.
“Because they cannot afford the cost of justice, a good lawyer, an expensive lawyer. Something which was promised to be a public good is commercialised. Someone with a deep pocket walks away because justice is expensive,” Ravi said.
At the programme, Kalobaran Maiti, director of the institute, felicitated the governor.