The Constitution’s Triumph and the Need for Fraternity in India

• 75th anniversary of the Constitution’s adoption marked by a joint sitting of Parliament.

• B.R. Ambedkar’s speech emphasizes the importance of people and political parties in its implementation.

• Ambedkar argues for a social and not just political democracy to emerge from the Constitution.

• He argues that without equality, liberty would produce the supremacy of the few over the many.

• Ambedkar emphasizes the necessity of fraternity as liberty and equality cannot flourish independently.

• Abolition of untouchability and the world’s oldest affirmative action programme, reservations, have advanced social and economic equality.

• Challenges in promoting social and economic equality include the demand for further opportunities and the escalating demand for a caste census.

• Voters have mobilized votes in the name of caste, creed, region, and language, ensuring a sense of oneness.

• Reification of caste reservations has promoted equality but arguably undermined fraternity.

• Despite debates, the Constitution still thrives with the Bharatiya Janata Party government celebrating a document considered “un-Indian.”