"A time to articulate new constitutional ideas for India" - The Hindu, 2nd Oct 2023

The Decolonisation Agenda

When we think of the Constitution of India, our mind may naturally go back to 1950 when it came into force. But constitutional ideas in India predated it. A startlingly original, indigenous account of what the Constitution would look like was presented by Mahatma Gandhi in 1908. Gandhi was steadfast in his view that without decolonising the Constitution, we may become independent but would not have swaraj. The English would be driven away and India would get itself a new democratic government, but the nature of government itself would not change. It would be “English rule without the Englishman”, “not Hindustan but Englistan”. 

Interestingly, all the warnings, including the one above, on myriad topics, seem to have come true.  And Gandhiji's Hind Swaraj seems to be not just a recipe for an Indian Constitution, but also for a Planetary movement to meet the challenges of Climate Change and Ecosystem Collapse. 

Localisation and De-growth are the core principles espoused by Gandhiji.  While the consumerism ridden and industrialised populations of the world, indoctrinated further by the modern education system and media may find it difficult to comprehend these ideas, the unfolding Climate Emergency and the ever more real Mass Extinction that looms over the world, make it necessary that we comprehend these truths, sooner than later, to ensure our very survival on this planet.

In this article in The Hindu, the author Arghya Sengupta argues that it is time for changes in the constitution based on the ideas in the Hind Swaraj.  

If in fact, we do adopt the Hindi Swaraj's message in the vision of our constitution, we would perhaps become a global leader and lead the entire planet on its path to emancipation.

Read the full archived article here:  https://archive.ph/eH5Ba