One good thing that the Constitution Amendment Act (CAA) has done to the country, if it can be so phrased, is that it has made more and more people aware of the existence of the Constitution, a book like no other that defines and governs our existence as a united nation. It is apt to call it the ‘national book’. It has been elevated to the status of a ‘holy book’ by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Preamble encapsulates the essence of the Constitution and India’s genius. Reading it in public rallies is an affirmation of the notions of liberty, equality and fraternity and an acknowledgement of the Constitution as the foundation on which the Republic stands and as a talisman that keeps the nation of disparate races and religions together.
There is also an emotional reason for holding the Constitution close to our hearts. The Constitution embodies the wisdom, creativity and imagination of B.R. Ambedkar (Chairman of the Drafting Committee) and other members of the Constituent Assembly. It is evocative of the heartbeat of the mass of humanity inhabiting the sub-continent. We are enormously grateful to the makers of the Constitution.
We are inheritors of B.R. Ambedkar’s legacy. We all treasure and cherish the Constitution and justice and freedom that run through it; we are also obliged to protect it from being altered or tinkered with for ourselves and posterity. Reading the Preamble in schools is bound to shape the world-view of children at an impressionable age. That it is made mandatory in schools in some states is welcome.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Cabinet colleagues will do themselves and the country a world of good by reading the Preamble and Articles: 14 to 35 of the Constitution and show fidelity to them rather than expending their time and energy on denigrating them. Since the CAA is irreconcilable with the Constitution, the Modi government must rescind the law rigorously questioned for its constitutionality.
G. David Milton
Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu
