This is not the country we struggled for, sacrificed lives since the last century. These were not even the basics that our Constitution stood for. Fragmented and wounded, our democratic structure, that was created with a “Tryst with Destiny”, now stands at the edge of peril. The vision with which we started building our nation is lost into oblivion. We the people of India have to rescue our democracy, our composite culture, our ethos.

The days of extremities are at our door step. They were there even when we achieved independence. Mahatma Gandhi was killed. Not because he was a saint, but because he stood up against any wedge to destroy Hindu-Muslim unity. He had said if non-violence becomes a retreat for the cowards, let the people come out with their Holy Anger. He said it was only the people who would defend democracy.

Gandhiji is no more. But nation building continued. There was the Constituent Assembly, led by Dr B R Ambedkar, a jurist, economist and social reformer who fought against social discrimination of untouchables, Somnath Lahiri, an extremely popular communist leader from West Bengal and Hasrat Mohani, a former communist, who demanded complete independence for the first time in the country, and several others to work out the framework of our Constitution. It was finalised and adopted on January 26, 1950. For the first time, independent India got an Identity based on equality, secularism, democracy and socialism. Universal adult franchise, and freedom of expression were included among the fundamental rights. For guidance, there were the directive principles of state policy. In 1952, the first election took place. The Communist Party came out as the main opposition party. The victory of Indian National Congress was declared as the victory for secularism itself. The rightists had formed an alliance, which included Bharatiya Jan Sangh, Hindu Mahasabha, and Ram Rajya Parishad. All these together could manage only seven seats in a Lok Sabha with 543 seats. Parliament with 788 seats had 245 seats for Rajya Sabha.

As the country had the Constitution finalised, the uphill task of building democracy with its political and economic tasks was initiated as both were among primary needs. There was the popular understanding at international level that India was a poor country and its people were more interested in ‘a Bowl with Rice’ than building nation. But in the first election itself it was proved that despite hunger, people had voted for democracy. With free government, health services, education with minimum fees both at lower and higher levels, universities, medical and engineering colleges and finally the public sectors came up to industrialise the country producing basic infrastructure and employments. Industrial banks providing credit for investment were built. Science was evolving, so were other sections of knowledge. In 1957, the first communist government was elected in the state of Kerala, the second in the whole world. A democratic consciousness was evolving, defying the interruptions. Failures were many but so were achievements. It was also a fact that the right was all the while evolving. At the international level, the world was divided among the imperialist countries, so were the market. Wherever the progressive movement was emerging, forces were applied to crush them.

With time, forces of progress have emerged stronger. They are countering the onslaught of imperialism. The countries of Latin America are the examples that equation of power balance has gone through positive changes. But it is also true that means of production have been undergoing drastic change. Industrial capital, based on investment and production, is slowly getting obsolete. The giant machines are replaced with light, smaller digitalised production processes. It is getting easier for the medium and lower budget units to enter in a big way where they contend even against the chosen few. The challenge comes in a big way against monopolisation of economy.

The spread of market has a dialectical motion. The digitalisation of production process has brought it to door step while the commodities have a reach over nations. The process is objective, evolving and turning into a force that has a power of its own.

The evolution of technology has gone so far that in ten years of the present century whatever was produced has been equivalent to the entire twentieth century. Everything in the society has acquired a motion that washes out the difference between reality and image. Even the keys on the mobile are images that emerge with one touch. With these basics, obsolete superstructure cannot run. We cannot have vedic training for producing jets. The obsolete forces will have to take to backstage, as the character of democracy too has to evolve. (IPA Service)