Persecution of Minorities under the nose of the Constitution.

 :- Affan Nomani, Editor, Huda Times.

Almost seventy years ago, the Indian Constitution came into effect with its solemn declaration about the abolition of discrimination based on caste, religion, sex, and ethnicity. 

The test of the Constitution is whether a government is able to advance the cause of these principles, to deepen democracy to the underprivileged, the marginalized and the disadvantaged- especially to the muslim minorities and to the other marginalized populations. 

The Bjp government came to power with the slogan Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas ( With everyone, For Everyone's Development ) in 2014 and 2019. 

Since the Bjp came to power, the gradual marginalization of Muslims- and other religious minorities - is a symptom of great churning in society, where Muslims- and others- are beginning to feel redundant because of the policies of the government. They are increasingly being told to adopt an 'Indian' ( namely Hindu ) way of Life and they are often told that their places of worship ( mosques ) are not integral to their religious identity. 

Satis Despandey, who teaches sociology at the University Delhi, wrote in 2015 that there are attempts to 'Cultivate a far more durable system of normalized oppression ' in which Muslims are ' Compelled to become permanent participants in their subordination. 'The key elements here, ' he writes, ' would be the imposition of conditionalities limiting the extent and quality of their citizenship. Once the basic principle of subordinate citizenship is legitimized, all the old cliches extolling happy coexistence, syncretic culture, the inherent tolerance of Hinduism, etc., could be brazenly repeated - Garv se'. 

Democracy is built on shared ideals and goals rather than on shared hatreds and exclusions. 

New bands of ruffians- Lynch mobs and vigilante groups- are on the roads looking to capture those whom they consider being worthy of violence. Protection of the cow comes before the protection of humans. The communal incident, all against the Law, are not prosecuted. As vigilante violence increases, the state stands mute - either in connivance with the perpetrators or else standing at a distance from the violence. Trust in the rule of Law suffers as the underprivileged find themselves more and more vulnerable to extreme violence. 

The Constitution of India's Preamble opens with great promise. The words are in capitals: JUSTICE, LIBERTY, EQUALITY, and FRATERNITY. They are emphasized. 

A Constitution is a document that is the heart of the democracy with the citizenry guided by it. 

There can be no democracy if individual rights are not defended and if the socio-culture rights of people are not facilitated. Dr. Ambedkar describes the 'Constitutional morality' that is needed to transcend 'social morality'. The norms of society need to be brought into coherence with the norms of the Constitution. 

Individual rights,  the choice of people, are under attack by the state and by right-wing vigilante groups. The right to wear what one wants, the right to marry whom one wants and the right to eat what kind of food one would like is constrained by state action and by right-wing militia attacks. 

The majoritarian understanding of democracy, as driven by the BJP, has no space for such self-expression. The entire process reminds one of what Subhash Gatade wrote in Modinama.