The Republic at 66

Social discrimination flourishes despite Constitutional guarantees

Indians may be intrigued and even proud to see French defence contingents march down Rajpath today, the first time foreigners have participated in the Republic Day parade. But the country's leaders may do well to use this annual celebration of the birth of the Republic to extend their attention beyond the pomp and circumstance of a two-hour parade. January 26, after all, marks the formal adoption of the Constitution, an extraordinarily extensive document that sets out the essential framework for governance and society in India. Critically, the foundation of this, the world's longest written Constitution, rests on a guarantee to ensure equality before the law for all Indians, irrespective of caste, religion, race, place of birth or gender. Sixty-six years on, it is safe to say that Indian society, aided by Indian politicians, has failed to fulfil that promise.

Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the status of Dalits, an issue currently roiling the public discourse following the suicide of a university student in Hyderabad. Despite several decades of reservations mandated by law in government jobs and aided educational institutions, Dalits remain wilfully marginalised by mainstream society. In contrast to African-Americans, many of whom entered the middle class within a decade of getting the right to vote in the US, survey after survey suggests that Dalits still dominate the universe of grinding poverty below the poverty line. Muslims, too, account for about 13 per cent of the population and also mostly inhabit echelons around and below the poverty line. Over the past two decades, political targeting of this group has only resulted in a growing marginalisation and demonisation to the point when it is possible for, say, religious vigilantes to murder a man for his suspected culinary habits.

The growing polarisation of Dalits and Muslims in Indian society is only one aspect of the discrimination in Indian society. Only a few years ago, northerners in Maharashtra and north-easterners in Bengaluru suffered the ignominy of being hounded out of jobs and homes by xenophobic activists, suggesting that "place of birth" remains an issue for some within the Indian union. If, however, there is one form of discrimination that cuts across Indian society, it is on the basis of gender. Partial results of the fourth National Family Health Survey in 13 states and two Union Territories show that the sex ratio has worsened, a poor reflection of the regressive nature of Indian society. As the sociologist Andre Beteille put it, "Our contemporary life is permeated by the contradiction between the principle of equality and the practice of inequality. This contradiction is particularly marked in India where a Constitution with a strong emphasis on equality confronts the most bewildering variety of inequalities in almost every sphere of life." For a Republic that aspires to a place at the global high table, this is its most inconvenient truth yet.