India’s Constitution continues to be more alive than the politics of those who call for its replacement
Published on: 19 August 2023, 09:53 am
Robustness, and not average age, is the test of constitutions, and since the Constitution of India continues to be vigorous and dynamic, Bibek Debroy's call for a new one is insidious, writes Rohin Bhatt.
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ON the eve of Independence Day this year, Bibek Debroy wrote an article for LiveMint calling for a new Constitution to bring forth Amrit Kaal, or is it Kartavya Kaal now?
Usually, such a piece would not warrant a response, and one would let it live through the moment of its own obsolescence. However, this was coming from the chairman of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to the Prime Minister and cannot be dismissed as bluster.
On August 17, the EAC put out a tweet that Debroy's views were his own and not endorsed by the government.
But a few questions need to be raised at this juncture: Why did the LiveMint article not mention that Debroy was expressing his personal views, and not his views as the chairman of the EAC?
“The Constituent Assembly was not representative of the populace, yet it was diverse. It had members who were Christians, Muslims, Parsis and Sikhs. Compare it to today, when there is no Muslim Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of Parliament or Union cabinet minister.
Why did the tweet come only after widespread outrage by the civil society and Opposition parties?
The underlying argument of Debroy in the LiveMint piece seems to be that the Constitution of India is a colonial vestige, and we need a new Constitution for Kartavya Kaal.