Already 75 years of Independence have gone by. The high ideals dignity of the individual, justice: social economic and political, liberty of thought and expression, right to equality, secularism, right against exploitation, developing scientific outlook and spirit of inquiry that have been listed in the Constitution of India of January 26, 1950 ar yet to permeate into the consciousness of the masses and their leaders who are still governed by the ideas of the primitive past.
One of the high ideals is surely dignity of the individual. In a way it is the bedrock of democracy. If every individual is respected irrespective of his/her position in the society, then nobody will feel miserable and disheartened.
The English language is much better than the languages like Hindi, Odia, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil etc. In English the word “You” is all-inclusive. It does not have any parallel terms. It is used to cover all the people. On the other hand, in Odia language we have split the “Second Person” in accordance with the status the individual enjoys in the society or in the family circles. We have Tu, Tame, Tamara, Tora, Apana, Apankar etc in Odia. Thus there is no dignity of Individual in Odisha. Such is the case in other Indian languages.
There is no such gradation or ranking in English. If a person is of Dalit community, if he/she is a domestic servant the language and the words used are of derogatory nature. Human dignity must be upheld whether in the domestic circle or outside or in the office circle. The language used must be of elevating nature. This sort of elevating language was used by John Galsworthy in his work, ‘The Little Man.’
Because of the caste system and the feudalistic nature of the Indian people the word “Apana” is not universally used for every Indian
citizen. This must be looked into by all those who say that they are democrats. In classrooms, houses and offices, the word Apana in Odia or Aap in Hindi etc must be used in full length without any discrimination.
We have mention of political justice, social justice and economic justice in our Preamble to the Constitution of India. We do not have these justices in our land, in our day- to- day life. Marriages are being done on caste lines even today. Young men and women are not being empowered to choose their life partners. This freedom or this social freedom must be there for every youth.
A daily wage earner earns Rs 300 for 8 hours of hard work a day. Daily wage earners are demanding in Punjab a wage of Rs 700. Some people are laughing at it. Because they do not have any regards for “economic justice”.
Political justice is not there in India as it is there in Germany, Nepal, New Zealand and South Africa etc. In as many as 94 countries, there is Proportional Representation System of Election. In India we are still continuing with a defective system of election whereby a party like the BJP is ruling India with mere 37% of votes cast. It has captured 303 seats in the Lok Sabha of 2019. This political injustice must go lock stock and barrel. If Mixed PR System of Election of Nepal or New Zealand is introduced in India, the Dadagiri in politics will go away.
Equality, Liberty and Fraternity are three other ideals of our Constitutional Democracy. Nobody is above criticism. This is the message we get from reading Article 19 of the Constitution of India. Freedom of Speech and Expression is not being honoured in India. People in power try their best to harass and do harm to persons who are critical of abuse of Power or mis-governance.
Right to Equality is there for all Indians under Article 14 of the Constitution of India. That is why there is “One Adult person, one vote,” throughout India. India is a secular State. The Government of
India or any State Government or even any gram panchayat or any Municipality cannot discriminate on the grounds of religion and caste. India does not have any State religion like Pakistan or Afghanistan. Under Part IV-A(h), there is the provision for every Indian Citizen to develop his scientific outlook and spirit of enquiry.
The Freethought Party of India (FPI), launched on May 18, 2013, has been trying its best to popularise the high ideals mentioned in the Preamble to the Constitution of India and the same that has been outlined under its Part – III (Fundamental Rights) and Part – IV-A (Fundamental Duties).
(The writer is general secretary, Freethought Party of India (FPI),
Mob: 9238878280)
TB-free drive: KISS Foundation adopts K’mal
--MP Samanta distributes ‘Food Baskets’
PNS
PHULBANI: The KISS Foundation has joined the Prime Minister’s ‘TB Harega Desh Jitega’ campaign to make the country TB free by 2025 by adopting the entire Kandhamal district with the efforts of Kandhamal MP and KISS Foundation founder Dr Achyuta Samanta to make the district TB-free.
On Monday, Dr Samanta launched a 'Food Basket' distribution programme for TB patients. The basket comprises 3 kg of cereals and millets for adult patients; 2 kg of cereals and millets for children; 1.5 kg and 1 kg pulses for adults and children, respectively; 250 grams and 150 grams of vegetables cooking oil for adults and children and 1 kg and 750 grams of groundnuts for adults and children, respectively.
In the first phase, the programme was launched for 606 TB patients, including 39 children, in 12 blocks.
The KISS Foundation will incur an expenditure of Rs 5 lakh every month and approx Rs 40 lakh for next six months.