Republic Day, Sovereignty and the Youth
Prem Singh
The Constitution of India was adopted
on 26th Jan 1950 and we entered the world stage as a sovereign
republic. Ever since 26 January is celebrated as the Republic Day, a
celebration of our sovereignty. Vibrant tableaus of various states and
departments are part of the parade. But predominantly it is a celebration of
the display of military prowess. On careful observation you will find that
after the adoption of the new economic policies in 1991—that is after the
ruling classes compromised the economic sovereignty of the nation—the
celebration of Republic Day has become more and more extravagant. During the
past three decades, as political sovereignty got compromised along with
economic sovereignty, the celebratory extravaganza of Republic Day on Rajpath
reached its zenith.
The question is whether
our sovereignty has also come of age with the coming of age of these
exhibitionist celebrations? A quick look at the decisions taken in the wake of the
neoliberal order makes it clear that the ruling classes have derailed governments
from the axis of the Constitution, which embodies our
sovereignty; and instead mounted them on the axis of neoliberalist institutions
of global capital order like the World Bank, International
Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation etc. These agreements and decisions
have been taken at the behest of global capitalist economic institutions to
further the interests of national and international corporate houses,
multinational companies and the likes. The current leadership which claims that
nothing has been done in the last 70 years, has shown remarkable promptness in
in compormising national sovereignty in just two and a half years of office.
They have no concept of either freedom or of the sacrifices made by people in
the struggle to achieve freedom for the country, hence they do not care if
sovereignty is lost. This is also the problem with
Narasimha Rao (the then prime minister), Manmohan Singh
and Sonia Gandhi. Which is why they turned the party that won the country’s
freedom into the party which pawned its freedom.
The ruling class
presents military power as the symbol of the nation’s sovereign power. But it
is a false reassurance given that now there is
100% foreign direct investment in Defense, and the concessions have been
given to America to interfere in our defence apparatus. Governments, especially
the current government, whips up nationalistic hysteria to mislead the people,
so that they are unable to see or comprehend the treason against constitutional
sovereignty. the nationalist sentiment is ususlly whipped up against Pakistan, the
country the Indian army has always had the wherewithall to defeat. Several
thousand square kms of Indian territory is under Chinese control. The ruling
classes never invokes nationalism for a military solution
to that. All in all, the spectacle parade at the Republic Day has become a comprehensive exercise by the ruling classes, its civil society and the common masses to fill the void resulting
from the loss of sovereignty. The more the neoliberal
noose tightens around sovereignty, the more extravagant
will be this display. Jingoistic nationalism will get more jingoistic.
This situation is
tremendously knotted and depressing. But it also presents an opportunity to
salvage and strengthen the sovereignty achieved after a long struggle.
Especially to the young. The youth in India do not come
from any one domain. There are distinct economic, social and educational
domains. Across all these three domains, there is a huge army of educated,
semi-educated and uneducated unemployed youth. The youth have different perspectives
regarding the nation and their place in it. They don’t necessarily even have
the same point of view about the neoliberal assault on national sovereignty.
Most though, want to see India as a superpower. Some indeed believe that it
already is one.
The youth must
understand that a nation which cedes its svereignty can never become a
superpower. They can attempt the difficult visualization that in the neoliberal
order, private enterprizes will also have their tableaus in the Republic Day
parade in future. The 100% foreign/
private investment in Defense will also have an imprint on the parade. They
must think if it is acceptable to them? Will they want a share in the neo-imperialist/neoliberal nation? Or will they carry
out their responsibilities in the sovereign Indian nation? The nation’s
sovereignty can only be saved if the nation’s youth resolve to save it with new
preparedness and understanding.
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