Indian democracy derives its strength from the Indian Constitution that bestows upon every Indian their Fundamental Rights and provides projection from social and religious discrimination. Though some see it as a document of governance ideas, its role as an agent of change often goes unstated. Before the Indian constitution came into effect there was no real India. For close to two centuries it was under foreign rule and prior to that a land divided into feudal territories where ordinary citizens (though people would be a more appropriate term) no rights or privileges granted to them. The poor and the weak had been oppressed for centuries and power and social status was often restricted to a minority. These discriminations were duly addressed by the Constituent Assembly and the drafting committee and put into Four Thoughts or Ideals which is the heart of the Constitution of India and part of our Preamble.

JUSTICE

The Preamble states “Justice, social, economic and political”. For a country that had seen everything from feudalism to caste and religion based discrimination the thought of ‘justice’ is one of the key pillars of our democracy. Social justice bestows upon the right to every Indian that they won’t be discriminated on the basis of religion, caste, community or regional identity. Economic justices promise that there would be no discrimination based on income, wealth and economic status of individuals. Political justice empowers every Indian to participate in elections and other political activities in the country. No Indian can be prevented from participating in elections or holding any constitutional post. It is this ideal of ‘JUSTICE’ that has helped become a thriving democracy where citizens have immense faith in the judicial system and power transfer at the state and federal level happens without bloodshed and the show of military might.

LIBERTY

The word liberty translates to individual freedom of thought and expression and this has been guaranteed to every citizen by the constitution. “Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship” states the Preamble and the Constitution has given us Freedom of Speech and Right to Freedom of Religion. The core idea behind this is that the state wouldn’t interfere in the religious practices and beliefs of an individual and wouldn’t unnecessarily prevent a citizen from expressing his/her thoughts. This is one of the most important frameworks of Indian democracy and has allowed us to grow as a nation.

EQUALITY

There can be no democracy where all people aren’t treated as equal. While many Western democracies embraced equality in true sense hundreds of years after their Constitution had been written through amendments after seeing mass uprisings, the Indian Constitution ensured “Equality of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all” to quote directly from the Preamble. It envisioned a society where all citizens are equal and special privileges are provided only to people who are in need of it. As years rolled by this has helped in restoring the faith in humanity that was lost by centuries of discrimination.

FRATERNITY

As stated in the Preamble “Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation”. Given the circumstances in which we won our freedom and the bloodshed that followed the partition of the nation the architects of our Constitution led by the towering Dr. B.R. Ambedkar stressed on this ideal as a means to instil the sense of brotherhood and unity among ordinary citizens of the country. The ideal deals with both territorial and psychological integration of the Union of India where people rise over caste, religion, ethnicity and regionalism to feel as one. It is this idea that unites all Indians and brings them together during the hours of crisis. While many had predicted Balkanization of the nation, into our seventh decade as a free nation we stand united as one.