It's been 69 years since India adopted their constitution and became a democratic republic.

A republic is a state which elects their own representative. The power lies with the people of the state and the apex law governs the state. But during all these years there have been many changes in the nature of governance of our country. Corruption, violence and communalism are the waves today. People are growing more an more intolerant towards who they consider the “other”. Among all this, there is the need of the hour for us to ponder about what we have to learn and unlearn as “republic”.

Electing a representative doesn’t mean the duty of us as a citizen is done. The elected representative doesn’t become a god after winning with a huge margin. Citizens aren't supposed to sit down let the leader do as they please. Being in a republic means you have the free speech to criticise the government. The growing intolerance of the majority of people in the country where they supposedly think that it is wrong to criticise leaders are failing to learn the basics of a Republic.

We are meant to criticise what our won elected government does. That is how corrections and real developments can be made. People who raise voices in criticism are being termed “anti-national” and are simply being killed. 

As a republic, we still have not learned to hear others. Minorities in our country are going majorly unheard. The majority and privileged classes are not letting the voices of the minority be heard out loud. Communal violence is higher. Pieces of land are being given more importance that lives of people. One can give territorial integration as much importance as they want but how happy can you be to rule over that land of the dead. 

India becomes a republic after adopting a constitution which is secular and annihilates the caste discrimination that has been going for centuries. Is it all crumbling today? People are becoming more and intolerant towards Muslims today. The on-going saffronisation stands against everything a republic does.

Moreover, this saffronisation is reaching academics too. Why is education being meddled with? There is hatred nurturing in children. People are refusing to hear the viewpoint other than theirs. Peace could never have been an option in such conditions. The caste system, which people believe is long gone, is showing its shades in everyday life. Dalits are being assassinated every day. The tribal groups all over the country are losing their lands in the name of “modernization”.

Journalists who raise voices are also being shot. Is this the republic that the makers of the constitution had in mind?

One cannot sit down and ignore the uproar and unrest happening in the country. It is the country’s elected representative’s duty to protect minorities and yet the opposite is happening. This slow churning of minds and turning the communities against each other will only end in high-end violence which, ultimately, doesn’t solve anything and both sides end up losing.

This republic let’s reflect on us as a nation and what can we do to make it safer for people who are not being heard. Let’s give minorities the voices they need. Let us make India a true republic.