Hyderabad: Social activist Prof Yogendra Yadav has warned that the Republic of India is under threat today and that those in power, have been successfully dismantling the democratic structure, the socio-economic order that was sought to be achieved by our forefathers, and our constitutional values.
Delivering a talk on the topic “challenges to democracy and constitutional values” at OU Arts College in Hyderabad on Saturday, April 27, Yadav said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent statements during his election speeches have created two classes of citizens through his election speeches by calling the Muslim minorities who comprise 20 crore population as “infiltrators.”
“This comes from a person who is supposed to keep the country together. How does it connect with the Constitution,” he asked, opining that his statements were diametrically opposite to the Constitution.
Elaborating on the Republic nations, he said that the republic in the western world has already diminished, which could be seen in how France has gone from first republic to second republic and so on.
“The republic takes birth and gets finished. The first republic of India has come to an end,” he observed.
Substantiating his point, he wondered what kind of free and fair elections were happening in the present times, where just a week before the model code of conduct came into effect, an election commissioner had resigned and two new persons were appointed as the election commissioners.
“Nobody knows and nobody will ever know why he resigned. They have changed the rules of the game and expect the people to play the game,” he said, drawing parallels between the current election and a football match, where the captain of one of the teams appoints the referee just before the match, and changes the rules of the game.
“A republic built by the people to save the country. Unfortunately, we are watching the elections like a match, clapping and cheering. This is not IPL. This is the question of our future generations. Our future is being finished,” he felt.
He pointed out how just a month before that, rules were changed to make the Press Information Bureau check and certify what is fake news and what is not.
“This is censorship. Fortunately, the Supreme Court has stayed it. But that doesn’t mean the rules have gone away,” he cautioned.
“Just before the elections, the election accounts of various parties are frozen. A thirty-year-old income tax case gets reopened, the chief minister of Jharkhand is arrested and the Delhi chief minister gets arrested after the elections are announced,” he mentioned.
Calling the coming Lok Sabha elections “the most unfair elections that the country has witnessed,” Yogendra Yadav wondered whether the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has raided or arrested even a single leader from the ruling party in the last ten years.
In support of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s statement on the redistribution of wealth, which the Prime Minister has been attacking during every election campaign these days, Yadav reminded that the very preamble in the Constitution of India talks about socio-economic and political justice.
“Only 20-22 wealthy entrepreneurs own the wealth equaling the wealth of 70 crore Indians. The question should be whether there is social equality in caste,” he opined.
Conceding that it was the mistake of his generation for not taking the constitution to the people in the last 30 years, he felt that there is a need to explain the constitution and its provisions to the people for the next 30-40 years if we were to save the constitutional values.
He said that the short-term challenge is to defeat the forces that are against the Constitution.
“Without giving an account of what you have done for ten years, if you want to create a rift between communities, we will not let it happen,” he warned, appealing to the citizens to use their ears, eyes, and mouth, to spread the word and empower the people to protect the Republic of India.
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