India as it exists today is unarguably the most complex, the most
diverse and also the most interesting place in the entire world. What
has shaped Indian diversity over thousand of years is its fundamental
etho of 'Live and Let Live'. There has been relentless attempts from
foreign invaders to break this etho of hers by unleashing wave of terror
and plunder but some brave and selfless sons of her have always sprung up to prevent the idea of India from destruction.
However Britishers realized that the way to break the uniqueness of India is not by force but by hijacking our minds, by brainwashing us to believe that their ideas are supreme and correct. And we have to admit that they have been successful in their designs to a very very large extent.
The most obvious testimony of Britishers selling their ideas to India successfully is nothing but our own constitution. Our constitution as it exists today is primarily a copy paste exercise from constitutions of British and some other western countries. Our penal code is nothing but a lift over of "British India" penal code. All of us know that the laws that British formulated to govern India were meant to denigrate and exploit Indians and its wealth for the benefit of ruling government which was British. All well and good as expecting a just and mutually beneficial relation between a conquerer and a conquered will be nothing more than fooling oneself.
However the biggest irony is that now even when Britishers have left long ago we continue to be governed by same set of laws and with the same mentality of ruling class. All kind of attrocities and injustices can be brushed under carpet in the name of saeguarding and withholding the decree of constitution. Just to give you an instance of exploitative nature of our laws we can pick up Land Acquisition Act. It was formulated in the later half of 19th century to usurp land of individuals and communities in the name of national interest without giving any voice to the land holder for appeal against this shameless land grab. This Draconian law has made millions of Adivasis refugees in their own country and snatched from them life of dignity. A big chunk of urban poor we see today are a victim of Land Acquisition Act. The present government has tried to rectify this historical and grotesque injustice to fellow countrymen by bringing some serious amendments to this law in the year 2013. However how much this translates into change at ground level is highly questionable.
The bottom line of this discussion is that why do our rulers vouch for constitution as if it is a word from god when in reality it is primarily a set of laws intended to trample upon its masses as a victor quashes vanquished. It is time to realise that it is no use calling us free when we continue to be governed by the same exploitative laws which were formulated to drain us financially and to smash our collective self esteems by a foreign power more than 100 years ago.
However Britishers realized that the way to break the uniqueness of India is not by force but by hijacking our minds, by brainwashing us to believe that their ideas are supreme and correct. And we have to admit that they have been successful in their designs to a very very large extent.
The most obvious testimony of Britishers selling their ideas to India successfully is nothing but our own constitution. Our constitution as it exists today is primarily a copy paste exercise from constitutions of British and some other western countries. Our penal code is nothing but a lift over of "British India" penal code. All of us know that the laws that British formulated to govern India were meant to denigrate and exploit Indians and its wealth for the benefit of ruling government which was British. All well and good as expecting a just and mutually beneficial relation between a conquerer and a conquered will be nothing more than fooling oneself.
However the biggest irony is that now even when Britishers have left long ago we continue to be governed by same set of laws and with the same mentality of ruling class. All kind of attrocities and injustices can be brushed under carpet in the name of saeguarding and withholding the decree of constitution. Just to give you an instance of exploitative nature of our laws we can pick up Land Acquisition Act. It was formulated in the later half of 19th century to usurp land of individuals and communities in the name of national interest without giving any voice to the land holder for appeal against this shameless land grab. This Draconian law has made millions of Adivasis refugees in their own country and snatched from them life of dignity. A big chunk of urban poor we see today are a victim of Land Acquisition Act. The present government has tried to rectify this historical and grotesque injustice to fellow countrymen by bringing some serious amendments to this law in the year 2013. However how much this translates into change at ground level is highly questionable.
The bottom line of this discussion is that why do our rulers vouch for constitution as if it is a word from god when in reality it is primarily a set of laws intended to trample upon its masses as a victor quashes vanquished. It is time to realise that it is no use calling us free when we continue to be governed by the same exploitative laws which were formulated to drain us financially and to smash our collective self esteems by a foreign power more than 100 years ago.
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