Why is Republic Day celebrated?

The Preamble to the Constitution declares that India is a ‘Republic’. This self-description must be taken seriously: being a republic is an integral part of India’s political identity. Furthermore, it is not only a descriptive but also a strong, moral, canonical claim. Being republican is an ideal we constantly aspire to, and when we go astray, we should know we’ve done something wrong, feel remorse, and improve. If our political identity loses its republican character, we must act quickly to restore it. It is because we enjoy being a republic that every 26 January since 1950 we celebrate this founding moment. The parade and the rituals around it are meaningless until we get the spirit behind the event.

against the monarchy

What is the meaning of republic and what is its significance? For a start, the primary collective motive behind a republic is anti-monarchical. The Greeks defined monarchy as ‘the rule of the one (mono)’, a form of government where one person rules and all others obey; One is sovereign, all others his subjects. We usually associate it with the hereditary rule of kings and queens, but in the Greek definition of the word, it also covers the rule of modern dictators (autocracy). But what’s wrong with one man’s rule? Why fear the rule of one person? Perhaps the most harmful quality about monarchy is that it subject people to the whims and fancies of a person, his arbitrary will. One day he likes us and gives us, say a land grant. The next day, he takes the grant back and throws us in jail. All the powers are vested in him. Like God, he becomes the judge and jury, makes and executes laws, decides when they are violated, and rewards and punishes him as he pleases. All these decisions affecting us are made in secret, privately, without discussion and expressed as manifest truths. The entire decision-making process remains close to his chest. Hidden from all, it breaks neither transparency nor accountability. It is this tyrannical ability of one man to rule, the full and arbitrary use of power that we fear.

government by discussion

What options does the Republic offer? The English word ‘republic’ is derived from Latin ‘res publica’ – public thing. This translates into open decision making in the political arena with a full view of all. A republic is then associated with what we today call the ‘public realm’, an open space where people make claims about what is good for the community, what is in the collective interest. After discussing, debating and deliberating on them, they decide about which laws to make and what action to take. A republic is ‘government by free and open discussion’.

The difference between monarchical and republican forms of government could not be more sharp. Monarchy emphasizes submission to the arbitrary power of another person, allowing cynical intrusion into our choices, remaining at the mercy of the lord. It creates slavery.

People who are subjected to others for long periods of time develop enslavement, a mental anguish that is difficult to overcome. Silent, they lose a vibrant sense of their own agency, rendered without the ability to think for themselves or make decisions about their own lives. For this reason Gandhi used the idea of ​​Swaraj to challenge not only the political colonization by the British, but also the colonization of our minds. It is because one regime after another frees people and enslaves them that the republic, its alternative, is so strongly associated with liberty. To be a republic is to be of free people. That is why Gandhi’s Swaraj is an important republican idea. And also why the republican tradition emphasizes the importance of citizenship. After all, to be a citizen is to belong to a political community, where one can express himself and act freely. Only citizens have political freedom. Without it we are only subjects.

For republican-lovers, political freedom does not mean unbridled freedom to do whatever it wants (negative liberty), but to live according to the laws made by citizens themselves, which are the product of their own will, nor that the arbitrary will of others. This explains why the constitution of the republics is made by a deliberative body of citizens which provides the basic law of the land, the basic structure of governance. The phrase “we, the people” in the constitution is not merely a literary embellishment, but is central to a republican constitution. Desire To live by self-made rules but enforced by public power or by the state also means that those who value the republic are not against the states In fact But against those who take away our political freedom.

‘Republic’ and ‘democratic’

From what has been said above, it appears that the word ‘republic’ includes all that is related to the word ‘democratic’. Our own Constituent Assembly initially took the view that since the word ‘republic’ includes the word ‘democratic’, it may be unnecessary to use both. This would have been in keeping with the French Republic tradition where the two words are used interchangeably. Nevertheless, after severing their ties with an outsider, the imperial monarch, and all existing and future claims of local kings and declaring their commitment to make India a republic, BR Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru acknowledged that Since an undemocratic republic is conceivable, a different commitment to democratic institutions is necessary.

This decision was right. It was wise to put both words in the preamble. The idea of ​​a republic states that decisions will not be made by a single individual but by citizens after due deliberation in an open forum. But it conforms to a narrower criterion of who counts as a citizen. The ancient Roman republics were not inclusive. Ancient India probably had aristocratic clan-republics that were far from democratic. In ancient Greece, slaves, women and foreigners were not considered citizens and were excluded from decision-making.

Indeed, for many Greek thinkers, democracy had a negative connotation, as it was believed to include all, including the plebeians, whom we contemptuously refer to as the ‘mob’. What the word ‘democratic’ brings to our Constitution is that citizenship should be available to all, regardless of their wealth, education, gender, perceived social ranking, religion, race or ideological beliefs. The word ‘democracy’ makes a republic inclusive. No one has been taken out of citizenship. For example, everyone has the right to vote. Also, if for practical reasons voting is limited to electing representatives who make laws and policies in the name of the people, then citizens should at least have the right to be properly informed, transparent and accountable. his government.

A republic must, at a minimum, always be vigilant citizens who act as watchdogs, supervise their representatives, and retain the right to oppose any law or policy made on their behalf. . Going beyond just counting heads, the word ‘republic’ brings free public discussion to our democratic constitution. It gives depth to our democracy. It is imperative that decisions taken by people’s representatives be properly discussed, open to scrutiny, and publicly opposed, even after they have been legally made.

When the farmers took to the streets to peacefully challenge the three agricultural laws made by the present government, they not only exercised their democratic rights but also displayed supreme republican virtues. It is to celebrate such political acts of citizens that we have Republic Day.

Rajeev Bhargava is a Political Philosopher and Honorary Fellow, Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi