This slim volume by Shashi Tharoor of less than a hundred pages is meant to be — as the sub-title states — a concise introduction and commentary on the Constitution of India. Published by Aleph Book Company, it is the first of what is intended to be a series of books entitled ‘Essential India Editions’. Tomes have already been written on the Indian Constitution, which is the world’s longest written Constitution for any nation. Following innumerable amendments since its proclamation on January 26, 1950, it has by now 448 Articles, 25 Parts, and 12 Schedules. The document was the result of several years of intense deliberation by the Constituent Assembly chaired by Dr Rajendra Prasad (who later became India’s first President). Dr B.R. Ambedkar was its principal architect. The purpose of this book is clear — to cull out from a 1,45,000-word document a short but revealing profile of the history of its making, the essential pillars that animate its spirit, and the challenges it faces. Tharoor has succeeded in succinctly doing that. The basic principles of the Constitution are known — democracy, individual liberty, inalienable fundamental rights for every citizen, secularism, cooperative federalism, freedom of speech and dissent, and the right checks and balances between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. However, experience has shown that what is sacrosanct in theory is often violated in practice, and the possibility of this happening was highlighted by no less a person than Dr Ambedkar himself. Babasaheb was explicit in his warning. While presenting the Constitution in the Constituent Assembly he said: “However good a Constitution may be, it is sure to turn our bad because those who are called to work it happen to be a bad lot.” He was also concerned about social equality in practice, and wondered whether, in spite of such a liberal document, Indians would place “the country above their creed”. Most ominously, he forewarned that it is “quite possible, in a country like India… there is a danger of democracy giving place to dictatorship… If there is a landslide victory, the danger of (this) possibility becoming actuality is much greater.” Shashi highlights in his book the emergence of these and other challenges to the Constitution. The declaration of Emergency in 1977, through the mala fide misuse of the provisions of the Constitution itself, is a stark reminder of the validity of Dr Ambedkar’s warning. Since then, there are innumerable examples of misuse of executive authority, the deliberate encouragement of sectarian and religion-based politics, and attempts to browbeat the judiciary, which is the guardian of the “basic structure” of the Constitution. As a practising politician, and an intelligent observer of how in politics the way to hell is often paved with good intentions, Tharoor flags these developments, and spells out the consequences. Yet, he remains — and rightly so — an optimist. Any democracy, however perfect its Constitution may be, will face distortions in the course of its evolution in actual practice. India cannot be an exception. But the reason for hope lies in the fact that whenever such aberrations have occurred, there has been course correction, largely spearheaded by the will of the people, whose welfare and freedom is at the core of the Constitution. If today, every political party brandishes the Constitution as its beacon light — whatever it may wish to do in practice — it is because the people of India, through over seven decades of democracy and the working of the Constitution, are aware of their rights. Tharoor’s book is timely, because it provides a primer for them to understand once again — in a readable and concise manner — why the Constitution continues to be so relevant. Our Living Constitution By Shashi Tharoor Aleph pp. 128; Rs 499
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