The mismatch in the Prime Minister’s pronouncements
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To mark Constitution Day on November 26 – the day India officially adopted its Constitution – Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent an open letter and email to the nation praising the Constitution and reflecting on its impact. He personalised the message, saying, “It is the power of the Constitution that has enabled a person like me, from a humble and economically disadvantaged family, to serve as the Head of the Government continuously for over 24 years”. PM Modi also recalled organising a Samvidhan Gaurav Yatra in Gujarat, at that time when the 60th anniversary of the Constitution, he said, did not receive the national attention it deserved as it completed 60 years. And in that yatra the "Constitution was placed on an elephant and I, along with several other people from different walks of life, had the honour of being part of the procession."
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To what extent do the Prime Minister and his government – who describe the Constitution as the nation’s strongest foundation – actually uphold its principles in practice? Do the Prime Minister’s organisation and its leaders truly honour the Constitution with the same respect reflected in their eloquent speeches? Time and again, voices within the BJP ecosystem have shown an eagerness to belittle the Constitution, dismissing most of it as products of “foreign influence.” The positions and actions taken by the Modi-led Union Government, along with several BJP-ruled States, actually undermine the very idea of India as a “sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic republic,” as declared in the Preamble. Instead of uniting citizens through the Constitution’s guarantee of equal rights, they have worked to alienate certain communities and effectively telling them to leave the country and go abroad. If one were to ask whether BJP governments truly value Article 15, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, caste, sex, or race, the answer would be in the negative. Worse still, spokespersons, supporters, and subordinate arms of the Sangh Parivar – of which the BJP is a part – actively cultivate divisions and hatred. Several Chief Ministers have gone further, branding minorities in independent India as “infiltrators” or “troublemakers", and showing eagerness to deny them civil rights wherever possible. Yet at the helm of all this stands the Prime Minister, who speaks movingly about his commitment to the Constitution.
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Just a day before the Constitution Day, on November 25, the Prime Minister himself presided over the flag-hoisting (dwajarohan) ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Read together with the Prime Minister's message, these events complete the picture of his claims regarding the Constitution. The very question why the Prime Minister should be involved in a temple ceremony has almost disappeared from public discourse. The state machinery has become deeply invested in presenting Hinduism as inseparable from national ethos, contrary to what the Constitution has envisaged. The Prime Minister’s statements at the event raise a stark question about where the Constitution’s commitment to secularism fits into this narrative. He declared that “today, the city of Ayodhya is witnessing another turning point in India's cultural consciousness". But was the act carried out in December 1992 by the communally driven mob that demolished the domes of the Babri Masjid, in any way consistent with a Constitution that explicitly upholds secularism?
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At the temple ceremony, the Prime Minister went beyond invoking devotion and spirituality. By declaring the temple’s construction as the culmination of a 500-year-long prayer and presenting the entire nation as a participant in that prayer, he effectively equated Hinduism with the nation itself. The community that once worshipped at the Babri Masjid, as well as those who stand for secularism and pluralism, can never accept this framing. They do not see the temple as a symbol of national pride shared equally by all citizens. Unfortunately, the symmetric rhetoric of the Prime Minister, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the temple ceremony, and the Prime Minister’s lofty message praising the greatness of the Indian Constitution lie miles apart.