Preparing for the Future Republic

No Constitution is perfect, and the Drafting Committee itself is suggesting certain amendments to improve the Draft Constitution. But the debates in the Provincial Assemblies give me courage to say that the Constitution as settled by the Drafting Committee is good enough to make in this country a start with. I feel that it is workable, it is flexible and it is strong enough to hold the country together both in peacetime and in wartime. Indeed, if I may say so if things go wrong under the new Constitution. The reason will not be that we had a bad Constitution. What we will have to say is that Man was vile”– Dr Babasaheb B R Ambedkar in his speech introducing the Draft Constitution in the Constituent Assembly on November 4, 1948

 

The Republic of Bharat is completing a journey of seventy years this January 26. And what a fascinating journey this has been. The project of introducing adult franchise to all at one go and assuring fundamental rights to all with adequate protection was indeed a daring one, especially considering the background of colonial rule and the perception of we are all being divided on the linguistic, religious, caste and regional lines. The problems of poverty and illiteracy were daunting, and such a state of society would not manage democracy was the general reading.

The global experience also validated this thinking as most of the countries that attained political independence around the same period faced severe crises, right from the civil war to the emergence of military dictatorships. Despite hiccups on various fronts, we exercised a peaceful and democratic transition, reformed ourselves socially and transformed ourselves economically. Bharat not only survived as a structure but became a role model for the decolonised world. Not that all problems are solved and conventional threats have vanished, but we certainly have evolved a mechanism to address them.

While celebrating the Republic Day, it is imperative to review this passage of seven decades. At the same time, we need to anticipate future challenges for the sovereignty and the republic of ours.

Take for instance the normal-looking protests, either in the name of caste or religion or language. Many of them are faceless and most of them effectively use social media tools to mobilise people. Some of them also find support and momentum from the foreign land. Some are believed to have originated from other countries. This new age war is forced on us without firing a bullet or sending a soldier. The weapon in this war is ‘Data’.

The ability to think and choose between good and bad is supposed to be the most distinguishing feature of the ‘humanist’ ‘modern’ world which has been incapacitated with various gadgets. These types of equipment certainly make our lives easy but simultaneously create different kinds of disabilities, while dehumanising us. While doing so, what they generate at every click on a mobile or notepad is data. Now without your knowledge, this data is being used to shape your thinking, influence your choices and channelise your social and political behaviour. As google prompts you to write your mail or sends you advertisements and promotions as per your locations and travel details, the data has the potential to transform entire national behaviour in a particular direction. The ongoing protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act is a classic case of using data and data-based technology to manipulate our societal behaviour.

Though it is a great threat, it is also an important treasure for a growing economy like Bharat. We are fond of devices but not contributing enough in the production and technology used in them. Innovation for transformation is the key but it needs to invigorate our efforts in education, research and new industry by all the possible stakeholders. Not just defence but the constructive offence in managing Data should be our approach.

As we are still grappling with our traditional national concerns and age-old policy and administrative measures to address them, we are missing out on the bigger picture that is affecting our national life. The change we are witnessing is not just political or technological but multidimensional. We need to retune or reboot our consciousness for the new world of Dataism and as we used Information Technology to our advantage, we also should be ready for the age of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence to re-energise ‘We The People’.