VIOLATION OF LIBERTY, EQUALITY AND FREEDOM IN

INDIA
We live in the country India that has been independent since 72
years and is referred to as “The World’s Largest democracy”, the
most populated country that has a constitution which is more
comprehensive than any other constitution in the world, a
constitution that was drafted by great thinkers like Bhim Rao
Ambedkar and aimed at promoting equality, providing individual
liberty and granting freedom to ALL of its citizen but even after 72
years, none of these ideals have been fully achieved in India.
Heinous acts by the government and petty political tactics have
always sacrificed the rights of the citizens which they are entitled
to by the virtues of the constitution. Starting from the article of the
constitution to the sections of various laws, there’s a breach of
liberty, equality and freedom that can be found everywhere and
most of the times, it’s the protector of the constitution or the
government that violates these ideals hence the situation becomes
really troublesome when the saviour becomes the perpetrator.
Human Rights Watch, a non-profit organization renowned for
impartial reporting of human-rights violations across the globe,
released its annual World Report last January.
The report said: “Vigilante violence aimed at religious minorities,
marginalized communities, and critics of the government — often
carried out by groups claiming to support the ruling Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) — became an increasing threat in India in 2017.
The government failed to promptly or credibly investigate the
attacks, while many senior BJP leaders publicly promoted Hindu
supremacy and ultra-nationalism, which encouraged further
violence. Dissent was labelled anti-national, and activists,
journalists, and academics were targeted for their views, chiding
free expression.”
We will further examine the cases and incidents in details.
Caste based discrimination is rampant in Indian subcontinent
even after caste being the fuel to the engine of Indian politics and
vote bank. Article 17 along with many other articles of the Indian
Constitution prohibits caste based discrimination but according to
a report release about National Crime Records Bureau over 46000
cases were registered on matters of alleged assault, rape,
prohibition from entering into public places like temples and wells
etc. The conscience of the nation shook when Rohit Vemula, a Dalit
PhD student from Hyderabad Central University committed
suicide after being tortured by his fellows for being a Dalit and still
appropriate justice was not served. Reports of National Human
Rights Commission show that in 30% of Indian villages, Dalits and
other lower caste members are not allowed to enter police station,
they are urinated upon and face daily torture for no fault of theirs.
The next incident we are going to refer to is the Gauri Lankesh
Murder Case, a very famous journalist who was shot down by
vigilante groups for opposing the acts of the BJP government and
dissenting its policies. Even when article 19(1a) provides us with
Freedom of expression and speech, we are still not allowed to say
whatever we want. You are immediately branded as an anti-
nationalist if you speak against the present government and must
face the negative consequences of your actions. The section 124A
of the IPC or the sedition law is often used to justify these gross
violations of human freedom. In July, 31 Dalit activists were
arrested and detained for a day in Lucknow for organizing a press
conference about caste-based violence. The ban of many books and
articles which criticised the BJP government was also justified by
the use of the sedition law even when it clearly violated freedom of
expression. In many universities, talks and lectures were cancelled
on the vague grounds of spreading anti-national ideals. We need to
realise that the nation and the government are two different
entities, criticism of the government is an integral aspect of a
democracy and dissenting government policies and actions is not
equal to going against the country.
Communal violence or religious discrimination instigated by
the government that goes on to violate equality and secularism in
India. India is called as a secular country but the recent acts of the
government and some vigilante group goes on to show that we are
moving towards being a Hindu-Fascist country. Article 25 and 28
of the Indian constitution makes right to freedom of religion a
fundamental right and Article 15 prohibits religious
discrimination, even after that beef ban politics, mob lynching and
the Ajodhya issue continue to violate religious equality. Dozens of
hate crimes against Muslims took place across the country. At least
10 Muslim men were lynched and many injured by vigilante cow
protection groups, many of which seemed to operate with the
support of members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Keeping in note the upcoming 2019 general elections, we must
realise that the constitution that’s the guardian of our fundamental
rights is in grave danger. To rewrite the constitution a party needs
2/3rd majority in Lok Sabha that the BJP has, it half the states while
BJP has more than that in their hands and 2/3rd majority in the
Rajya Sabha which they will have as Rajya Sabha elections are
controlled by state assemblies that BJP now owns. So if BJP wins
the 2018 elections then there’s a huge chance of our constitution
being overthrown and there has been internal talks about it. RSS
which is the father of BJP had Veer Sawarkar, MS Gowalkar and
Deen Dayal Upadhyay as its prominent leaders, and these people
never accepted the Indian constitution as they wanted India to be
a “Hindu Rasthra” and not a secular India. Modi worships these
leaders and hence there’s a huge chance of the whispers of the
Constitution being rewritten a true fact which will lead to complete
withdrawal of equality, liberty and freedom in India. Hence, now is
the right time to act as citizens before facing the doom that’s very
near. We need to remember that we live a democracy and hence no
one can deny us our rights and if needed, we will fight for getting
our rights back from the hands of usurpers. JAI HIND.
 KIIT SCHOOL OF LAW
POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSIGNMENT
TOPIC: VIOLATION OF LIBERTY, EQUALITY AND FREEDOM IN
INDIA

Submitted by:
Arya Senapati
B.A.LLB(Hons) Sec-B
Roll: 1883160

Submitted to:
Mr.Ramesh Chandra Sethi
Ms. Geetanjali Patra,
Faculty, KIIT School of Law