Dr. Ambedkar’s Views on Social Justice, Equality and Fraternity and Its Relevance in Modern India

The Preamble of the Indian constitution states that the Constitution exists ―to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, and promote the general Welfare. It states that constitution derives its authority from the people of India and declares India as socialist, sovereign, secular and democratic. The justice, liberty, equality and fraternity are the objectives of the constitution. The terms sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic in the Preamble suggests the nature of the state. The ideals of justice, liberty, equality, fraternity reflects the objectives of the Constitution. Babasaheb Dr. B.R.Ambedkar called Article 32 of the Indian Constitution i.e. Right to Constitutional remedies as 'the heart and soul of the Constitution'. The Preamble is called the heart of the constitution because it provides a short summary of all that is there in the constitution. The 42nd Amendment also amended Preamble and changed the description of India from "sovereign democratic republic" to a "sovereign, socialist secular democratic republic", and also changed the words "unity of the nation" to "unity and integrity of the nation". At present there are 448 articles in 25 parts, 12schedules, 5 appendices and 98 amendments in the Indian Constitution as compared to when it was written it had 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules at the time of commencement. In spite of hard efforts of governments, NGOs, social organizations and several laws and provisions, we the Indians have failed in brining equality, justice and establishing fraternity in our country to a large extent particularly in context of SCST and women (of all castes and religions). We couldn‘t be able to materialize the dreams of Babasaheb of making India which he dreamt about. There is big gap in the babasaheb‘s dreamt India and real India. In the

OBJECTIVES:

The present study is descriptive one and secondary sources of data have been used for collection of data particularly from official websites, e-newspapers, magazines, like- Bheem Patrika etc. The objectives of the study are:  To understand the constitutional provisions available for justice, equality and fraternity.  To recognize the present situation of presence of socio-economic evils and identify the gap between the dreams of Babasaheb Dr. Ambedkar and present real India

Babasaheb Dr. B.R.Ambedkar sacrificed his whole life for the country and proved himself as a real countryman. He sacrificed his wife and four children for the country because he couldn‘t give proper time to his wife and family due to his commitment and dedication towards making a new India (i.e. Bharat). In spite of facing grave poverty, he dreamt and worked to make a country where all can live together without any discrimination, without inequality or injustice. To give practical shape to his dreams, he fought for the rights of each and every section of society not only during Britishers‘ rule but also in independent India. He studied in extreme conditions and set mileage stone at every sphere of his life. His achievements are outstanding and unreachable. He worked hard day and night in writing Indian constitution and passing of different legislations (Acts) as first law minister in independent India. His visionary approach emanates from his thirst for just society, harmonized society and casteless society for which he emphasized on get and give education, organization and struggle throughout life. He focused on unity, equality and fraternity. Every word in his writings and speeches and his books paved the way for and opened the doors of success to every Indian. He focused on socio-economic democracy besides political democracy.

The Constitution guarantees six fundamental rights to Indian citizens as follows: (i) Right to equality, (ii) Right to freedom, (iii) Right against exploitation, (vi) Right to constitutional remedies. By Fundamental Rights is meant the rights which the Constitution guarantees citizens, and which manifest themselves in society as generally accepted basic values. Our fundamental rights include so-called rights of liberty. Our fundamental rights further include economic, social and cultural rights. The Article 32 of the Indian Constitution enshrines this provision whereby individuals may seek redressal for the violation of their fundamental rights, observation is true as far as it goes constitutional weapons, known as 'writs', for the enforcement of such rights of public duties.

The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. The Constitution not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favor of women. The constitution of India prohibits discrimination based on sex but it equally directs and empowers the government to undertake special measures for women. Though the position of women has improved in the last four decades, but still they are struggling to maintain their dignity and freedom. Presently Indian women are facing the toughest time mentally and physically, mainly due to unawareness and lack of knowledge of legal and constitutional rights of a woman. The Constitution provides many protection rights for women such as Protective discrimination in favor of women, Right to freedom of women, Right of women against exploitation, Rights of women under directives and political representations of women.

country in the world for women in a recent Thomson Reuters Foundation Survey 2018. It is a jolt to see India scoring worse than war-torn countries such as Afghanistan or Syria or monarchies such as Saudi Arabia, where women have few rights. Everyone expects more and better for women from India, the world‘s largest functioning democracy. After all, the Indian constitution enshrines women‘s rights to equality, including freedom of voice, movement and rights over their own bodies. India‘s designation hurts national pride because it is a country where millions of smartly dressed women go to work in high-rise offices every day, where laws have changed to protect women and where women and men have spilled into the streets to protest against the grotesque rapes of toddlers, the gang rape of eight-year-olds, and of young women activists protesting at the trafficking of women. The biggest contribution of the Thomson Reuters Foundation survey is that it reframes questions about the gender gap or gender equality into a question about women‘s safety and danger. It is no longer a philosophical issue of rights. It simply asks: are women safe and free? It forces us to consider cultural forces and the implementation of laws that impact how women are actually treated in a culture, despite formal law, education, employment or income. India is in denial of the fact that a majority of its women do not feel safe alone on the streets, at work, in markets, or at home, even though they have learned how to cope with this existential anxiety. Maximum of educated young women in New Delhi (national capital of India) don‘t feel safe and they don‘t go out alone unnecessarily; come home at night before dark; get permission to go out; are always careful and alert; and they censor their speech, their clothes and their body posture, including whether or not they look men in the eyes. The National Crime Records Bureau statistics for 2012 to 2016 show that approximately 40% of female reported rape victims were minors and 95% knew the rapist. The rapists belonged to the ―circle of trust‖ of extended family and friends. Young girls have nowhere to go. The Indian women are in a constant state of vigilance, like- a country on terrorist alert. The Article 23 prohibits ―traffic in human beings and beggar and other similar forms of labor‖. The expression ―traffic in human beings is evidently a very wide expression including the prohibition of traffic in women for immoral or other purposes. Also the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, 1956 has been enacted with the object of inhibiting or abolishing the immoral trafficking of women and girls. Articles 21 & 23 also impose the duty on state to identify, release and rehabilitate freed bonded laborers.

To uphold the Constitutional mandate and to safeguard the interests of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCST), Special social enactments have come into force from time to time including privileges by way of reservations for them. The major legal enactments by Centre are: (i) Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955; (ii) SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 was enacted in furtherance of Article 17 of the Constitution by which untouchability was abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. Further, in order to check and deter crimes against SCs/STs by persons belonging to other Communities, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was brought into force from 30th January, 1990. These enactments have extended the positive discrimination in favour of SCs and STs to the field of criminal law in as much as they prescribe penalties that are more stringent than for corresponding offences under Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other laws. For speedy trial of cases registered exclusively under these Acts, special centres have been established in the major States. In addition, in pursuance of the Constitution 65th Amendment Act, 1990, National Commission for SCs and STs was constituted w.e.f. 12th March, 1992 with wide functions and powers of Civil Court to take up matters which are of vital importance for socio-economic development of SCs and STs. In spite of these laws, the graph of crime against SC/ST has been on increasing trend. The most important reason behind such cruelty is lack of proper contribution of SCST people in the whole system of country, be it judiciary, police or politics. Maximum of the powers and powerful designation vest in hands of non-SCST people and maximum of these people favor their own community/ caste people whenever such cases come to them and poor SCST people deprived of their rights and justice. The narrow mindedness is seen not only in illiterate people but also in highly educated person who are working at prestigious positions. They have readymade perception of hatred and superiority complex against SCST and such disease has been a part of their blood since thousands of years which can be purified only with the self-introspection and following love, peace, harmony, brotherhood and kindness (as taught by Lord Buddha). As many as 47,338 cases of crime against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCST) were registered in 2016 (reported by NCRB32). Of these, charge-sheets were filed in 78.3% and conviction rate was merely 25.8%. In 2015, a total of 38,564 cases and 6275 cases were registered for

32 NCRB, National Crime Records Bureau

of Atrocities) Rules 1995 specifies that with a view to prevent atrocities on members of SCST, if deemed necessary, can provide arms licenses to the members of SCST, but in reality such defense arms are not provided by the officials or government. The Bihar state in India has highest rate of crime against SC/STs, and West Bengal the lowest (NCRB). Since 2014, crimes against SCs have increased one percent overall, although there was a steep rise of 5.5 percent in 2016. For crimes against SCs specifically, Madhya Pradesh is highest at 43.4 per cent, and West Bengal is lowest at 6 per cent. For crimes against the ST population specifically, Rajasthan is the highest at 12.9 per cent, with West Bengal being the lowest at 1.6 per cent. The police play a crucial role in ensuring that SC/ST populations are protected under The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. They are responsible for ensuring that a charge-sheet is filed once a case is reported, and that all cases are then investigated and forwarded to the hearing stage. In 2016, a total of 39629 cases were filed by SCs, with the highest number being disposed of in Chhattisgarh (5479). A total of 6490 cases filed by STs were disposed of, with the highest disposal occurring in Madhya Pradesh (1805). Of all cases filed by SC/STs under the act, almost 30 percent are still pending investigation. On a state level, this proportion is highest for both SC and ST in Jharkhand (65.8% and 69.7% respectively). In contrast, some states record very low number of pending cases for SC and ST such as Madhya Pradesh (9.7% and 7%). The rate at which the police files charge-sheets for reports of violence against SCs and STs (78.3% and 81.3%) is also lower than the national rate of charge-sheeting (87.5%).

the state of Rajasthan. The SCST people however alleged in many cases that the police and judiciary is a part of nexus and no security is provided to the SCST victims and due to threats from mighty people (often rich people, big landholders, politicians etc.), they used to compromise under compulsion. This is the one of the reason for low conviction rate and the guilty person/s roam free without fear because they are able to buy anything be it police or anything else.

The Indian Constitution was written by Babasaheb Dr. B.R.Ambedkar with hope that with new constitution, the governments will be in a position to establish peace, love, harmony and brotherhood throughout the nation and there will be eradication of social- economic evils present in Indian society since thousands of years. He had a hope that one citizenship, one identity and one voting right will bring equality among people. He made large number of Articles in the constitution to safeguard the interests of women and down-trodden sections of society in the country. In-spite of these Articles and Acts, the graph of cruelty, atrocity and violence against women and SCST has been on increasing trend. However, different governments, NGOs and social organization have put their best effort to implement the constitution but it couldn‘t be done in real sense, meaning thereby, the constitution is not implemented fully and in full spirit. Drastic changes have been seen social structure, living standard and rising income of the people, but maximum of people still have negative mentality/ approach against women and SCST and that is why number of atrocities, rapes, molestation, domestic violence, untouchability, incidents of insults have been increasing day by day (as clear from the data given in the paper). We, the people of India must read the preamble of the constitution, our fundamental rights and duties and other aspects of our constitution very carefully and implement in our daily life. This will help us to be an ideal Indian citizen and we will start respecting each and every citizen of our country without any prejudices and without any discrimination in the name of gender, caste, religion or region. Let‘s follow the direction given by Lord Buddha, Satguru Ravidasji and other saints and move together with love, peace, harmony and brotherhood towards a prosperous India.

Jadhav Narendra, (2014). Ambedkar: Awakening India‘s social conscience, Konark Publishers, New Delhi, pp. 453-463. Dr. A. Padmanaban: Ambedkar‘s life‘s and legacy, Ambedkar and social justice, Vol. II,

Govt. of India. pp. 27. Kuber, W.N. (1973). Dr. Ambedkar: A Critical Study, People‘s publishing House, New Delhi. Lal, Shyam (1998). ―Ambedkar and Social Justice‖ in Shyam Lal and KS Sazena,(eds), Ambedkar and Nation Building, Rawat Publication, Jaipur, Quoted in A Ranjith Kumar, ‟Ambedkar‘s Notion of Social Justice-A Different Perspective‟ , international journal of scientific and engineering research, December, 2011. Ambedkar, B.R. (1989). ―Women and Counter Revaluation‖. ―Riddles of Hindu Women‖ in Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speech, Vol. 3, Department of Education, Government of Maharashtra. Arya Sudha (2000). Women Gender Equality and the State, Deep and Deep Publications, New Delhi. 2000. Government of India: The National Policy for the Empowerment of Women (2001), Department of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi. Haksar, Nandita (1986). Demystification of Law for Women, Lancer Press, New Delhi. K. Kavita (2013). B. R. Ambedkar‘ Role in Women Empowerment, Women Issues. Limaye, Champa (1999). Women Power and Progress, B.R. Publishing Corporation, New Delhi. Mathew, Thomas (1999) Ambedkar: Reform or Revolution, Segment Books, New Delhi. P, Hemraj (2013). Dr. Ambedkar and Women Empowerment, Dalit vision. www.ncrb.gov.in www.theguardian.com www.evaglobaldatabase.com www.indianexpress.com www.thewire.in www.thetimesofindia.com www.buddymantras.com

Research Scholar, Department of Mathematics, Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana monikasolkhe@gmail.com