Indian Constitution Could Be the Next Magna Carta: MJ Akbar

MJ Akbar addressed the Rajya Sabha, discussing the Constitution, gender, religious equality, and poverty.

It’s been a few days since BJP MP MJ Akbar spoke of BR Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha. But since the Winter Session of Parliament isn’t over yet, we thought we’d pick out a few points from his compelling narrative.

M J Akbar begins his speech by speaking of the importance of pain in the lives of those who create history. Using anecdotes from Ambedkar’s life, he explains how pain can be a catalyst for personal transformation.

Akbar divides the rest of his speech into four parts. Speaking in a mellifluous combination of Hindi and English, he addresses four issues that have been integral to contemporary public discourse.

Akbar also spoke of Ambedkar’s insistence on a progressive national ideology and his famous disagreement with Jawaharlal Nehru over the Objective Resolution, as the Constituent Assembly began its deliberations. “Granting rights without offering remedies,” Ambedkar said, “was mere pedantry.”

The Indian Constitution is the Magna Carta for the Next 500 Years

Akbar explains why the Constitution is historic and the significance of the historical moment of its conception. If history was written accurately, he says, the Indian Constitution could be the Magna Carta for the next 500 years.

Faith Equality, Not Supremacy

Secularism is his second subject for consideration. Stressing on equality of faith rather than supremacy, he says that a nation that does not adopt or understand equality cannot call itself modern.

While Western philosophers like Voltaire, Rousseau and Marx may have theorised various kinds of secularism, Indian secularism, he says, is peculiar in its inclusiveness and in its championing of the co-existence of various religions.

Our secularism is NOT the abolition of religion. We believe in the equality of faith, rather than the separation or elimination of it. It is inscribed in our religion.

MJ Akbar, MP, Rajya Sabha

Gender Equality Crucial for Progress

Making a strong, unambiguous statement, Akbar says that no country can progress without gender equality. Jawaharlal Nehru answered journalist Taya Zinkin’s question on equality for Muslim women, so many years ago, by saying that “the time was not right.” Today, nearly seven decades after Independence, Akbar asks, when, then, is the right time?

Strive For Economic Equity

While acknowledging that economic equality is not practical, he says that economic equity is something we, as a nation, must strive for. What is economic equity?

Economic equity is achieved when the nation’s poor believe that they too are a part of the expanding, proliferating economy. If a poor person is born in a shack, he is not foolish enough to believe that if he will die in a palace. However, he does have the right to believe that if he was born with two rotis to his name, he can hope for at least four when he dies.

Akbar finishes with a warning: your country is bigger than your community. If you choose not to understand this, your freedom and your future is in jeopardy.