VP echoes Ambedkar on Constitution Day, urges MPs to place country above creed
In his address to the joint sitting of Parliament on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of Indian Constitution, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday borrowed from BR Ambedkar to caution political parties against placing creed above the country.
Speaking at the Central Hall of Parliament where the Constituent Assembly members adopted the Constitution on November 26, 1949, Dhankhar quoted Ambedkar to say: “What perturbs me greatly is the fact that not only India has once before lost her independence, but she lost it by the infidelity and treachery of some of her own people. Will history repeat itself? It is this thought which fills me with anxiety. This anxiety is deepened by the realisation of the fact that in addition to our old enemies, in the form of castes and creeds, we are going to have many political parties with diverse and opposing political creeds. Will Indians place the country above their creed or will they place the creed above the country? I do not know. But this much is certain that if the parties place creed above country, our independence will be put in jeopardy a second time and probably be lost forever.”
Flagging the caution of Ambedkar, who headed the Constitution drafting committee, Dhankhar added that the tendency to put creed above country must be resolutely guard against.
“We must be determined to defend our independence with the last drop of our blood, the VP said to a packed house with President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Leader of Rajya Sabha JP Nadda, leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, seated on the dais.
Dhankhar also took the occasion to appeal to MPs for productive discourse.
He said, “with decorum and discipline cliff hanging in parliamentary discourse, this day we need to resolve by reiterating the pristine glory of our Constituent Assembly embellished functioning.”
The VP, who chairs the Rajya Sabha, noted that disturbance as a strategy threatened democratic institutions and “time has come to restore the sanctity of democratic temples through constructive dialogue, debate, and meaningful discussion to serve our people effectively.”
“The Constitution’s opening words—We the People of India—carry deep meaning, establishing citizens as the ultimate authority, with Parliament serving as their voice,” VP reminded MPs a day after both Houses of Parliament were washed out due to disruptions over opposition’s demands to discuss a US court indictment of industrialist Gautam Adani in bribery allegations.
Another important point the VP stressed was separation of powers of the three organs of the Constitution.
He said the Indian Constitution ingeniously established democracy’s three pillars — the Legislature, the Executive, and the Judiciary — each with a defined role.
“Democracy is best nurtured with its constitutional institutions being in sync, tandem and togetherness adhering to their jurisdictional area. In functioning of these organs of the state, domain exclusivity is quintessence to making optimal contributions in steering Bharat toward unprecedented heights of prosperity and equity,” Dhankhar cautioned.
