The vitality of India

Abstract

Though ‘one person, one vote’ was a gift of the Constitution, which came into effect from January 26, 1950, it has now become a major source of the vitality of India. The poor, having tasted power, will be unwilling to part with it. This democratic consciousness of the masses is getting deepened and widened, particularly through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, which introduced a three tier system of panchayats, from villages to the district. The second major element which has a role to play in providing vitality to the Indian nation is the Indian peasantry. Nehru described how thousands of kisans joined the non-cooperation movement, shedding their fear of the Zamindars and the police. Released from feudal and semi-feudal bondage after the abolition of Zamindari and all other types of rent receiving interests in the fifties and early sixties of the last century, the Indian peasantry blossomed into a great productive force. Finally, the soul of India resides in accommodation and tolerance, in assimilation and absorption, in plurality and diversity, in an ethos of inclusiveness. Militant ‘Hindutva”, as propagated by a political party and its front organisations is totally un-Hindu-it goes against the very essence of Hindu inclusiveness and catholicity.