What does a republic mean? We celebrate the Republic Day today, but what does it exactly mean? Dr BR Ambedkar gave it immense thought and effort when he drafted the constitution of India. Lets look a little closely at this, since it is particularly relevant in the light of what has been happening. A democracy and a republic are not necessarily synonymous - whereas a democracy is theoretically an unconstrained direct rule by citizens, a republic is by definition bound by a certain set of rules and laws, which in turn rest upon principles of rights and justice that cannot be revoked no matter what even 99.99% of the population wants. One of the major issues in our constitution and law is that there are many words that are thrown about but not defined clearly. Secularism is one. So is republic. Annoyance, inconvenience, religious sentiments, feelings, expression, carnal intercourse against the order of nature - these are all words or phrases that are left vaguely undefined, perhaps in the vain hope that the courts and its judges will decide and interpret these words in their wise majesty. However , I believe this quote from a larger article is not much amiss: But the more pernicious effect is that people actually begin to attribute and incorporate tenets of democracies into our republican structure. Things like referendums and ballot initiatives. These are not only irresponsible but entirely illogical. Why should we be making decisions we elect people to make? What legitimacy is gained from getting a majority of voters to pass anything? If 70% of voters vote to ban gay marriage, does that make it right? If 51% of voters vote to ban smoking, does that make it right? If 99.99% vote to redistribute property, does that make it right? The answer to all of these is “NO!” absolutely not. Truth isn’t determined by how many adherents one can get to go along with you. Happy Republic Day :) Keep thinking...
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 15:44:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015