The challenge of reviving a sense of fraternity

Introduction:

• The Constitution of India was drafted by the Constituent Assembly in 1949. The Drafting Committee was presided over by B.R. Ambedkar. The Constitution was initially proposed in 1934 by M.N. Roy, a pioneer of the Communist movement in India.

The Principle of Fraternity:

• Fraternity is a sense of common brotherhood of all Indians. It is the principle which gives unity and solidarity to social life. B.R. Ambedkar added fraternity along with liberty, equality, and justice to the principles in the Preamble. The idea of fraternity is closely linked to that of social solidarity, which is impossible to accomplish without public empathy.

Implications of Fraternity:

• The contents of the Preamble have a moral, spiritual, and mystical content along with legal and political principles. Democracy is not just a legal, constitutional, and formal device. The whole country should understand the moral, the spiritual, and the mystic implication of the word democracy. Democracy should be lived in life, and the whole of it in all its departments; otherwise, it becomes only a formal and legal principle.

Duties arising from Fraternity:

• The Constitution dilates at length on the implication of other principles and on the duties arising from them, but not so on fraternity. Article 51A, on Fundamental Duties, added to by the 42nd Amendment in 1977 and further amended by 86th Amendment in 2010, evaded it except by Article 51A(e) generally that referred to the duty of every citizen ‘to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India’.

Fraternity as a Political Principle:

• Fraternity is a dubious word, which may be used to denote both emotion and principle but is perhaps generally used to denote emotion rather than principle. ‘The emotion of loyalty to the state and the emotion of nationalism for national society are, or should be, controlled emotions.’

Excavating Moral Values from the Constitution:

• There is a pressing need to excavate the moral values embedded in the Constitution to bring out their connections, and to identify the coherent or not-so-coherent worldviews contained within it.

Conditions Precedent for the Successful Working of Democracy:

• Democracy is prone to change form and purpose. Its purpose in our times is to bring about the welfare of the people. It is a method of government by discussion that brings about revolutionary changes in the economic and social life of people without bloodshed. There must not be glaring inequalities in society. There must be an opposition, an equality in law as well as equal protection of law, and administration and observance of constitutional morality. There must be no tyranny of the majority over the minority. Above all, a functioning moral order in society and a public conscience are essential.

Conclusion:

• Fraternity is an essential principle of the Constitution of India that emphasizes a sense of common brotherhood of all Indians, unity, and social solidarity. It has moral, spiritual, and mystical content along with legal and political principles. The duty of every citizen is ‘to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India.’ To ensure the successful working of democracy, there must be no glaring inequalities in society, and there must be a functioning moral order in society and a public conscience.