By ABHAY KUMAR / Sabrang India

When the country was celebrating its 77th Independence Day, a leading ideologue of the ruling establishment wrote an opinion piece in a well- known newspaper and called for replacing the existing Constitution with a new one. Bibek Debroy, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), wrote in Mint: “A few amendments won’t do. We should go back to the drawing board and start from first principles, asking what these words in the Preamble mean now: socialist, secular, democratic, justice, liberty and equality. We the People have to give ourselves a new Constitution”.

Debroy’s call for scrapping the existing Constitution reflects the deep-seated historic discomfort of the Hindutva forces with Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution. And Debroy’s statement is in no way his personal opinion. The opposition parties rightly came out to oppose it. Among the first leaders to comment was Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, who said that Debroy’s article “sounded the bugle for junking the Constitution – of which Dr. Ambedkar was a prime architect”. Jayant Chaudhary, Rashtriya Lok Dal president, too, criticised Debroy’s views: “I don’t think the chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister is entitled to express any “personal views”.  Swami Prasad Maurya, the national general secretary of the Samajwadi Party, strongly sought action against those who demanded a new Constitution and supported the idea of a Hindu nation as it amounted to indulging in anti-national acts.

However, the sharpest critique of Debroy’s call was made by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati. “Bibek Debroy acted beyond his brief, which the central government must take immediate cognizance of and take action so that no one dares talk this way again”, said Mayawati. In her statement, Mayawati rightly said that the call for scrapping the Constitution was “anti-people” and “pro-capitalist” acts, which reflect a “casteist” outlook. In her words: “The Constitution is a guarantee of humanity and egalitarianism for poor, backward and neglected people. Only selfish, narrow-minded and casteist elements dispute such an outlook and seek to turn it into an anti-people and pro-capitalist document. Opposing such an idea is everyone’s responsibility”.

This story was originally published in sabrangindia.in. Read the full story here