Sad killings in Egypt
India celebrates 26 November as Constitution Day. On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly adopted the final draft of the constitution, which was formally adopted two months later, on 26 January 1950. The Assembly was formed in 1946 with 389 elected members (later reduced to 299 in 1947), and deliberated for almost three years, fiercely debating every detail that would be enshrined in the constitution. Those debates are amazingly comprehensive, covering most, if not all controversies of modern India, even to this day. The fact is that the debates ended, and a consensus was reached. Many leaders believed that the Constitution was well crafted, but would, nevertheless, need to be modified.
In the last seventy years, it has been amended more than 100 times. To some it may point to the imperfection, and to others it points to it being a live document, amenable to change. One of the most remarkable features of India’s constitution is its granting of voting right to every adult from the very beginning of the republic. India is a unique, modern, large democracy, in accordance. On this aspect, the chief of the drafting committee, and later India’s first Law Minister gave a historic speech on 25 November 1949. The relevant para from Dr Ambedkar’s last speech to the Constituent Assembly, is worth reproducing in full. He said:
On the 26th of January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. In politics we will be recognizing the principle of one man one vote and one vote one value. In our social and economic life, we shall, by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of one man one value. How long shall we continue to live this life of contradictions? How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life? If we continue to deny it for long, we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril. We must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible moment or else those who suffer from inequality will
This prophetic speech was uttered 20 years before the onset of the Naxal movement. In the present context of worsening inequality, its prescience is hard hitting. Of course, Dr Ambedkar was no Marxist, and he was not fomenting a class conflict. He was merely cautioning that political equality cannot coexist with worsening social and economic inequality. This column discussed the question, “How Much is Too Much Inequality?” (April, 2016). It is for every nation and society to decide how much inequality can they tolerate. Inequality can eventually hurt economic growth, social stability and lead to breakdown of political systems.
The subject of inequality is now in focus again, thanks to two major philanthropy announcements. Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of Infosys, and his wife Rohini Nilekani, announced that they were joining The Giving Pledge, an elite network of the world’s wealthiest, committed to giving away half their wealth to philanthropy. The network was founded by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet in 2010. This same week, billionaire Sunil Mittal, announced that his family would give away Rs 7000 crore in philanthropy. Many other Indians, including Azim Premji, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and PNC Menon are already part of The Giving Pledge. Of course, the list of wealthy Indian industrialists known for their great charity is long, beginning historically with the Tatas and the Birlas, and includes many more. This is not the place to recount all of them. But a public announcement of giving away half their wealth is certainly a new benchmark, and testimony to the persuasive power of Gates and Buffet.
In 1894, an itinerant monk was the guest at the estate
knack of dismissing left handers and that is an asset to the side. Ashwin is a match winner and can win matches of his own. India is proud of him.
— CK Subramaniam I am heartbroken by the senseless terrorist attack on the mosque in Egypt and the loss of lives and horrific injures to so many innocent people. Armed attackers killed 235 worshippers who were gathered to perform weekly Friday prayer. I strongly condemn this act of terrorism which serves no purpose but to bring sorrow and grief. Such kind of terrorists must be arrested. I extend my heartfelt prayers to the injured, the families of deceased and all the people of Egypt.
— Md Rustam Parwez
towards action. This is a warning, a wake-up call to the society. Shirking this responsibility by saying that it is the job of the school to teach children is not acceptable. In the materialistic world, attention to the children and inculcating values takes a back seat or is completely ignored. It is from here that the child begins to suffer. At a young age the child cannot on his own understand what is right and what is wrong. It is for his family to acquaint him with proper reasoning. We might have to struggle to teach good values and ethics to children. Even if the children have to be scolded and punished, it is necessary to make them understand and cleanse their thoughts and values.
— Vaijayanti Suryavanshi
INEQUALITY cannot be remedied merely by depending on the goodwill and moral compulsions of the very rich. We have to acknowledge that India has one of the lowest direct tax-to-GDP ratio. We do not have inheritance tax. We have exemptions, which enable large capital gains to go tax free.