Editorial 1 : Our freedom, our Constitution
Context: Independence Day 2024
Introduction: The Draft Constitution
- The draft Constitution published in February 1948, was criticised for its length. The draft ran to 209 pages, 315 articles and eight schedules.
- The final Constitution of 1950 was, even longer, with 395 articles, and 10 schedules, and it has continued to expand since then.
- Nonetheless, the Indian Constitution has become an anthem and a rallying point for its citizens.
Significance and Relevance of the Constitution
- The everyday relevance and invocation of the Constitution has never waned in India from the moment of its making.
- Since the time of its making, the Constitution became a site of struggle through which citizens assert their rights and claim remedies.
Public Engagement during Constitution making
- Thousands of diverse groups, associations and individuals from across the length and breadth of the country developed a fever of constitutional expectations, articulating demands of the future Constitution, firing off missives to the Constituent Assembly, putting forward a range of constitutional ideas, wants and aspirations for what was to be ‘our Constitution’.
- The public engagement with the Constitution-making generated a churn of innovative rights claims.
- Informed by their daily life-experiences, the Indian public thought beyond conventional constitutional ideas, addressing, for example, disability, sexual violence, child rights and the right to food.
- The public-intense engagement with the Constitution-making was unplanned and came as a surprise to the Constituent Assembly.
- With Assembly members like K M Munshi suggesting closed door proceedings to ensure the experts work efficiently, free from public pressure, Indian public insisted on having a say and participating in the process.
- The scale of public demands ultimately forced the Constituent Assembly to open the Constitution-making process to the public.
- People produced unauthorised translations of the draft in numerous Indian languages, including Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, and Hindustani.
- Through this process, the Indian public was working out the Constitution’s potential implications for their lives.
- They criticised its limits, such as on civil liberties, and attempted to change it.
- At the same time, they already demanded that the government abide by the draft Constitution.
Indian Public: The Constitutionalists
- Despite high levels of illiteracy, poverty, scarcity and the uncertainties wrought by the Partition, the Indian public was not a passive recipient of the Constitution, nor were they absent in its making.
- The public understood what they were getting and the process of making the Constitution animated their imagination.
- through collective public struggles, Indians made themselves the real protagonists in the theatre of constitutionalism.
- For general public the Constitution was not a sacred book or textbook, to be interpreted only by “priests” or judges or legislators.
Conclusion: Indians collectively owned the Constitution-in-the-making, reimagining freedom as a transformation of their lives and rights – social, economic and political.
Editorial 2 : Welcome Step back
Context: Government’s withdrawal of Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill.
Concerns with the Bill
- Several provisions of the Bill have been met with legitimate criticism.
- Concerns have been raised over the government’s apparent attempt to exercise greater control over online content, and curb views that it may deem as being critical of it. This raised worries over freedom of speech and expression.
- Such fears were underlined when a government official, cited the role a number of independent content creators played in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Need for careful consideration
- Several controversial provisions of the draft Bill warrant more careful consideration.
- The Bill has sought to expand its scope from OTT content and digital news to social media accounts and online video creators.
- It seeks to expand the definition of ‘digital news broadcaster’ to include publishers of news and current affairs content, also encompassing independent content creators.
- This could include users on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and X, which provide space to a vast multitude and help amplify news and views.
- The Bill could possibly include creators who reside outside the country as well.
- Such sweeping provisions would have led to greater interventions and curbs, posing hurdles for creators in the development of content and in the generation of revenue streams.
- These do not go well with government’s own attempts to bolster the start-up ecosystem, and invigorate the digital economy.
Applauding the Withdrawal
- After a pushback from several quarters, the government has done well to withdraw the draft Bill.
- I&B Ministry is holding a series of consultations with the stakeholders, and has allowed the stakeholders to place their comments by 15 October.
- A fresh draft will be published after detailed consultations, which is the right thing to do.
Conclusion: The far-reaching regulations under the draft bill were both undesirable and difficult to implement. The government must listen to all stakeholders before it goes forward with such bills.