The Indian Workers Association (Great Britain) and Ghadar International organised meetings in Britain on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the declaration of the present Indian Republic. Two meetings were held, one in in Ilford on January 31, 2015 and the other in Southall on February 1, 2015.
Dr Satish Kumar of the Lok Raj Sangathan, initiated the deliberations. He explained that the Constitution was adopted by a constituent assembly which was elected by only 10-15 % of Indian people and this Constitution was mainly the continuation of Government of India Act 1935, passed by the British Parliament to facilitate the colonial exploitation and plunder of labour and resources of Indian people. He also elaborated how the laws passed by the British are still being used by big corporate houses to their advantage and in continuing the plunder and loot of the toiling people of our country.
One such example is the Land Acquisition Bill of 1894, which is the basis of the present law to forcibly acquire the peasants’ land by Indian government to give it to the big corporations, Indian and foreign. The other example is the Sedition Act (1870) which is now Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code under which people are being prosecuted is the tradition of colonial rule. Like the British Colonial State the present Indian State suspects Indian citizens and considers them “insurgents” , “Baagis" unless proven otherwise.
The Constitution is based on the British colonial conception of privileges which the State of exploiters grants to its subjects but can withdraw any time it chooses. The right to life is considered a fundamental right, but the Indian state has given free hand to the army to kill, rape, and arrest without impunity under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Similarly, many black laws, like TADA, POTA, MISA, UAPA etc. have been enacted by the Indian state to drown the struggles of people for their rights in blood. These laws are not just used against so-called terrorists but actually have been regularly used against anybody who chooses to differ with those who rule. Workers, journalists and even retired judges have been put behind bars under these laws.
Moreover, the Constitution does not recognise the rights of nations, nationalities and peoples. It legitimises the colonial territorial definitions of India.
The political process enshrined in the Constitution ensures that the working people are marginalised from power. During elections, people have the "right" to choose which amongst the parties of the ruling class should rule over them for the next 5 years. The party which wins the majority of seats claims to have the "peoples’ mandate" to implement the program in the interest of those who rule.
In the discussion that followed many speakers pointed out the following: that there is no justice for thousands of innocents who are still languishing in jails without trial and many have spent years without any charge. That the plight of peasants is going from bad to worse, leading to suicides of large numbers of peasants because the big corporate merchants paying dismal prices for agricultural products and carry out hoarding to maximise profits through speculation. Discrimination and communal conflicts are fuelled through similar methods used by the British Colonialists.
Speakers were in agreement that the Constitution was brought in to quell the revolutionaries who made ultimate sacrifices of giving their life for India to be free from the yoke of colonialism, the British colonialists hurriedly decided to transfer power to their most trusted lackeys, thus keeping intact the interests of the British and Indian capitalists who were groomed by the colonialists.
Members present at both meetings were of the view that the present Constitution deserves to be thrown into the dustbin of history and a new Constitution has to be written which guarantees the rights of workers and peasants!
