During the Mandal movement in the 1990s, Arun Shourie, educated abroad, was very angry with the issue of reservation to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). He was editor of the Indian Express with the full support of Ramnath Goenka, the massively wealthy owner of the Express media network, who was also against Mandal reservations. The OBCs are part of the historical Shudras, mostly with agrarian and artisanal production backgrounds. The entire Brahmin, Bania, Kayastha and Khatri (Dwijas) forces slowly were coming around to the idea that the Constitution written by Dr BR Ambedkar, provided a scope for reservations to the Shudras/Dalits/Adivasis and also women in general.
A section of leading Dwija intellectual forces educated in foreign universities in English medium were more opposed to the idea of reservation. They thought Ambedkar, as the author of that idea and the very Constitution that provided a reasonably well laid down ground for the gradual annihilation of caste and human untouchability in India, was the real problem. Arun Shourie, having been defeated on the question of reservations, education and employment reforms, later went after Ambedkar and wrote a book Worshipping False Gods – Ambedkar and the Facts Which Have been Erased. But in subsequent years, Ambedkar’s image and stature have grown immensely.
It is believed that Shourie, a prominent minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government, and the network around him advised Vajpayee to constitute a ‘Constitution Review Committee’. The Vajpayee government appointed Justice Venkatachalaiah (retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) to review the Constitution. But protests erupted all over the country, mostly from the reserved castes and communities.
The communists, by and large, were silent about it because they too, were against the present Constitution with an understanding that it is a bourgeoisie Constitution. The Muslims were not seriously concerned about such democratic constitutional questions because they treated the Quran as their fundamental constitution. It was the Shudras/Dalits and Adivasis who were worried. When Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister by openly claiming he was an OBC, Shourie became his bitter opponent, perhaps because Modi openly declared his OBC background. For the Dwijas, this new category was unacceptable.
It is a known fact that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders, even in 1950, opposed this Constitution. They said it borrowed heavily from British colonial ideas. MS Golwalkar said, “Unfortunately…our Constitution has…given equal rights to everybody, just as a person without understanding may give equal rights to his children and to the thieves in his house and distribute the property among all.”
Now, the head of Modi's economic team, Bibek Debroy, writes that there is a need for a ‘new Constitution by 2047’. Debroy is more a Sanskrit pundit than an economist, with a deep ideology of varna dharma from West Bengal. In my view, he is a man with the deepest commitment to Brahmanism. The Bengali Bhadralok Brahminism never allowed a Shudra to become the CM of that state in the last 75 years – communist or secular.
Debroy wrote an article in Mint, titled, “There’s a case for ‘we the people’ to embrace a new Constitution,” on August 14, 2023. This article is being viewed as the reflection of the internal view of the RSS top leadership. Though the PM’s office distanced itself from the article, the Hindutva view that the present Constitution should be scrapped is not new. A large number of hard-core RSS and pro-RSS Dwija intellectuals think that this Constitution has to be changed, and a new constitution that suits their classical varna dharma ideology has to be brought in.
Though they keep citing the minority, mainly the Muslim question, as a reason to change the present Constitution, the unstated view is that the rise of Shudra/Dalit/Adivasi forces in the last 75 years is a threat to the Dwija hegemony and in their view, this phenomenon should be cautiously controlled. But they find limitations in the present constitutional framework with ‘one person, one vote, one value’. The real majority constitutes the Shudra/Dalit/Adivasis, who unexpectedly benefited from the present Constitution. Though they are clubbed in the broad category of Hindu, they are never allowed to be equal to the Dwijas.
The Shudras have not yet marginalised the Dwijas in the system, but the fact that Narendra Modi emerged from their own ranks to where he is by repeatedly saying that he is an OBC provided them a new lesson. The Shudra/Dalit/Adivasis may become the real rulers of India under this Constitution. The Dwijas, especially those in RSS/BJP camps, cannot accept this. They are very uneasy with the Shudra leaders who emerged in the states and formed regional parties.
Debroy says a global study confirms that the average lifespan of the constitution in the world is 17 years, and hence 70 years of survival of the Indian Constitution is a problem. He does not say anything about the number of years, the American constitution has survived, or the years, the unwritten constitution of Great Britain has survived.
Can he tell us which nation’s constitution survived only 17 years? Yes, in many Muslim countries and some African countries, the constitutions survived for a very short time. But even the South African constitution survived more than 17 years. France, which drafted the Fifth Republic constitution in 1958, is still in operation. Why then, is Debroy lying about the major constitutional lifespan?
Debroy is another version of Arun Shourie for this nation. For many secular Dwija intellectuals, Shourie might appear to be a better man now because he is against Modi. But this should be a deeply worrying issue for the Shudra/Dalits/Adivasis.
Those from the Shudra/Dalit/Adivasi background working in the RSS/BJP without understanding the future of their children might support such a dangerous proposal coming from a pro-RSS/BJP intellectual like Bibek Debroy. Though this is not a new proposal, it has been concretely proposed by a top intellectual working in the Prime Minister’s Office. Quite sadly, Modi, who became PM because of this Constitution, still allows Bibek Debroy to continue as his chief economic adviser.
If ‘we the people’ do not rebel against such a move, the country will be in real danger. This is a proposal for driving the country into a civil war. It is the sacred duty of all forces to defend the present Constitution at any cost. This is not an individual opinion by Bibek Debroy, but a proposal to test the feeling on the ground. Once it is left unchallenged, Modi or no Modi, it will be pushed.
Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd is a political theorist, social activist and author. His latest book The Shudras: Vision For a New Path, co-edited with Karthik Raja Kuruppusamy, has put forth a powerful argument that without the cooperation of Shudras with Dalits and Adivasis, caste inequality and oppression cannot be changed. Views expressed here are the author's own.