“Despite 73 years since the adoption of the Constitution, most people are unaware of the provisions. They are not aware of their rights and duties. It is like illiteracy that needs to be addressed on a priority basis,” said Appagere Somashekhar, Kannada professor at Central University of Karnataka.
He was speaking at an awareness conference on the protection of the Constitution and democracy at S.M. Pundit Rangamandir in Kalaburagi on Saturday. The event was jointly organised by the Karnataka Dalita Sangharsha Samithi (Ambedkarwada).
“India has no future as long as its people continue to be ignorant about their Constitution. Because of the Constitution India has seen a sea change. Because of the Constitution, many oppressed and marginalised communities came to the mainstream of development. We, who are the beneficiaries of the Constitution, have a greater role to play in spreading awareness about the Constitution among the people and involve them in the change. Otherwise, we remain villains in the Indian history,” he said.
Blaming right-wing communal forces for their “anti-Ambedkar and anti-Constitution” campaign, Mr. Somashekhar alleged that the communalists had continued to spit venom on B.R. Ambedkar even after his death.
“The same communal forces are now targeting the Constitution that empowered the marginalised communities with political power. Dr. Ambedkar drafted the Constitution keeping in mind the progress of all communities and religions as a whole. Surprisingly, some of the communities that tremendously benefited from the Constitution are not showing minimum respect to it. They remained silent when a copy of the Constitution was publically burnt. It is dangerous development,” he said.
K.M. Ramachandrappa, chief convener of the Forum of Marginalised Communities, appealed to the people to stand by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Congress government on the issue of the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey (caste census).
“The caste census was first done during the British rule. There was no authentic information about the population sizes of different communities and their social, economic and educational conditions. The Siddaramaiah government appointed the Kantharaj Commission for conducting the survey. Now, some of the upper castes are opposing the release of the caste census report. We all need to stand with the government which has decided to release the report. For this purpose, we have decided to hold a massive public conference of marginalised communities in Chitradurga on January 31 next year,” Mr. Ramachandrappa said.
