Citizenship Day

It is rather paradoxical that a day that was intended to be devoted to the celebration of India as a Republic comes to be presented as the celebration of the nation-state, albeit one with many different cultures. It would seem that national honour and pride that are reaffirmed and reclaimed on this occasion are perhaps better suited to the celebration of Independence Day. After all independence from colonial rule needs to be rejoiced by diverse populations of India. Even more importantly, Independence Day is a more appropriate moment to send the message across to all others that this independent country can defend itself against external aggression.

If Independence Day is more suited to the display of our collective commitment to protect the frontiers of the state, if necessary through military might, Republic Day requires a salute to civic liberty and deliberative citizenship. It requires a show dedicated not to the grandeur of the state but to the majesty of citizens.

The centrality of the president to the Republic Day celebrations is certainly a symbol of the sovereignty of the people in a Republic. His presence as an elected representative of the people brings some attention to this dimension but it provides little incentive to reaffirm our vows to the values that we deliberated upon and enshrined in our Constitution. As a person who is first among equals his presence does not easily turn attention upon the collective body of citizens. And if the 8216;State of the Nation8217; poll was to ask what image is invoked when people look at the president taking the salute on Republic Day, we can be reasonably sure that few would see it as the celebration of citizenship.

A Republic needs to reinvent itself in other more complex ways and we need also to rejoice in ways that reinvigorate the spirit of republicanism. In 4th century B.C. Plato envisaged the making of the Republic through open and public dialogue. Citizens assembling in the market place engaged with determinate conceptions of what is 8216;good8217; and 8216;just8217; in a state. As specific individuals articulated their particular conceptions of good life and justice, others challenged this view, pointed to the internal and external contradictions, thereby compelling the need to formulate and listen to another alternative formulation. Such collective deliberation, at least implicitly, reinforced the bonds that the contemporary nation-state sought hard to forge and nurture. It also opened the possibility of reaffirming the values that ground the political system.

Separate tableaus floating down the Rajpath may exhibit our diversity but they remain reminders of the isolated and separate existence of the regional and social diversities of India. We need a thread that can weave them together and generate not just a shared political vision but mutual understanding; the possibility of listening to each other and factoring the concerns of the other in our reasoning. Plato devised one way of going beyond the horizons of the self and leaning outwards towards the other. We may chart a different course but without centering citizenship and nurturing the relationship between the self and the other, the Republic may neither survive nor achieve greatness.

The writer is professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi