Republic Day at Pathways School Noida by Ms. Sunita Thakur, Academic Research Support

India became an independent republic on 26th January 1950, when the Indian Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution. One of the most detailed and nuanced in the world, it was written under the stewardship of Baba Saheb Ambedkar, appointed Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee.

At Pathways, Noida our Republic Day Assembly celebrations were a little different this year as we tried not just to celebrate this all too significant moment in history but also take a look at how we have progressed in the fulfillment of those lofty goals.

The constitution is a guiding map for shedding the mentality of ‘them and us’ colonialism, and embracing inclusivity, celebrating the multicultural, multi-religious diversity of India in which no one is the outsider. Our charter of six fundamental rights is an example of this:

1.            Right to equality

2.            Right to freedom

3.            Right against exploitation

4.            Right to freedom of religion

5.            Cultural and Educational rights

6.            Right to constitutional remedies

Yet as just a few painful moments depicted on stage showed us the

truth is elsewhere and all too often. Be it in the suicide of Rohith Vemeula, the young and bright Dalit student who killed himself when he realized he would always be persecuted for his caste, never able to reach the educational potential that was his right because of prejudice in the higher education system.

In a pithy excerpt this inequality was depicted in the threat to Kashmiri Pandits forced to flee their homes in the Valley in the dead of night in the 1990s” due to Muslim extremists. More than 100,000 (and some estimates put the figure much higher) have never returned to their homes.

A young woman reminded us that In Nagaland, a predominantly Christian state, thousands have been killed, homes destroyed in the drive to depict them as ‘outsiders by Hindu extremists, despite historical evidence to the contrary.

In a dramatization of events in Dadri, UP, we were reminded of the family ruined, father murdered, brother beaten because a frenzied mob believed they had the right to lynch a family because of what they might be eating - beef.

As tears swelled and rolled down many a cheek in the audience, we were reminded of so many moments in our independence history not to be proud of, including of the daily inequality and indignity of poverty for so many.

These cameos in this assembly nudge us to understand the delicate nature of ‘rights’ - yours and mine - that trampling on someone else’s rights is a precursor to mine too being trampled upon. And yet if we respect difference as the constitution urges, refraining from all too easy labels of the ‘outsider’ , how truly free we could be both in mind and hearts?

The final fundamental right – to constitutional remedies – showed us the strength of our constitutional process by focusing on landmark public interest litigation (PILs) which have been used to protect the rights of the weak or dispossessed. India has been a world leader in this area.

The morning ended with the entire school community gathering on the field to unfurl the flag and sing the national anthem.