Frontline On Air | Emerging challenge to the Constitution

In 2023, voices demanding a new Constitution grew louder, bolder—fuelled by the need for consolidation of power at the Centre.

Students of Jamia Millia Islamia University prepare banners during a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in New Delhi in December 2019. The law sparked protests across the country, which were marked by readings of the Preamble to the Constitution. | Photo Credit: Altaf Qadri/AP

The Constitution was challenged in 2023 for being “colonial” and outdated. One of these challenges was explicit, with a call to action: the claim that the Constitution needs to be rewritten. The other was implicit: a demonstration of how the Constitution is colonial. If the Constitution is colonial and/or past its expiry date, then were all the Citizenship (Amendment) Act protesters misguided when they used the Preamble to protest? One cannot also help but ask, where does the controversy around Article 370 fit into this?

The aim behind these suggestions is to facilitate Central “executive efficiency”, governance involving “law and order, and swift dispute resolution”. On the point of law and order, partial praise is given to “the three recent Bills, on the criminal side”. Given that the items listed have been direct targets of the current government, it is safe to read this as an indicative list of changes the government will introduce in future. As there is no mention of rights or minorities or anything that matters to people other than how to indirectly praise the government, this opinion piece is product placement. It serves as a warning by the government of things to come.

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