By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi: Civil society groups across India organized a “National Vigil” for the country’s Constitution and Human Rights Defenders on November 26, the National Constitution Day.
Several programs were conducted, including the recitation of the national recitation of the Preamble of the Constitution at 5.00 pm.
In New Delhi, the vigil was held at Indian Social Institute at 4.30 pm and at Sacred Heart Cathedral at 6.30 pm. The vigil was held in the context of the arrest of Jesuit social activist Father Stan Swamy SJ.
The 83-year-old priest, a renowned tribal rights activist, is charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). He is the oldest person in the country to be charged with terror-related cases. He is among 16 activists, who were arrested in connection with the same controversial Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, says a press note from the organizers.
The others are Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Hany Babu, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde. All of them are lodged in a Mumbai jail.
Father Swamy, the press note says, has been suffering from various age related illnesses including Parkinson’s disease. “He is also hard of hearing. He had fractured his hand due to a fall in January, which has not fully healed. He needs warm clothes, blanket, shawl, sweater and socks as he cannot bear the cold at night.”
The priest had gone to the sessions court in Mumbai on November 6 asking for a straw and sipper as he cannot hold a glass in his hands that are unsteady due to Parkinson’s disease.
During the vigil, Sanjay Hegde, senior advocate of the Supreme Court, and Tehmina Arora, director of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF-India), stressed the need to uphold the values of the Constitution. According to them, the framers of “this foundational document of the country proposed a vision where every citizen is guaranteed justice, equality, liberty and the promotion of fraternity assuring the dignity of every individual.”
Earlier, in his welcome address, Jesuit Father Paul D’Souza highlighted the importance of the spreading the values of the Constitution as it had been framed by all sections of society, including Jesuit Father Jerome D’Souza, who founded the Indian Social Institute in 1951.
Father D’Souza lamented that the vision of the founding fathers articulated in the Preamble of the Constitution remains an unfulfilled dream for millions of citizens. “In particular, those who have worked hard for decades to ensure that the Constitutional rights of citizens become a lived reality are being branded as anti-nationals and are languishing in jails as they have been charged with terror cases.”
The program included the release of a video on Father Swamy and the theme song of the #StandwithStan, besides the singing of songs such as “Abide with Me” and “We shall Overcome”. The program concluded with a candle light march.
Later, at 6:30 pm, a candle light vigil for the Constitution and human rights defenders was held with prayers, hymns and the recitation of the Preamble at the Sacred Heart Cathedral.
The Constitution Day, also known as National Law Day, is celebrated in India on November 26 every year to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India on that day in 1949 by the Constituent Assembly of India. It came into effect on January 26, 1950.
The Indian government in 2015 declared November 26 as Constitution Day by a gazette notification. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the declaration on October 11, 2015, while laying the foundation stone of the B. R. Ambedkar’s Statue of Equality memorial in Mumbai.
The year of 2015 was the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar, who had chaired the drafting committee of the Constituent Assembly and played a pivotal role in the drafting of the constitution.
November 26 was chosen to spread the importance of the Constitution and to spread thoughts and ideas of Ambedkar.