<p>India celebrated the 73rd republic day this year. At this juncture, it’s important to introspect on the role of civil society in the making of the citizenry. While addressing the 73rd batch of IPS officers, India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval remarked: "The new frontier of war, what you call the fourth-generation warfare, is the civil society."</p>.<p>Recent studies have revealed that India is embracing authoritarianism slowly. The remark of the NSA is another attack on the checks and balances on power in recent years. The consistent attack on the Constitution and the suppression of dissents and protests have put India into the category of "Elected autocracy".</p>.<p>A lot has been written about India’s democratic backsliding and quelling the voice of the citizens. We argue in this article that civic literacy can be a defender against the growing attack on the Constitution. The Chairperson of the Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly BR Ambedkar once said: "Constitution is not a mere lawyer's document, it is a vehicle of life and its spirit is always the spirit of age."</p>.<p>A rare moment in the life of the Indian Constitution came in December 2019, when a large number of people, especially women, embraced the Constitution and the image of Dr Ambedkar in the streets against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), making them both the symbols of resistance 70 years after the Constitution was adopted.</p>.<p>However, Indian citizens engaging with the Constitution is not a new phenomenon. Prof Rohit De in his book <span class="italic"><em>A People’s Constitution</em></span> documents the early phase of Indian citizenry and their quest for rights against the State just after the adoption of the Constitution. He says that the resistance and the struggle for rights have been in the imagination of the Indians since the inception of the Constitution. Recent phenomena of the communal media creating divisions among people, sowing anti-constitutional laws, shrinking space for civil debates, State’s illegitimate interference in the lives of individuals etc. have refashioned the imagination of people and the role of rights in their everyday lives. </p>.<p>The sudden and growing interest in the Constitution is distinct from the past such engagements. Such engagements are not limited to securing specific Constitutional rights but are focused on Constitutional consciousness, write Arvind Narrain and Poorna Ravishankar. Moreover, citizens are using the Constitution as a means of asserting their identity as well. This is a direct result of the literacy and awareness campaigns by civil society, academics and non-governmental organisations. </p>.<p>People are trained to be good professionals but not good citizens. The gap between the text and its adoption by the people needs to be filled by the citizen-centric initiatives, says Sana Siddiqui, a civic education activist and Program manager of We the People Abhiyan, a civil society group working on imparting constitutional literacy for more than 18 years. These initiatives highlight the power of individuals, and ultimately civil society. Several individuals and civic groups took the initiative to take forward the spirit and text of the Constitution to people through different methods. </p>.<p>While the organisations like CLPR, Article 14, Live Law etc work towards educating citizens in English, others including Samvidhan Pracharak, Path Foundation, Jan Sahas and Constitution Connect work in the regional languages. Organisations like Kabir Kala Manch and Yalgar Sanskrutik Samiti inculcate the values of the Constitution through music, poetry and cultural activism.</p>.<p>These efforts show hope at a time when the founding values are at constant attack. This gives hope that the Indian republic can be salvaged and reclaimed through the methods of everyday experience and people’s quest for constitutional rights. </p>.<p>As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes observed, "The life of the law has not been logic, It has been experiencing." The everyday experience of the Constitution in people’s lives and the adoption of the values of the Constitution would make the citizens conscience-keepers of the Constitution. </p>.<p>(The writers are working with Constitution Connect.)</p>
<p>India celebrated the 73rd republic day this year. At this juncture, it’s important to introspect on the role of civil society in the making of the citizenry. While addressing the 73rd batch of IPS officers, India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval remarked: "The new frontier of war, what you call the fourth-generation warfare, is the civil society."</p>.<p>Recent studies have revealed that India is embracing authoritarianism slowly. The remark of the NSA is another attack on the checks and balances on power in recent years. The consistent attack on the Constitution and the suppression of dissents and protests have put India into the category of "Elected autocracy".</p>.<p>A lot has been written about India’s democratic backsliding and quelling the voice of the citizens. We argue in this article that civic literacy can be a defender against the growing attack on the Constitution. The Chairperson of the Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly BR Ambedkar once said: "Constitution is not a mere lawyer's document, it is a vehicle of life and its spirit is always the spirit of age."</p>.<p>A rare moment in the life of the Indian Constitution came in December 2019, when a large number of people, especially women, embraced the Constitution and the image of Dr Ambedkar in the streets against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), making them both the symbols of resistance 70 years after the Constitution was adopted.</p>.<p>However, Indian citizens engaging with the Constitution is not a new phenomenon. Prof Rohit De in his book <span class="italic"><em>A People’s Constitution</em></span> documents the early phase of Indian citizenry and their quest for rights against the State just after the adoption of the Constitution. He says that the resistance and the struggle for rights have been in the imagination of the Indians since the inception of the Constitution. Recent phenomena of the communal media creating divisions among people, sowing anti-constitutional laws, shrinking space for civil debates, State’s illegitimate interference in the lives of individuals etc. have refashioned the imagination of people and the role of rights in their everyday lives. </p>.<p>The sudden and growing interest in the Constitution is distinct from the past such engagements. Such engagements are not limited to securing specific Constitutional rights but are focused on Constitutional consciousness, write Arvind Narrain and Poorna Ravishankar. Moreover, citizens are using the Constitution as a means of asserting their identity as well. This is a direct result of the literacy and awareness campaigns by civil society, academics and non-governmental organisations. </p>.<p>People are trained to be good professionals but not good citizens. The gap between the text and its adoption by the people needs to be filled by the citizen-centric initiatives, says Sana Siddiqui, a civic education activist and Program manager of We the People Abhiyan, a civil society group working on imparting constitutional literacy for more than 18 years. These initiatives highlight the power of individuals, and ultimately civil society. Several individuals and civic groups took the initiative to take forward the spirit and text of the Constitution to people through different methods. </p>.<p>While the organisations like CLPR, Article 14, Live Law etc work towards educating citizens in English, others including Samvidhan Pracharak, Path Foundation, Jan Sahas and Constitution Connect work in the regional languages. Organisations like Kabir Kala Manch and Yalgar Sanskrutik Samiti inculcate the values of the Constitution through music, poetry and cultural activism.</p>.<p>These efforts show hope at a time when the founding values are at constant attack. This gives hope that the Indian republic can be salvaged and reclaimed through the methods of everyday experience and people’s quest for constitutional rights. </p>.<p>As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes observed, "The life of the law has not been logic, It has been experiencing." The everyday experience of the Constitution in people’s lives and the adoption of the values of the Constitution would make the citizens conscience-keepers of the Constitution. </p>.<p>(The writers are working with Constitution Connect.)</p>