New Delhi, Apr 22 (UNI) Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday asserted that the Constitution is for the people and its repository of safeguarding is that of the elected representatives and "they are the ultimate masters as to what the Constitution’s content will be".
Addressing the gathering on ‘Kartavyam’, an event commemorating 75 years of the Indian Constitution at the University of Delhi, Dhankhar said, “The Constitution is encapsulated—its essence, it’s worth, its nectar—in the Preamble of the Constitution. And what does it say? ‘We, the People of India’, the supreme power is with them. No one is above the people of India”, an official statement said.
He added, “And we, the People of India, under the Constitution, have chosen to reflect their aspirations, their desires, and their will through their public representatives. And they hold the representatives accountable—severely accountable, on occasions—through elections”.
Reflecting on the duty of citizens in democracy, Dhankhar said that democracy is not only for the government to govern. It is participatory democracy, just not laws, but also culture and ethos.
He stressed that Constitutional offices are not ornamental and every citizen is supreme in a democracy because a nation and democracy are built by citizens.
The Vice President said, "For any democracy, every citizen has a pivotal role. I find it inconceivably intriguing that some have recently reflected that constitutional offices can be ceremonial or ornamental. Nothing can be far distanced from a wrong understanding of the role of everyone in this country, constitutional functionary or a citizen”.
Stating that there is no visualisation in the Constitution of any authority above Parliament, he said, "Parliament is supreme and that being the situation. Let me tell you, it is as supreme as every individual in the country".
Underlining the significance of quality of discourse in any healthy democracy, the Vice President said, “If you want to know the health of democracy, like the health of an individual, if you want to analyse how healthy is our democracy, then you will have to find out discourse quality, the kind of discourse we have. Is our discourse moderated? Is our discourse manipulated? Is our discourse controlled by moneybags, by muscle power, by foreign interests, by people working against the interests of this nation? You will have to discern.”
Emphasising the role of youth in nation-building, Dhankhar said that , “The quality of discourse defines our democracy and in this, I have no doubt, our youth must elevate beyond partisanship to thoughtful deliberation. Our youth cannot afford this critical juncture when Bharat is rising, the rise is unstoppable.
We are destined to be a global power. We will be a developed nation. You cannot be tied down to partisan interests; you have to believe only in national interests.”
Present on the occasion were Yogesh Singh, Vice-Chancellor, University of Delhi, Balaram Pani, Dean Colleges, Prakash Singh, Director, South Delhi Campus, and others.
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