oppn parties The Republic Needs A Healing Touch

Story Of The Day

The Sensex Did Not Crash. Its Closing Auction Did Its Job Too Well.

September 02, 2026

People Are Talking About

People Are Talking About the Language of Gen Z

News Snippets

  • Calcutta HC asks why are MPs facing egg-pelting, in the mohua Moitra case, allows the MP to enter her constituency with police protection
  • Police find fingerprints and other evidence of both the two accused and the rape survivor inside the bus in the Delhi gang rape case
  • Abhishek Upadhyay, the journalist who exposed the embezzlement of Ram Mandir funds, has sought Supreme Court help as Ghaziabad Police have sought his digital footprint from X. He claimed that such information will compromise the sources who provided him the information
  • Supreme Court quashes 127 FIRs in 5 states against students who took part in CJP stir. In repsonse, CJP cancels the September 5 march from India Gate to Delhi Police headquarters
  • TCS buys Best Buy's GCC operations in India, pips Accenture to the post in a deal worth around Rs 2000cr
  • To avoid stiff tariff, Aun Pharma offers to supply cheaper drugs at Most Favoured Nation pricing to US Medicaid programme
  • 5-member NCLT bench stays Subhash Chandra's Rs 6.5cr repayment order
  • Reliance entered the icecream space by launching Bombay Creamery
  • Copyright office rejects AI system as artwork author, says Parliament needs to make the legal position clear
  • GST collection jumps 15% in August to Rs 199853cr on the back of 29% jump in tax from imports
  • Asian Games: Japan Cricket Association says participating cricketing teams can arrange their own hotels as the Games are not directly under JCA
  • T20s versus Afghanistan: Bumrah and Samson return, Hardik still unfit. Sooryavanshi keeps his place
  • Duleep Trophy: South Zome have upper hand in the other semifinal
  • Duleep Trophy: East Zone beat Central Zone by four wickets to enter the final
  • PM Modi asks youth to make social media content on drug abuse
Duleep Trophy: South Zone beat North Zone by 7 wickets to set up the final clash with East Zone ////// Air Marshall (Retd) Jeetendra Sharma appointed the first CEO of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya
oppn parties
The Republic Needs A Healing Touch

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-01-26 06:24:39

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

This year's Republic Day, a part of the year-long Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav in India's 75th year of Independence, is being celebrated against the backdrop of rising politics of hate that seeks to divide the nation along communal lines, including a call for genocide of minorities. But it also comes at a time when the country is successfully carrying out a massive vaccination drive in its fight against the pandemic and is successfully overcoming the hurdles placed in the path of economic growth.

The nation has achieved much in the last year in terms of reinforcing its medical infrastructure, vaccinating its people, easing restrictions to improve the flow of people and goods across the nation to help the economy grow. But it has not been able to vaccinate a section of its population against the communal virus and it is their mischief that is making another section think that either they are second class citizens in the republic or are not citizens at all.

President Ram Nath Kovind, in his address to the nation on the eve of Republic Day, rightly said that rights and duties are two sides of the same coin. "The observance of the fundamental duties mentioned in the Constitution by the citizens creates the proper environment for enjoyment of fundamental rights" he said. But if the citizens are not sure whether their fundamental rights will be upheld, their inclination to observe fundamental duties declines. Is it not the fundamental duty of a citizen to protest against what he or she thinks is not right? But if he or she does so and if the government arrests him or her and slaps sedition charges, his or her fundamental right to protest is violated.

The nation will progress only when the government understands that though rights and duties are two sides of the same coin, it is upon the government to ensure that rule of law is followed in an impartial manner to let citizens enjoy fundamental rights so that they can perform their fundamental duties. Fighting over what comes first will always lead to anarchy. The nation call ill afford the attitude of the government in treating all criticism as sedition. It is improper to label all those who raise their voices as enemies of the nation. 

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

7.8% GDP Growth Is Good News.

7.8% GDP Growth Is Good News.

 Accountability Cannot Be a Precondition to Debate

Accountability Cannot Be a Precondition to Debate

In Depth

The Taxman's Doppelganger: How India's ITR Filing Deadline Became a Phishing Season

The Taxman's Doppelganger: How India's ITR Filing Deadline Became a Phishing Season

Editor's Pick

Kangana Ranaut's War on 'Generation Gutter'

Kangana Ranaut's War on 'Generation Gutter'
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.