On the upcoming day of 26th January 2025, India is celebrating its 76th Republic Day. It is the day that makes every Indians proud and gratifying. In fact, 76 years back, it is on this day that our freedom and unity triumphed when we proudly enacted and implemented the Indian Constitution, an elite and rich source of democratic principles, human rights, just and fair practices.

Importance of 26th January

January 26, 1950 was specifically chosen as the official enactment date for the Indian Constitution i.e. the day that our Constitution came into force. This was to pay homage to the declaration of ‘Purna Swaraj’ made by the Indian National Congress in January 26, 1930 which declaration is considered as the first firm step towards Indian efforts for independence. Thus, our Constitution came into being on the 26th day of January 1950, and we celebrate this day every year as our Republic Day to honor the Constitution of India. The Constitution of India declares India as a ‘Sovereign, Socialist, Secular and Democratic Republic’ that guarantees its citizens equality, liberty, fraternity and justice.

History of our Constitution

Upon achieving independence from the British rule on 15th August, 1947, which we celebrate every year as our Independence Day, we had an enormous challenge in front of us. We needed a Constitution, a governing document that will lay down the golden principles upon which India will be founded, established, cemented and maintained – a document with set of supreme rules that will lay down India’s governance structure, citizens’ fundamental rights and duties, noble vision and mission and that will act as the source for all laws in India. As soon as the independence was declared, a Constituent Assembly was formed with the clear view to draft the Constitution for our country.

The Constituent Assembly was formed partly by election and partly by nomination and there were 299 delegates from different backgrounds in the final Constituent Assembly. Several committees were constituted under the Constituent Assembly, all working towards the common goal of enacting the Indian Constitution. Key such committees were, ‘Drafting Committee’ led by Dr. B R Ambedkar, ‘Union Power Committee’ led by Jawaharlal Nehru, ‘Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights’ led by Sri. Vallabhbhai Patel, etc. The members of the Constituent Assembly worked nearly three years to complete the draft of the Constitution through thorough research, evaluation, discussions and debates. Due to the deep involvement of Dr Ambedkar in shaping our constitution, he is regarded as the father of Indian constitution.

Salient Features of our Constitution

Indian Constitution is unique in several aspects. Key salient features of Indian Constitution are:

A) Indian Constitution is the longest written Constitution in the world with currently around 448 Articles.

B) It is rigid as well as flexible in terms of ability to make amendments. This means that certain key and fundamental provisions in the Constitution are kept rigid requiring a very high voting requirement at the Parliament for amendments while certain provisions are kept flexible requiring simple majority for making amendments. For instance, Preamble of the Indian Constitution, Fundamental Rights, etc. are rigid provisions that requires special majority at the Parliament for amendments.

C) Constitution guarantees absolute sovereignty, where the country enjoys complete independence and power for management and administration over whole of its territory.

D) India is a republic where the head of the government are chosen through transparent and accountable elections by the people, of the people and for the people.

E) India is federal in form but unitary in spirit where Constitution clearly provides for division of powers between the central government and the state governments but follows the spirit of unitary power form where key aspects such as security, defense, foreign policies, etc., are centralized at the central government.

F) Constitution declares India as a Secular State, meaning all religions are treated equally with no special status to any particular religion. Anyone can choose and profess religion of his choice with free will, provided the practices are not against the social norm and social standards.

G) Our Constitution affords certain rights to the citizens as Fundamental Rights, such as right to life, freedom of speech and expression, right to equality, etc. These rights are treated as very important and any citizen who feels that his or her fundamental rights are affected has the right to approach the judiciary for enforcing such rights.

H) Our Constitution also lays down certain Fundamental Duties that every citizen is expected as a legal obligation to carry out. These duties include the respect of national flag and national anthem, integrity and unity of the country, the safeguard of public property, and the like.

I) Directive Principle that act as the guidelines to the states to ensure the development of its socio-economy policies.

We, the Indians should be always proud for having such a detailed and dynamic Constitution that address all the key aspects for running a country fair and just. To borrow the wise words of the chief architect of our Constitution, Dr B.R Ambedkar, “The Constitution is not a mere lawyer's document; it is a vehicle of life, and its spirit is always the spirit of age.” Rightly said, our constitution is truly the vehicle of our lives.

Republic Day Celebrations

New Delhi, the capital city of India, will be the seat of many prestigious events to celebrate the Republic Day. The National Flag of India will be hoisted by the President of India at India Gate. There will be a grand parade at Rajpath in New Delhi presided by the Indian President. The parade will display our immense military capabilities and competences and also our unity in diversity. One of the important event is the Prime Minister paying homage at the Amar Jyothi in the India Gate to martyrs who have sacrificed their lives for our country. Flag hoisting and cultural events take place all over India in grand ceremony. French President Emmanuel Macron has been invited to participate in India's 76th Republic Day festivities.

Republic Day Message

"One individual may die for an idea, but that idea will, after his death, incarnate itself in a thousand lives" said our beloved Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The freedom that we enjoy today, the democracy upon we have founded our lives, the integrity that our system has developed are not the result of a day. However, it is the result of long struggle and unmatchable patience of our forefathers that yielded us a safe, decent and proud existence that we enjoy today. Therefore, we all have a strong duty to uphold the integrity and safety of our country and follow the supreme laws that our Constitution has laid down. Always understand that no one is above our Country and no one is above our Constitution.

I wish you all a very Happy Republic Day, 2025. We are all one ‘Indian’ and we will strongly move forward as one Indian.