Immanuel Kant (April 22, 1724 - February 12, 1804), the famous German Philosopher, penned his essay, titled Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?, which was published in the Berlin Journal in 1784. In that essay, he explained the nature of enlightenment. Kant wrote: "For this enlightenment, however, nothing more is required than freedom, and to be sure the least dangerous sort of all that can be called freedom, namely, the freedom to make public use of one's reason on all issues." He added: "But now I hear shouting on all sides! The officer says, 'Don't argue, just drill!' The tax bureau says, 'Don't argue, just pay up!' The clergyman says, 'Don't argue, just believe!' (Only one sovereign in the world says, 'Argue, as much as you want, and about whatever you want, but obey.') Restriction of freedom is everywhere. But what sort of restriction is an obstacle to enlightenment - and which is not, but on the contrary, necessary for it? I answer: The public use of one's Reason must always be free, and it alone can bring enlightenment into being among men."
Kant worked on this essay over a year in the last quarter of the 18th Century. Surprisingly, his views on enlightenment and freedom are quite relevant in contemporary India! Kant mentioned: "Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in indecision and lack of courage to use one's own mind without another's guidance." In other words, freedom is the prerequisite to get out of self-imposed nonage. The German philosopher further explained: "Reason enables us to act on principles that we can share with other rational beings. In a world of limits, reason reveals human freedom." In order to build such a society (or state), the first thing that is required is the will to argue, as well as the intellectual capacity. The question arises here: Who would come forward to create such a society (or environment)?
John Stuart Mill (May 20, 1806 - May 7, 1873), an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant, termed that small section of people minority. Needless to say, his concept of minority is not based on religion-, class- or caste-based identity. J S Mill wanted to say that few persons can think in a different manner, fearlessly present their own ideas to the public and argue in favour of their own opinions on any particular issue. Hence, these people belong to the minority community. Interestingly, their collective intelligence is the lifeblood of civilisation. Therefore, the pursuit of freedom is essentially an exercise of enlightenment.
Ahead of the 2021 Presidential Election, Kamala Devi Harris, the first female Vice President of the US, wrote on Twitter: "Our democracy is as strong as our willingness to fight for it." Democracy is not a dead end of a Political System, but a free stream of continuous struggle. The concept of Sovereignty is closely related to Freedom. Unfortunately, the external appearance of sovereignty is clearly visible, while internal appearance is not!
The concept of sovereignty with which we are familiar in everyday life is State Sovereignty or Political Sovereignty. However, the internal and external essences of sovereignty are quite different. Western political scientists have viewed sovereignty from different perspectives. They have discussed the Modern Sovereign State or the concept of Modern Sovereignty on the basis of society, family, judiciary, religion, etc. The genesis of the state is deeply intertwined with various concepts of sovereignty. According to them, citizens of a sovereign state would ideally be sovereign.
The institution, called State, was born because the citizens gave away a tiny portion of their acquired and accumulated sovereignty to it! The state did not give birth to the citizens. On the contrary, citizens gave birth to the state. That is why the Government of India's plan to create a National Register of Citizens (NRC) can be considered as a breach of contract between the State and its Citizens. It seems that the Indian State forgot the essence of General Will while formulating the NRC policy. As the issue of citizenship has been addressed in the Preamble of the Constitution of India, the NRC goes against the spirit of Indian Constitution.
NRC is basically a register, containing the names of all Indian citizens who meet the criteria for citizenship under the Citizenship Act of 1955. The NRC also includes demographic information on each individual. The only time the NRC was previously prepared was in 1951, after the 1951 Census. As of August 2024, the NRC has only been implemented in the northeastern Indian Province of Assam. The Citizenship Act of 1955 requires all Indian citizens to register and receive a National Identity Card. The Citizenship Rules of 2003, which were created under the 1955 Act, outline how to prepare the NRC. In Assam, the NRC is application-based, while in the rest of India, the process is enumeration-based! To qualify for the NRC, an individual's name must have appeared in the 1972 NRC or in an Electoral Roll before March 24, 1971 at 12pm. The NRC is intended to identify and deport illegal immigrants. In August 2019, nearly two million people, including Hindus and Muslims, were left off the citizenship list in Assam.
Four months after Kant's 300th Birth Anniversary (on April 22), India celebrated its 78th Independence Day (on August 15) in 2024. At this juncture of history, the Indian State has triggered a fresh debate on the issue of citizenship! Perhaps, the Indians wanted freedom not just to get rid of the colonial British rule, but also to express their thoughts without fear. Unfortunately, the Indians have failed to enjoy freedom from thoughts imposed by the ruler.
A decade ago, historian Romila Thapar raised an important issue (in a lecture): To question, or not to question? That is the question. The answer to that is: Yes! Of course, the Indians should question in order to break the shackles of an authoritarian regime.
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