The article is written by Naman Sherstra, from the Department of Law, University of Calcutta. This article states the fundamental duties of the citizens and how it is important to nurture the spirit of the constitution.

Introduction 

The concept of nationalism reflects an ideology or movement which upholds the interest of a particular nation in order to strengthen its sovereignty and integrity.

The need for nationalism in India arose during the Indian independence movement when the sovereignty of Indian territory was vested in the British Empire. The sovereignty of India territory came back after a great struggle where thousands of freedom fighters sacrificed their lives for Indian independence. So, in order to cherish the sacrifice of those great martyrs, uphold the unity, integrity, and sovereignty of India the Indira Gandhi Government on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh committee brought the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act introducing certain duties for the citizens in form of Fundamental duties in Article 51A under the Constitution of India.

The Fundamental Duties are the bundle of duties that are supposed as obligations over the citizens and they need to be followed in order to nurture nationalism. A famous leader Gopal Krishna Gokhale has referred to these duties as the “poem embodying noble ideals, rhythm, and harmony”, with the impression of “the hand of the Prime Minister”. Earlier in the draft of the Committee’s recommendation, the fundamental duties were said to be made obligatory on the citizens but later while amendment such recommendation was discarded.

The major intention behind the adoption of fundamental duties under the constitution of India was to make citizens ensure that they own some duties to the community in return for fundamental rights. Such duties are not merely needed to uphold unity, integrity, and sovereignty but also to remind the citizens about their democratic conduct and manners to maintain social harmony as the rights and duties go hand in hand. 

Duties of citizen

The Fundamental duties are enshrined in part IV-A under Article 51-A of the Constitution. Earlier there were only 10 duties added by the 42nd amendment in 1976. Later, one more duty was added by the 86th amendment in 2002. These duties cannot be enforced by the courts and the violation of such duties does not amount to punishment except in case of showing insult towards the national symbols (National flag, National Emblem, Indian Constitution, and Map of India). Such insult may amount to contempt of the Constitution punishable under the Prevention of Insults to Indian Honour Act, 1971. The Fundamental Duties are adopted from the Constitution of the USSR (Russia). The fundamental duties are as follows:

• Abide by the Constitution and respect National Flag and National Anthem

National symbols like The Constitution, National Flag, and the National Anthem must be respected by each and every citizen of India. The reason behind respecting such symbols is that these symbols are a matter of pride which represents the cultural heritage, unity among several diversities and the sacrifice of the millions of martyrs for the dignity of this Nation. The Supreme Court in Shyam Narayan Chauksey vs. Union of India while deciding the petition regarding the respect of National Anthem made it mandatory for the citizens to stand while playing National Anthem in movie theatres. If a citizen intentionally insults any of the above-mentioned symbols he/she will attract punishment under provisions of “The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act,1971”. So, the citizens must abstain from doing any deeds which violate the spirit of the supreme legal document “The Constitution of India” and respect the National Flag and the National Anthem.

• Follow ideals of the freedom struggle

It is the duty of every citizen to admire and cherish the noble ideals of the freedom struggle. Such ideas bestowed upon citizens the spirit of brotherhood, fraternity, nonviolence which emerged during the Indian independence. The Noble ideas keep reminding them what cost they had paid for getting such independence. Citizens should remember the struggle and sacrifice of freedom fighters and follow them. 

• Protect sovereignty and integrity of India

This is one of the important duties the citizen should abide by. They should refrain from doing anything which undermines sovereignty and disintegrates the unity of India. However, the Constitution of India under Article 19(2) puts reasonable restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression of the Citizen, in order to uphold the interest and integrity of India. Hence, citizens must perform the duties of protecting the sovereignty and integrity of India.

• Defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so

It is a part of upholding the national interest to protect the homeland from intruders and enemies. Every citizen must feel pride in their motherland and happily ready to offer national service when the nation feels jeopardy by its enemy and needs his/her support. Despite all wings of the three armed forces, every normal citizen should be ready to hold arms for the protection of the sovereignty and integrity of India.  

• Promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic, and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women

India is a country having diversity in religion, language, section, and so on. From Pre-Independence where each and every section of the society hailing from diverse religions, caste, language, race, and gender had contributed a lot in the freedom struggle to till today where each and every section of the society thinks about the welfare of the Nation. In our Constitution, our preamble starts with the idea of promoting equality and fraternity. Similarly, Article 15(1) prohibits any kind of discrimination, and on the other hand Article 14 states treating everyone equally in the eyes of law.

These principles were laid by the architect of our Indian Constitution Baba Saheb Ambedkar and great revolutionary Mahatma Gandhi because they were of the view that Indians can only lead on the way of the welfare state while each and every section of the society will live with brotherhood and peace discarding the inequalities. In a similar way, social reformers and philanthropists like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, and many more overthrew the prevailing evil practices like Sati system, widow remarriage which was derogatory against the dignity of women. Hence, each citizen must promote the spirit of common brotherhood among every section of the society and respect the women by renouncing any practice which is derogatory against the dignity of the women.

• Value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture

India has always been known for its rich and composite culture which it has achieved from its oldest civilization. The monuments, arts, tombs, inscriptions, festivals, combined show the rich cultural heritage of India. Such rich and composite cultures make Indians feel different and proud as a whole and the citizens must preserve it so that they can pass it to their future generations. The Constitutional provision of Article 49 states the obligation of the state to protect the monuments, historic and artistic places from disintegration and spoiling.

• Protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, wildlife, and have compassion for living creatures

The natural environment is a valuable thing that provides life-essential elements to human beings. Every citizen must try to protect and conserve the natural environment and have compassion towards living creatures. The Constitutional provision of Article 48A bestows the liability on the state for ensuring the protection of the natural environment.

• Develop scientific temper, humanism and spirit of inquiry and reform

Scientific temperament is always needed for one’s development. The spirit of humanism refers to emphasizing the human values of the citizens individually and collectively as well. In the modern era where the people are getting succumbed to fake news which sometimes works as a match stick to spread hate in society. Citizens must develop the spirit of inquiry instead of believing anything blindly. Hence, the citizens must develop such scientific temperament for their own development, maintain the spirit of humanity on an individual as well as the collective level and develop the spirit of inquiry and reform in order to adapt to the prevailing changes in the society.  

• Safeguard public property and abjure violence

Public property is the property used for the interest of common citizens. Many times, the protestors harm the public property as if they don’t owe such property. The right of using public property vests in each and every citizen and it is his/her individual responsibility to protect such property from harm. Citizens should also refrain from doing violence and maintain peace and harmony in society by following the path of non-violence as shown by Mahatma Gandhi.

• Strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement

Citizens must adopt hardworking with consistency in order to achieve excellence in all spheres of the world. The collective action in any area will come up with excellent results which will ultimately lead the nation to higher levels of endeavours and achievement. Hence, for the development of the Nation, an individual must work with his full potential and collective attitude.

• Who is a parent or guardian, to provide opportunities for education to his child, or as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years

This is the most important fundamental duty which was added by the 86th constitutional amendment 2002 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government. The motto behind the introduction of this duty was to minimise the prevailing rate of illiteracy and forced child labour in the country. The Government made it a part of the obligation on the parents and Guardians to provide opportunities for education to his or her ward up at least up to the age of 14 years. This will not only make their ward self reliant and skilled but also contribute to the building of the nation.

How to save the spirit of Nationalism

Relation of Nationalism with Fundamental Duties

Indian history has always emphasized on kartavya (duties) of an individual towards himself and his nation. Citizens always stay a step ahead for claiming their rights while coming on duties they forget to perform. The Fundamental duties are a reminder to the citizen about their responsibilities towards the state and the national interest. So, the citizens need to abide by these Fundamental Duties so the nation would develop on its full threshold.

The Notion of Nationalism differs from being Chauvinistic. This concept has been given a different narrative due to misconceptions prevailing among the citizens. Most of the time we have seen that people in the name of religion start violence and justify it with Nationalism. Thakur Ravindranath had beautifully depicted this concept in the National Anthem. Ravindranath thought that the concept of nationalism has been adopted from the western culture which is just the embodiment of capitalism and mercantilism.

However, these ideas were totally different from the Indian ideals which talk of pluralism and religious tolerance that we find difficult to observe in the modern period. Now coming back to the fundamental duties, when the dilemma of upholding the nation comes everyone must stick to the constitutional form of nationalism rather than any thought, belief, or religion. So, following Constitutional nationalism means to adhere to the fundamental duties embodied under the constitution. The Fundamental duties are added in the constitution to infuse the responsibility of citizens towards their nation. Fundamental duties are introduced to balance the fundamental rights in the constitution because the rights always fake people think about individuality whereas duties provide a collective responsibility for the state.

Gandhian thought on Nationalism and duties

Recently Chief Justice of India S.A Bobde during the International Judicial Conference while speaking on Constitutional Fundamental Duties cited M.K Gandhi’s idea of Hind Swaraj which stated that “real rights are the results of the performance of the duty”. Mahatma Gandhi was of the view that while a person performs his duty, a corresponding right is created, he always puts the duties before the rights. While writing in Hind Swaraj he stated that the British acquired everything by applying physical force but the real rights are acquired by the performance of duties which the Britishers did not perform well.

In the March 1931, edition of Young India, he wrote that every man has an equal right to the necessaries of life even as birds and beasts have. And since every right carries with it a corresponding duty and a corresponding remedy for resisting any attack upon it, it is merely a matter of finding out the corresponding duties and remedies to reaffirm the elementary fundamental equality. The corresponding duty is to labour with my limbs and the corresponding remedy is to non-cooperate with him who deprives me of the fruit of my labour. Gandhi always placed rights and duties on the same balance and believed that rights are the fruits of the duties performed by a person.

Gandhi Ji in Hind Swaraj stated the concept of Nationalism for those who were shedding blood and indulged in violence in the name of the nation. This concept of nationalism was very practical which put forward the idea of collectivism instead of Individuality. He discarded the commonly then prevailing concept of religious nationalism despite himself being a Hindu. Gandhi Ji advocated his concept of Swaraj which meant self-control and self-development. This concept of Swaraj will lead to harmony and tolerance among all communities. Gandhi Ji opined India being tolerant and united (including all communities) in one thread of nationalism. Hence, the Gandhian view of Nationalism was totally based on the inclusion of each and every community of society, and for that, we need to perform our duties very well to maintain that balance.

Ambedkar’s thoughts on Nationalism and duties

The architect of the Indian Constitution was well aware of the existing diversity in India. He drafted the constitution by putting it in his heart and mind that it must be an inclusive one. Dr. Ambedkar in his last speech in the constituent assembly said that being divided into several thousands of castes, how can people think of being united as a nation. He said people that as soon as they will realise that they are not yet as a nation in a physiological and soon sense then they will realise their goals and duties towards this nation. Ambedkar opined that Independence had given a lot of responsibilities to the Citizens and they should realise their duties towards the nation. Democracy will not have its deep roots until the citizens of India complement their fundamental duties. 

Coming to his view on nationalism, Ambedkar has given his view on Nationalism in his book “Pakistan or the Partition of India”. He said that Nationalism is a desire for the existence of a separate nation for those who are bound by this kinship. He discarded the congress form of nationalism and termed it as Brahmanism. He was of the view that social stratification is divisive and it is a hurdle in the path of a nation’s development. Like Bapu, he advocated the unification of society and stated that the citizens must always strive towards their duties for achieving the national goal. 

Citizen’s role in protecting the spirit of Nationalism

Citizens are the unit of the state who play an important role in springing the nation towards the path of development. The spirit of nationalism lies in the soul of every person but often they are misguided by the notion of nationalism. Anywhere, in the world nationalism has always led the nation to a constructive path. Citizens often get misguided by this notion of religious nationalism which leads the society towards violence and social disorder. India being a secular nation inherited teaches about religious tolerance and equality. One must always adhere to constitutional nationalism and perform their duties accordingly. The drafters of the constitution have inserted the fundamental duties after observing the society for a long period. They sought that compliance with such duties will maintain not only social harmony but also bring unity in this society.

However, most of the time it is seen that due to a lack of sentiment of patriotism people are negligent about their duties. The Constitution of India also does not provide provisions for the compliance of such duties. The state must strive towards the compliance of such duties for the proper nurturing of nationalism. Similarly, the citizens must understand their responsibility towards their motherland and try to adhere to the fundamental duties provided by the Constitution. After all, we must know that nation comes first and so for our beautiful future we must abide by the fundamental duties.

Conclusion

Shri Krishna in Mahabharata told Arjun to do his duties and don’t think about the results. Every Hindu mythological religious textbook preaches duties as the dharma of the people. But everyone needs to be conscious that such duties should be in a way that doesn’t distort the society harming the nation. Former American president John. F Kennedy had once said that “Ask not what country can do for you, always ask what you can do for your country”. The citizens must remember that the freedom, rights they are enjoying today are the results of that nationalism due to the spirit of what the Indian independence was achieved.

Hence, for the sake of remembrance of those nationalist leaders whose sacrifice led India to a sovereign nation, citizens must remember their obligations towards their nation. Such a spirit will always remember them about their duties. Such obligations will always remind them about their duties towards their Nation. The duties are not only limited to the fundamental duties as given under part IV of the constitution but also extend ahead of it. Only one has to keep in mind that his/her duties should not harm society and go against the interest of the Nation. Henceforth, when the citizens will abide by their duties it will not only develop the nation but also nurture nationalism.

References

• Prevention of insults to national honour act 1971 https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream /123456789/15401/1/insults_to_national_honour_act%2C_1971.pdf
• https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/editorial-dna-edit-we-the-people-what-happened-to-the-fundamental-duties-of-a-citizen-2712089
• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/how-indian-nationalism-is-indebted-to-ambedkar/

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