history – Derek O'Brien

The release of the draft rules for the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) for public consultation, more than 16 months after the Act was passed, has restarted discussions on the importance of public participation in lawmaking, particularly for pieces of legislation that significantly impact individual rights. Given its implications for privacy and digital governance, the delay in consulting the public on the implementation of the DPDP Act has drawn scrutiny.

This instance is emblematic of the broader issues surrounding the Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy (PLCP). In 2014, PLCP was formulated by the Ministry of Law and Justice. The policy is supposed to be followed by all departments and ministries before any legislative proposal is submitted for consideration. It has been a decade since the PLCP has come into effect. The question is: How many legislative proposals have actually undergone public consultation, and to what extent has the policy been effectively implemented across ministries and departments? The Union government was asked a pointed question in Parliament: How many Bills had been placed in the public domain for consultation before introduction? The response from Kiren Rijiju, then Union Minister of Law and Justice, was that the Ministry does not maintain any record relating to compliance with respect to the PLCP. (Another example of NDA – No Data Available!).

Non-obligatory Nature of PLCP: Paragraph 11 of the PLCP allows ministries and departments significant discretion to bypass the policy’s requirements if they deem public consultation to be “not feasible” or “undesirable”. This broad exemption creates a major loophole that undermines the very purpose of the policy. By granting government bodies the power to unilaterally decide when public input can be avoided, the provision weakens the commitment to transparency, accountability, and participatory democracy.

Such flexibility can be easily misused, leading to important legislation being passed without considering the views of those who may be affected. The ability to sidestep consultations without clearly defined criteria opens the door for arbitrary decisions, potentially resulting in laws that do not adequately reflect public needs or address stakeholder concerns. In essence, this undermines the fundamental aim of the policy: To ensure that the legislative process is inclusive, deliberative, and that voices of citizens are heard and considered before laws are enacted.

Poor Scrutiny and Quality of Legislation: The widespread public protests and strong opposition to controversial legislation, such as the CAA-NRC Bills and the Farm Bills, are examples of hurriedly legislating without meaningful consultations with key stakeholders. Several other significant pieces of legislation, including the Right to Information (Amendment) Act, 2019, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021, were all tabled in Parliament without any prior engagement or consultation with the public. These instances reflect a broader trend of flippant legislative procedure without adequate public input.

Even when consultations do take place under the PLCP, there is no mechanism to ensure that they are conducted in all relevant languages and are well publicised, limiting accessibility for many citizens. Here are some startling statistics. As per PRS’s data from January 2022, three out of four bills introduced in Parliament bypassed any form of prior public consultation. Also, bills that were subjected to consultation, more than half (a whopping 54 per cent) did not comply with the mandated 30-day consultation period.

Best Practices: In South Africa, the constitution requires that all proposed legislation undergo a process of public engagement before being enacted. This mandatory public involvement ensures transparency and accountability in lawmaking, with any law that does not follow the prescribed consultation process being deemed unconstitutional and struck down by the courts. The emphasis is on inclusivity, allowing citizens to actively participate in shaping the laws that govern them.

Similarly, South Korea has institutionalised public participation in the legislative process by mandating that draft bills be published in advance. The draft legislation is made available for a minimum of 20 days before being introduced in the legislature, providing ample time for citizens to review and voice their opinions.

[This article was also published in The Indian Express| Friday, January 17, 2025]

I am proud of my mother language.

আমি আমার মাতৃভাষা নিয়ে গর্বিত |

मुझे अपनी मातृभाषा पर गर्व है |

என் தாய்மொழியை நினைத்து பெருமைக் கொள்கிறேன்.

Linguistic politics has been a central theme of Indian democracy. The Visalandhra movement and the demise of veteran freedom fighter Potti Sriramulu of Andhra Pradesh (erstwhile Madras Presidency) prompted Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to declare the linguistic reorganisation of Indian states. After 1989, with regional parties gaining considerable influence in the formation of coalition governments in New Delhi, the demand for classical language status for Tamil grew stronger. In 2004, the Union Government conceded to the political pressure and created a new category of languages, known as ‘Classical Languages’. Tamil was the first beneficiary. Since then, Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), and Odia (2014) were added to the list.

The West Bengal government has been advocating for the recognition of Bengali as a Classical Language. Let us examine whether this demand holds any merit.

Distinct Identity

Vaṅga-Bhāsa was the language spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient Janapada of Vanga Desa, in the eastern region of the Indian subcontinent. The term ‘Vaṅga’ first appears in the Aitareyya Brahmana. Distinguished linguist Dr Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay in his work Origin and Development of the Bengali Language writes that modern-day Bengal was a conglomeration of several territories that were not Aryanised till the 4th century BCE.

Baudhayana also excludes Bengal from the land of Aryans, making it abundantly clear that Bengal had a different culture and language. As noted by Dr. Chattopadhyay and Dr. Sukumar Sen, the Bengali language acquired its distinct form in the 10th century. They have traced the origin of Bengali to the 6th century Magadhi Apabhramsha, a written language that evolved from the spoken Magadhi Prakrit prevalent in Eastern India. When King Shashanka established his independent Gauda kingdom in the 7th century in Bengal, this newborn Bengali language became the official language of his Gauda-Vanga Rashtra. This is supported by Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah, an accomplished linguist and philologist.

The beginning of Bengali literature was marked with the Buddhist text Caryāpada, written between the 8th and 12th centuries. A large number of Siddhacharyas who wrote these were from Bengal, and as such, Bengali’s claim on the Caryāpada verses is far stronger than that of any other Indian language. Archaeological findings and inscriptions in Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese indicate that Bengali as a language existed even in the 3rd-4th century BCE.

While Bengali meets all the criteria as outlined in the 2004 Government of India notification, consider these:

International Mother Language Day (February 21) commemorates the Bengali Language Movement, which ultimately led to the formation of Bangladesh.
Bengali is the second most spoken language in India, spoken by 8% of the country’s population from the states of West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, and Jharkhand. It is also the seventh most spoken language in the world.
The national anthems of both India and Bangladesh were composed by Rabindranath Tagore in Bengali.
All Parliament sessions begin and end with songs written in Bengali language.

The New Education Policy provides for training in the six officially recognised classical languages, as well as Pali, Prakrit and Persian, as part of the curriculum.

Foundation Of Indian Nationalism

Bengal was the centre of the renaissance movement in late-18th-century India. From Raja Ram Mohan Roy to Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, from Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay to Rabindranath Tagore, the foundation of Indian nationalism is written in golden letters in Bengali. Our school textbooks tell us about Vande Mataram and the lives and contributions of heroes like Kanailal Dutta, Master Da Surya Sen, Khudiram Bose, Prafulla Chaki, Dinabandhu Mitra, Madhusudan Dutt, Romesh Chunder Dutt, Chandranath Basu, Sri Aurobindo and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Inspired by Swami Vivekananda, Bagha Jatin famously remarked, “Amra morbo, jagat jagbe” (we shall die to awaken the nation).

The struggle for the preservation of linguistic traditions and their official recognition is an arduous journey. Currently, 38 languages, including Ho, Saora, Kuruk, Garo, Khasi, Tulu, Nicobarese and Magahi, among others, await inclusion in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. The delay in granting recognition to these languages raises serious concerns.

Apart from Bengali, languages such as Pali, Marathi, Manipuri, and Maithili have also been demanding classical language status. All six languages recognised as classical languages were acknowledged between 2004 and 2014. Bengali has still not been included as a classical language. Can you believe it.

[This article was also published in NDTV | Thursday, February,22 2024]

Tag: history

How laws are passed under NDA – in silence, without consultation

For My Mother Language – It’s Time Bengali Got Classical Status