<p>Additional Solicitor General of India Vikramjit Banerjee said the Indian Constitution is a balance of two impulses called the Dharma and the Artha. He was delivering a lecture on 'Reading the Constitution Culturally'. The talk was organised by the University Law College of Bangalore University.</p>.<p>Banerjee said that unlike other constitutions, the Indian Constitution was based on a core principle called 'the justice'. "The conception of justice is the basis of the Constitution. When translated, it is Dharma. Indian Supreme Court has been afraid of relying too much on this conception of Dharma because it thinks that these are linked to certain religious values. But I disagree with it. Because these are Indic or Bharatiya values," he said.</p>.<p>Banerjee said the secular and socialistic values of the Constitution are from the traditional Indian values such as 'Sarva Dharma Samanvaya and Sarvodaya'. He said the courts over and again termed these values as a mix of Gandhism because it cannot go back to strong Indian values. He said the Indian conception of freedom historically, culturally does not give right to hurt others.</p>.<p>"Whenever you talk about protection of cows, village panchayats, protection of cottage industries and Swadeshi, you refer to them as Gandhian values. Mahatma Gandhi did speak about it but they were values of civilisation and they were incorporated into the Directive Principles of State Policy. The Fundamental Duties may have been borrowed from the socialist thinking but it is also influenced by Indian conceptions,’’ he said.</p>.<p>Banerjee said that it was time for Indians to start discussing the Constitution culturally for an ultimate object of achieving the Rama Rajya. He said that while Dharma is derived from civilisations, Artha is derived from the Mouryan state's Artha Shastra. "There is a lot of talk about treating the Constitution independent of the culture and civilisation of the people. There is not enough discussion in contextualising this Constitution. It is time that we start discussing these issues because any Constitution cannot be interpreted out of the context in which it exists," he said.</p>
<p>Additional Solicitor General of India Vikramjit Banerjee said the Indian Constitution is a balance of two impulses called the Dharma and the Artha. He was delivering a lecture on 'Reading the Constitution Culturally'. The talk was organised by the University Law College of Bangalore University.</p>.<p>Banerjee said that unlike other constitutions, the Indian Constitution was based on a core principle called 'the justice'. "The conception of justice is the basis of the Constitution. When translated, it is Dharma. Indian Supreme Court has been afraid of relying too much on this conception of Dharma because it thinks that these are linked to certain religious values. But I disagree with it. Because these are Indic or Bharatiya values," he said.</p>.<p>Banerjee said the secular and socialistic values of the Constitution are from the traditional Indian values such as 'Sarva Dharma Samanvaya and Sarvodaya'. He said the courts over and again termed these values as a mix of Gandhism because it cannot go back to strong Indian values. He said the Indian conception of freedom historically, culturally does not give right to hurt others.</p>.<p>"Whenever you talk about protection of cows, village panchayats, protection of cottage industries and Swadeshi, you refer to them as Gandhian values. Mahatma Gandhi did speak about it but they were values of civilisation and they were incorporated into the Directive Principles of State Policy. The Fundamental Duties may have been borrowed from the socialist thinking but it is also influenced by Indian conceptions,’’ he said.</p>.<p>Banerjee said that it was time for Indians to start discussing the Constitution culturally for an ultimate object of achieving the Rama Rajya. He said that while Dharma is derived from civilisations, Artha is derived from the Mouryan state's Artha Shastra. "There is a lot of talk about treating the Constitution independent of the culture and civilisation of the people. There is not enough discussion in contextualising this Constitution. It is time that we start discussing these issues because any Constitution cannot be interpreted out of the context in which it exists," he said.</p>
