JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, INDIA VOL. 21, 2022 Fulfilment of such a social order is comprehensive in character: it is founded upon the fundamental values of Justice, Liberty and Equality on the one hand,1 and intended to be secured on the other hand in a humanistic manner that ensures the ‘dignity of the individual’ and ‘unity and integrity of the Nation’.2 It leads us eventually towards the Human Rights Jurisprudence with singular emphasis that in such a social order, each individual has the inherent right to lead a personally fulfilling and dignified life, while at the same time positively promoting the greater good of all.3 In a way, the inclusive social order, premised on preserving human values of dignity, becomes the harbinger of, and precursor to peaceful, participatory, progressive, and sustainable development of the society at large.4 Establishing an inclusive society is indeed a gigantic and a challenging task, especially more in the backdrop of colonial rule from which we inherited a dismally fractured order, which was inherently divisive in character on all counts – socially, economically and politically. How to reconstruct the new social order as envisaged by us under the Constitution of Independent India continues to be perhaps the most critical question? The founding fathers of our Constitution seemed to be mindful and consciously clear both of the constitutional objective and the means to attain that objective. Accordingly, they visualised the complexion of new India, called Bharat, which shall be “a Union of States.”5 Such an entity, having a distinct existence, objective and a conceptual reality, they visualised, shall be the Sovereign in her own right in the comity of Nations, having her own independent existence, and Republic in character in as much as she shall be headed by the persona chosen or elected by her own people and not by any hereditary monarch, the King or the Queen from 1 2 3 4 5 2 The three values of Justice, Liberty and Equality are used in the comprehensive sense. Justice means which is just socially, economically and politically; Liberty implies liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; and Equality connotes equality of status and opportunity. Substituted by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, s. 2, for “unity of the Nation” (w.e.f. 3-1-1977). The objective of expansion was not to add something new, but to expound what was already writ large in the provisions of the Constitution. See generally, infra, Part III. See also, The Tribune, September 11, 2022: “CPI MP moves SC against Swamy’s plea over Preamble” – raising the controversy about the addition made through constitutional amendment in 1976 during the emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government. ‘Inclusive social order’, in the context of modern civil society, is not just a haphazard conglomeration of people, but a just and organised society, which is constituted of people of different persuasions, belonging to different religions, races, castes, sexes, ethnic groups or cultural traditions. The constitutional notion of such a society may be broadly located in the Fundamental Right to ‘equality and nondiscrimination’ under Article 15 read with Article 14 of the Constitution, which stipulates that in our Indian polity, all citizens are free to organise themselves in any manner they like, and the “State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.” For the exposition of ‘peaceful, participatory, progressive, and sustainable development of the society at large,’ see author’s article, “Legality, Legitimacy, and Sustainability: Realising their inherent integrity in the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic lessons – A Juridical Critique,” Sambhashan, Volume 3: Issue 1 (2022) [published by Mumbai University, Mumbai, in their accredited journal]. Article 1(1) of the Constitution.