it was particularly important that the people of such States were once again able to assert their democratic rights and that they did so, in certain instances, despite the threats and use of violence b*i those who were hostile to the Constitution of India and the democratic processes of the country. 2.5 The elections also rev~aled,more graphically than ever before, that the nation is engaged in a social and p~liticaltransformation of extraordinary scale and depth, propelled by the logic of adu.t franchise. In consequence, the country is witnessing the empowerment of social and economic groups that had long been denied the adequate exercise of power, o- the fruits of it. For all of the 'sturm und drang'associated with such a process the view1 of some that the process is too slow and of others lhat it is too fast - there can be no doubt that the ballot is leading to a far-reaching democratization of our polity and that a sea-change has occurred since 1947. in a very real sense, through this process, the nation is continuing to redeem the pledge that it made to itself, in the years of the National Movement of Independence. - From the human right^ point of view, the past half century has also illustrated the extraordinary capacity of the people of India and of their Constitution to accommodate the diversity of what is, perhaps, the most pluralistic country in the world. For all of the sporadic violence inter-communal and inter-caste - the militancy, terrorism and even secessionism that it has had to face, the country has proven adept at finding ways of accommodating the varied aspirations of its diverse people within the framework of its resilient Cons:itution. A new federalism is ineluctably emerging, more genuinely respectful of diversity and of regional and sub-regional sensibilities and n e ~ d s . This, too, augers well for those who are concerned with the proper expression of the economic, social and cultural rights of all of the people of this country. 2.6 - 2.7 Yet even while exulting i n the corrective, indeed redeeming power of democracy in India, this Commission must draw attention, as Section 12(e) of the 1993 Protection of Human Rights Act requires, to certain factors that, in its view, "inhibit the enjoyment of human rights" in this country. What are these factors? Many relate to questions of good governance: the maintenance, in good health, of the principal institutions of our Constitution; the integrity of those who have been privileged to lead the country in politics, in public service, in business and industry, in the press; the nature of the economic and social policies we have adopted and the degree to which they have ensured equity and justice in our country; the manner in which we have sought to accommodate diversity and ye: deal with threats to the integrity of our nation; the ways in which we have endeavoured to deal with ancient societal wrongs that have, for