Indian roots of governance

Remember colonialism from Grade 8: European powers ruled many societies in Asia, Africa and the Americas and forced their own systems of government on them. Before that, these societies had governed themselves in their own local ways. Even after most colonies became free by the end of the 20th century, many colonial institutions stayed on.

India too inherited colonial institutions, but it stands out in two ways:

• India kept much of its knowledge of its own older institutions and ways of governing, through its texts and practices.
• After Independence in 1947, not every colonial institution could be changed at once, so India's leaders wrote a Constitution grounded in India's own values and ideals.

Since then, Indian institutions have adapted traditional ideas to the needs of a modern democracy. Look at the mottos:

• A British order used the motto Heaven's Light, Our Guide. Free India chose Satyamev Jayate, meaning 'Truth alone triumphs', from the Mundaka Upanishad, as its national motto.
• The Supreme Court's motto is Yato Dharmastato Jayah, from the Mahabharata: victory comes where dharma (righteous duty) is.

These are not just decorations. They state the values our institutions are meant to live by.

The Sengol is a symbol of just rule. The Chola dynasty began the tradition, more than a thousand years ago. At midnight on 15th August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister, received a Sengol from the Adheenam saints of Tamil Nadu, and in 2023 it was placed in India's new Parliament building.

Ideas of good rule in Indian tradition:

• Mahatma Gandhi pictured ideal governance as Ram Rajya: honesty, openness, compassion, welfare and putting people first, as in the Ramayana and Tulsidas's sixteenth-century Ramcharitmanas.
• Rajadharma, the first duty of a ruler, was to keep dharma and so protect the people, and to work for their welfare. Rule was seen as a sacred responsibility, not just power.
• Kautilya's Arthashastra says that the ruler's happiness lies in the happiness of the people, and the ruler's good in the people's good.
• The Rigveda mentions the Sabha and Samiti, assemblies where people talked over governance and the public good.

So good governance was measured not by how strong a ruler was, but by how far the people lived in peace and prosperity, with justice and well-being.