The ends you serve that are selfish will take you no further than yourself but the ends you serve that are for all, in common, will take you into eternity.
Marcus Garvey
In recent years, the term ‘social justice‘ has ended up fair as noticeable as ‘human rights.’ To be very precise, what is social justice really? The answer would be, Social justice is a political and philosophical hypothesis that attests that there are dimensions to the concept of justice past those encapsulated within the standards of civil or criminal law, economic supply, and demand, or traditional ethical systems. Social justice tends to focus more on just relations between groups within society in contradiction to the justice of individual conduct or justice for people.
Social justice thought and action weaves itself all through world history, working as a counterpoint to human kind’s unfortunate penchants for greed, control, and physical and financial viciousness. The fundament of this thought and activity has come out of philosophy, religion and politics. It, moreover, has started naturally as a response to exploitation and abuse. In some cases, it could be a combination of two or more of these components. It never isolates, however, from the setting of history, social, and human social relations.
Importance
- It guarantees that everybody gets the essentials for a great life.
- It guarantees everybody gets adequate healthcare.
- It defends people from racism.
- Promotes economic equality.
- Improves educational opportunities.
- Helps fight discrimination of all kinds.
Social Justice In Indian Democracy
Modern democracy is inconceivable without the judiciary. This organ isn’t only the guardian of the structure but moreover, defender of fundamental rights of the citizens. Bryce observed; ‘There is no better test of the excellence of a government than the efficiency of its judicial system, for nothing more nearly touches the welfare and security of the average citizen than his knowledge that he can rely on the certain and prompt administration of justice.‘
According to Granville Austin, the Indian Constitution is first and foremost a social document. Its establishing fathers and mothers set up in the structure both the nation’s beliefs and the institutions and processes for accomplishing them. The beliefs were national solidarity and integrity and democratic and impartial society. The modern society was to be accomplished through a socio-economic transformation pursued with a democratic spirit utilizing the constitutional, democratic institutions. In this way solidarity, social insurgency, and vote based system, were objectives, which were commonly dependent and had to be sought together and not independently.
The above perception aptly portrays the Indian State, as contemplated by the makers of the Constitution. In truth, the Preamble to the Constitution, which is based on the objective resolution of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, declares that ‘We, the people’ of India, through this Constitution, aim at establishing a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic of India and to secure to all its citizens, justice-social, economic and political.’ Under the Indian Constitution, the use of social justice is acknowledged in a more extensive sense which incorporates social as well as economic justice.
Social justice is an indispensable part of society. Social injustice cannot be endured for a long period and can damage society through revolts. Subsequently, the deprived class ought to be made capable of living with dignity. The caste system is against the roots of democracy in India. It is true that India has been an unequal society for a very long time. There are gigantic disparities in our society that are posturing genuine challenges to Indian democracy.
According to Chief Justice Gajendragadkar, ‘In this sense, social justice holds the aims of equal opportunity to every citizen in the matter of social and economic activities and to prevent inequalities.‘ The Constitution of India does not totally devote to any conventional philosophy, and it is embedded in the progressive concept of social justice and the different rules of justice such as equality, transaction, necessity, alternatives, etc. are its helping organs. In reality, the devotion of the constitution is in such a sort of social justice which can fulfil the expectations of the welfare state concurring to Indian conditions. Keeping in view the value of equality, our Constitution boldly mentions that the state shall not deny to any individual equality before the law or the protection of the laws within the territory of India (Article 14 of the Indian Constitution).
The first principle of equalitarian justice is propounded /inferred by Aristotle that’s similar behaviour in an equal matter. If there’s a disparity, there will be an injustice. On the issue of ‘Equality,’ the Supreme Court of India delivered a few judgments characterizing the concept itself and in the context recently in the case of E.P. Royappa vs. State of Tamil Nadu (Discuss, 1974). Justice P.N. Bhagwati has held that equality could be a mobile concept that has numerous forms and perspectives. It cannot be fixed in a conventional and principled circle. Equality with similar behaviour disallows arbitrariness in action.
Threats to Social Justice in the Present Scenario
Those who think and reflect and those who dream of building a much better society are concerned over the dangers to the concept of social justice that has been lingering over the last few years in India. Nowadays, the politics of social justice has come to mean electoral triumphs of a couple of individuals hailing from deprived communities. At the systemic level, it has been restricted to reservations in government employment and in government-run institutions of higher learning that, more often than not, give low-quality education. At most, a few people demand that reservations ought to be extended to the private sector. This can be considered the be-all and end-all of the fight for social equity. Social justice coming to mean securing degrees or employment to some is in itself an enormous risk to the concept.
The ultimate dream of social justice is building a society free from all sorts of discrimination. In this sense, it is an expansion of the thoughts of Buddha, Christ, Kabir and Marx. Those battling for social justice are, without a doubt, mindful of the narrowing of the meaning of the concept. But the dominant segment of Indian society also needs the fight to be restricted to these issues and to be waged between distinctive groups – all beneath their thumb. The number of Indians in the list of the world’s wealthiest individuals is developing. Such records have been hitting the news for a long time now.
Forget those multibillionaires, not a single OBC, Dalit, Tribal, or Pasmanda Muslim figures are in the list of India’s wealthiest individuals. At this point, you may be reminded of the industrialists related to Dalit Chamber of Commerce (DICCI). The victory accomplished by these industrialists while fighting the odds, merits appreciation but they stand nowhere compared with wealthy Indian industrialists. They are overshadowed – like a camel standing at the foot of a mountain.
Conclusion
Still, there remains a lot to be achieved mainly at the grass-root level. That is where the real problem lies. The solution to social injustice lies inside us only. We ought to be mindful of the methods that are being used for providing social justice to the masses and are being used to weaken standards, to ridicule norms, and to put institutions to work. In spite of the well-intentioned commitment of guaranteeing social justice through equalization or protective discrimination policy, the legislative endeavours have caused some tension within the society.
In the name of social justice, even such exercises are performed which have nothing to do with social justice. The need of the hour is to guarantee proper and balanced usage of policies so as to create social justice a viable vehicle of social advance. Whereas liberalism puts flexibility first, it is cognizant of the reality that such freedom is hollow unless it is accompanied by a sense of security and equality.
Editor’s note
Social justice is above the encapsulated standard norms of justice. Social justice is above the set of constitutional norms. However, the constitution-makers have tried their best while framing this legal document to keep in mind and put forth the articles according to persisting inequality and need for justice, some problems remain unsolved and untouched. While the administration kept working towards eradicating the widening horizons of social problems and more legislations came into force, more areas and horizons started opening which made the problem persist longer.
Whether it is about how the reservation system made some people not get what they deserve or how minorities in the name of religion and justice kept harassing other communities including the government or how rules and new starts for one always end up hurting others. There is no definite end to what is actually good for the whole nation. Keeping in mind these social problems, the author here capsules her view through this article to present to you what actually are the social problems and what more can be done to imply social justice. The author here also represents the importance of social justice and how it is the need of the hour to actually sit and talk about justice in its complete sense.