46)The Republic of Inhospitality
India Republic Day -- While India celebrates Republic Time and the chests of millions of Indians swell with delight at the thought of our huge diversity and imagined army prowess it is well to be able to reflect on what kind of Republic the actual has become. A republican form of government is not merely one out of which the head of state is not a hereditary monarch; rather the modern republic puts on the idea that sovereignty resides inside people and that the will of the testers as expressed through their particular representatives is supreme. What has however been critical to the idea of the republic everywhere is the notion involving inclusiveness. In this respect the tales that have been coming out of India in recent times tell a tale that is relaxing to the bones a tale which usually leaves behind a stench which no amount of sloganeering about Swachh Bharat or even something more than a symbolic wielding with the broom can eradicate. In the event inclusiveness is the touchst