Magna Carta, the Mahatma and India today -Governance Now

Magna Carta, the Mahatma and India today

The 800-year old charter is the cornerstone of civil liberty in India

Rahul Dass | June 15, 2017 | Delhi

#Indian Constitution #freedom #civil liberty #Mohandas Gandhi #Mahatma Gandhi #Magna Carta #King John of England

One of the four surviving copies of the 1215 Magna Carta

The Magna Carta, written on this day of June 15 over 800 years back in iron gall ink on parchment in medieval Latin, can be described as the cornerstone of individual liberty in India. It was relevant then and continues to be relevant today.

The medieval age document is singularly responsible for many countries to enjoy freedom today. This is particularly true for India, which imbibed the spirit of the document when the constitution was being penned.

“No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.

“To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice,” said the Magna Carta that was signed in 1215 between King John of England and rebel barons.

Article 21 of the Indian Constitution is quite clear -- “no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure laid by law”.

Mahatma Gandhi, who fought for racial equality in South Africa, too referred to the Magna Carta on the eve of his departure to India.

In his “A farewell letter” in the Indian Opinion, a weekly that published in Gujarati and English, Gandhi explained about the “settlement” and what it means.

“In my humble opinion it is the Magna Carta of our liberty in this land. I give it the historic name, not because it gives us rights which we have never enjoyed and which are in themselves new or striking, but because it has come to us after eight years strenuous suffering that has involved the loss of material possession and of precious lives,” said Gandhi in the letter that was published on July 29, 1914.

Magna Carta is all about equality, freedoms and rule of law. Individual liberty, which is exceedingly precious in a democracy, is safeguarded through it.

The kind of freedom we enjoy today would not have been possible without democracy evolving over the decades. There were democracies before the Magna Carta, but this singular document has spawned a generation of men and women who have ceaselessly fought for civil liberty.

India stands out as a fine model of democracy, all thanks to the Magna Carta whose letter and spirit we have imbibed.

Comments

Other News

₹5,000 crore saved from suspected financial fraud

In a significant gain for citizen protection in the digital economy, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has helped prevent suspected cyber fraud losses of more than ₹5,000 crore through its Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) within fifteen months of its launch on May 22, 2025. This money did

Capital acquisition proposals worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore for defence forces cleared

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), under the chairmanship of Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh, on Monday accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), that is, in-principle administrative approval to various acquisition proposals of the defence forces at an estimated cost of about Rs 1,10,000 crore.

How Rafi, Raj Kapoor helped pave the way for a great uranium deal

There`s a certain moment in diplomacy that`s too personal to be captured in a communiqué, too small to make the front page, but more revealing than the front page. This week, prime minister Narendra Modi reached Tashkent and, amid the pomp of state visits, managed to evoke the old Bollywood tunes

Distinguishing Fish 1 and Fish 2: The pragmatism behind India’s WTO ratification

India became the 123rd WTO member to ratify the multilateral Agreement on Fisheries subsidies (AoFS) when it deposited the Instrument of Acceptance for Phase 1 on July 20, 2026. The ratification is restricted to disciplining Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU), protection for overfished

The 7% growth problem: Why the next 7% will be harder

India has become accustomed to hearing the 7% growth number. It is now less a milestone than an expectation. Yet the paradox is becoming clearer: maintaining 7% growth may be considerably harder than achieving it once. India’s real GDP grew 7.7% in FY2025–26, following growth of 6.5% in FY202

The Constitution cannot be altered: Justice Abhay Oka

Justice Abhay Oka, who retired from the Supreme Court in May 2025, has said that the Constitution of India cannot be altered. Explaining the landmark Kesavananda Bharati judgment (1973) on the basic structure of the Constitution, he said, “This is one judgment that has saved democracy in India.&rdq