It has become common for people to ask, “Where is inequality?” While a visible section of the society seems to believe that we have miraculously become an equal society, one keeps wondering whether talking about the quest for equality is a thing of the past. Senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal in Who is Equal? has tried to refocus on the diverse realities that exist in our country with intersections of different identities and what the constitution promises the citizens of India.
Saurabh starts by clearing certain basics for the reader by posing questions like the importance of equality and what exactly do we want to be equal to? Subsequently, in the following chapters, the author goes onto the different dimensions of equality and how it manifests in different fields like education, employment, business, marriage, etc. He goes on to mention how the process of attaining equality needs to carry the contextual realities of the society. Mentioning the famous case from Madras where caste-based reservations existed before the independence of India but were struck down soon after the promulgation of the Constitution by the High Court of Madras and then affirmed by the Supreme Court, terming reservations as unconstitutional. But soon Prime Minister Nehru had to intervene and introduce the first amendment to the constitution and undo the judgement of the Supreme Court. He goes on to state that equality of law shouldn’t cement inequalities existing in the society. Subsequently, the author also underlines the imperative significance of equality in our personal lives. Under the paradigm of marriage, he raises marital rape as an important issue which still has not been identified as a crime in our country.
The preamble of the Indian constitution has four indispensable values that present themselves as a guiding force for our nation: justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. Saurabh Kirpal in this book has explored the relevance of equality in a rapidly changing society and has tried to put it in the context of the colonial past as well as the constitutional and judicial journey that India embarked upon after 1947. He goes on to portray how the quest for equality remains a relevant revolution waiting to happen by focusing on the different aspects of our lives and how it affects us. In the age of social media it has become quite common for the privileged to cry foul and claim oppression while the oppressed demand equality, something that was promised to them when we got independence. This book can definitely act as a mirror for our society to introspect.