Philosophy Bites Tarun Khaitan on Decolonising Institutions
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Feb 26, 2026 A discussion of claims that constitutions carry a 'colonised imagination' and where that argument is used in India and South Africa. Examination of the Indian constitution’s origins amid partition and debates over universality, secularism, civil liberties and separation of powers. Questions about privileging indigenous traditions and whether framers exercised genuine agency under power constraints.
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Decolonising Claims Rest On Colonised Imagination
- Decolonising arguments claim constitutions are colonial because framers had a colonised imagination.
- Tarun Khaitan explains India’s constitution was drafted by Indians via a constituent assembly aiming for consensus after Partition violence.
Constitution Made To Hold A Fractured India Together
- India's constitution is a political compromise forged to keep a violent, newly partitioned country together.
- Khaitan highlights consensus-driven drafting by leaders like Nehru, Patel and Ambedkar amid post-Partition bloodshed and mass displacement.
Targets Of Decolonial Critique In India
- Decolonial critics in India target civil liberties, separation of powers, secularism and rule of law as non-indigenous.
- Khaitan notes these are framed as European borrowings to be rejected in favour of so-called indigeneity.