Mysuru: Regretting that Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s vision of ‘we are Indians and the country comes first’ is being forgotten, former University of Mysore (UoM) Political Science faculty Prof. H.M. Rajashekar expressed concern over rising casteism and communalism among the youth.

He was delivering a special talk on the topic ‘Aspirations of Indian Constitution’ as part of the ongoing lecture series on ‘Indian Constitution,’ organised by Parampare, a city-based cultural organisation, at Sri Nadabrahma Sangeetha Sabha on JLB Road in city yesterday.

Pointing out that the Constitution of many democratic countries such as America, France and India are not based on any caste or religion, Prof. Rajashekar opined that our Constitution covers all religions of the country and it was important that we follow the Constitution in our administration.

Bemoaning that our administration has gone wayward from the principles underlined in the Constitution, he blamed the politicians of throwing the ideals of the Constitution to the winds and propagating caste-based politics.

Recalling that the State has witnessed great leaders like S. Nijalingappa and Kengal Hanumanthaiah, he stressed on the need for studying the achievements of great leaders and draw inspiration from them.

He further said that populist schemes will have only a temporary bearing and cannot meet the Constitutional aspirations.