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History of Ind Const
History of Ind Const
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a
SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
and
to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual
and the unity of the Nation.
This is the preamble of India's Constitution approved by the Constituent Assembly in
November 26 1949 and came into effect as supreme law of the Nation on January 26
1950.
How this revolutionary and historical document came into being? Is it the legacy of our
former rulers,the British?Is it a brain child of few wise men who shut themselves from
the World to write a set of laws for the country?
Let us try to look back to understand how the Indian Constitution came into being.
The process of evolution of Constitution began much earlier than 1947.Its origin is
closely related to India's struggle for Independence from British rule.
Way back in 1895 the leaders of India's freedom struggle
[AnnieBesant and Lokmanya Tilak]had put forward a document called Constitution of
India Bill [also known as Home Rule Bill] which envisaged freedom of expression and
equality before law. In February 1924 Motilal Nehru introduced and passed a resolution
outlining the procedure for drafting and adopting a Constitution for India in the Central
Legislative Assembly.
In 1927 Lord Birkenhead,the Secretary of State challenged Indian leaders 'to produce a
Constitution which carries behind it a fair measure of general agreement among
different sections'.
The Indian National Congress accepted the challenge and convened an All Parties
Conference in 1928 which appointed a committee under the chairmanship
of Motilal Nehru 'to determine the principles of Constitution for India'.
The Nehru Report submitted on 10th August 1928 was in effect an outline of a draft
Constitution of India. It envisaged equal rights to men and women regardless of
caste.class,religion or region,free elementary education,freedom of expression to all
etc.The secular character of the State was listed as a fundamental right.
The British agreed to it only in 1945 after the end of second world war. As an election
based on universal adult franchise will require lot of preparations and will take lot of
time,[as till then such elections had never been held] Congress had to agree to the
Cabinet Mission's scheme of the elected provincial assembly members electing the
members of Constituent Assembly.
Congress won a huge majority of seats in the Constituent assembly. The Congress
working committee made great effort to see the members form Scheduled Caste and
Tribes,Women,Christians.Parsis and Anglo-Indians were among the Congress
candidates.There was also an effort to bring in the best available talent what ever be the
political affiliations.Thus 30 members who were elected on Congress ticket were not its
members.
The Muslim League continued to oppose the Constituent Assembly raising the demand
for a separate State.Even though it won a big majority of Muslim seats. it never took part
in the deliberations of the Assembly.
The first session of the Constituent Assembly was held on December 9, 1946 and was
attended by 207 members.Dr.Rajendra Prasad was elected as Chairman. The Assembly
formed different sub committees dealing with different aspects of the Constitution.The
most important Drafting Committee was under the Chairmanship of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar.
After long and painstaking deliberations and several modifications lasting for 166 days
in a period of about 3 years the Constituent Assembly approved the draft Constitution
on November 26 1949. The longest written Constitution of the World became law on
January 26 1950.
Indian Constitution have several unique features.It also have borrowed freely from
many other Constitutions including that of USA, Ireland and Australia and also from the
time tested conventions of British Parliament and the Govt of India act of 1935 enacted
by the British.
Indian Constitutions lays down a set of rules to which the ordinary laws of the country
must conform.It provides a framework for a democratic and Parliamentary from of
Government.
Directive Principles are directives to the State to introduce reforms to make those
rights effective.
Let me try to explain various provisions of Indian Constitution in the words of Dr
B.R.Ambedkar the principle architect as he addressed the Constituent Assembly.
Answering the question why the draft constitution do not reflect the ancient
polity of India he said
"It is said that the new Constitution should have been drafted on the ancient Hindu
model of a State and that instead of incorporating Western theories the new
Constitution should have been raised and built upon village Panchayats and
DistrictPanchayats. There are others who have taken a more extreme view. They do
not want any Central or Provincial Governments. They just want India to contain so
many village Governments.
"I hold that these village republics have been the ruination of India. I am therefore
surprised that those who condemn Provincialism and communalism should come
forward as champions of the village.What is the village but a sink oflocalism, a den of
ignorance, narrow-mindedness andcommunalism? I am glad that the Draft
Constitution has discarded the village and adopted the individual as its unit."
When criticised about the safeguards for minorities he replied
"To diehards who have developed a kind of fanaticism against minority protection I
would like to say two things. One is that minorities are an explosive force which, if it
erupts, can blow up the whole fabric of the State. The history of Europe bears ample
and appalling testimony to this fact. The other is that the minorities in India have
agreed to place their existence in the hands of the majority.They have loyally accepted
the rule of the majority which is basically a communal majority and not a political
majority.It is for the majority to realize its duty not to discriminate against minorities.
Whether the minorities will continue or will vanish must depend upon this habit of the
majority. The moment the majority loses the habit of discriminating against the
minority, the minorities can have no ground to exist. They will vanish."
'It is said that the provisions contained in the Draft make amendment difficult. It is
proposed that the Constitution should be amendable by a simple majority at least for
some years. I must repudiate the charge because it is without foundation. To know
how simple are the provisions of the Draft Constitution in respect of amending the
Constitution one has only to study the provisions for amendment contained in the
American and Australian Constitutions. Compared to them those contained in the
Draft Constitution will be found to be the simplest.The Draft Constitution has
eliminated the elaborate and difficult procedures such as a decision by a convention or
a referendum. The Powers of amendment are left with the Legislature Central and
Provincial. It is only for amendments of specific matters - and they are only few - that
the ratification of the State legislatures is required. All other Articles of the
Constitution are left to be amended by Parliament. The only limitation is that it shall
be done by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of each House
present and voting and a majority of the total membership of each House. It is difficult
to conceive a simpler method of amending the Constitution. "
"The debates in the Assemblies give me courage to say that the Constitution as settled
by the Drafting Committee is good enough to give this country a start with. I feel that
it is workable, it is flexible and it is strong enough to hold the country together both in
peace time and in war time. Indeed, if I may say so, if things go wrong under the new
Constitution,the reason will not be that we had a bad Constitution. What we will have
to say is, that Man was vile. Sir, I move".
The Indian Constitution represent the basic principles of the Freedom movement,
arguably the largest mass movement in World History.It has all its strengths and
Dr Ambedkar and his team tried their best to rectify its weaknesses [like predominantly
upper class, urban ,and basically hindu].
When we look back after 60 years we have to agree with its architect that it gave our
country a good start and was strong enough to keep it together in war and peace. It is
important to realise that at a time when most other institutions of Governance
have suffered grave loss of legitimacy, the Constitution have continued to command
respect. Its unambiguous commitment to a democratic,secular,equitable civil libertarian
society will be the anchor of support on which India can confidently face the coming
turbulent times.