\TRODUCTION « The Indian Constitution came + Among its major characterisi into effect on 2 tics, document, and the longest in the w + The Constitution was careful} 6" January, 1950, the Constitution is ‘orld, ly designed to Keep a divided country like India together complex, elaborate, drafted and take it forward, + It was framed between December 1946 and November |949, + During the time of its framing, its drafts were discussed clause by clause over 11 sessions in the Constituent Assembly of India, ATUMULTUOUS TIME + The years before the making of the Constitution were tumultuous. « India gained independence on 15% August, 1947: However, on the eve of ts independence * The tumultuous years vo important events like: Nae es efforts to win freedom through foreign aid Revolting of the Royal Indian ey ae or 1946 {eon he ae i pn cies Ken ig scatterer tae as the manifestation of Hindu the late 1940s «a all the popular upsurges was the manifestation of Hin * A striking commonality in al ! India was a divided country. | | Mustim unity. : © Congress and Musli ‘ligious reconciliation an riot continuous hen massa . jtnessed continuous Por a then ma ea 1946 vite ino violent OG, Tht These riots eulmit c ant side, ic, partition The Great Caleutta Killings tee a * The gait F independence gaining of indep had failed to arrive ata settlement that would ensure e hat im League \d social harmony: ng aoross the northern and eastern parts ofdus and Sikhs in Pakistan to. choose between sudden death or choosing a side (i.c., India or Pakistan), and complete Separation from their age-old roots. * The partition witnessed large numbers of people moving from one side to the other, ie Muslims moving into east and ‘west Pakistan, while Hindus and Sikhs moving into oe Bengal and eastem Punjab. The event of partition witnessed the loss of thousands of lives, © On the eve of its independence, India faced another problem, i.e., the princely states. During the British Raj, 1/3* of the subcontinent was under the control of Nawabs and Rajas, owing their allegiance to the British Crown. After independence, the status of these States remained ambiguous. They were left free to rule their territory as per their whims, © The members of the Constituent Assembly were not elected by universal franchise. They were chosen by the elected members of the Provincial legislatures. * The Assembly had a total of 300 members. * The Constituent Assembly had one dominant party, ie., the Congress. 82 percent of the members of the Assembly belonged to the Congress. ¢ TheAssembly comprised of'six importantmembers, of which, three represented the Congress, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Rajendra Prasad were from Congress, and the other three were BR Ambedkar, KM Munshi and Alladi Krishnaswamy Aiyar. * Most of the general seats were taken up by the Congress, while the Muslim League took up most of the reserved seats. + The Socialists and the Muslim League were reluctant to join the Assembly initially, * The Congress party comprised of a diverse membership. Its members came from various walks of life and represented various spheres and groups. The members of the Congress had various opinions about social issues. While some were inspired by Socialism, others talked in favour of landlordism. Some members were close to communal parties while others were secular. Discussions in the Constituent Assembly were based on public opinions. The nature of the consensus was shaped by criticisms and counter-criticisms in the press. + Asense of collective participation was created by asking the public to send in their views of what needs to be done. This gave an opportunity for: © many linguistic minority groups to demand the protection of their mother tongue. © the dalits to demand reservation of seats in government bodies and an end to caste oppression. © Such sessions of the Constituent Assembly witnessed discussions on important issues like cultural rights and social justice. Nehru put forth a resolution, proposing that the national flag be a horizontal tricolour of. saffron, white and green in equal proportions with a navy-blue wheel at the centre. + Rajendra Prasad acted as the President of the Assembly while Sardar Patel usually worked in the background, drafting several reports and reconciling opposing points of view.« BR Ambedkit way angina ing the Constitution 303 the : we " (Mportant Memb, 84 Membe, ANC Members w, ) Pratl Constitution wa + The discussions in the A, st Who served + The six import Of the Assembly, He was a lawyer and ‘hg Committee of the Constitution. ; CIVil Servants, BN Rau and SN Mukherjee, ough the Assembly by Ambedkar " Fin the Diag CFO Assisted by i Ruided throug qe sembly The including config Over the © ung flicting idem ae the Constitution reflected diverse points of view, creaky whal Seonomio and peta fo" Meese Wis langue noone values that should be ; THE VISION OF THE CONSTITUTION « The Objectives Resotuti Solution wi ei December (ua Was introduced in the Assembly by Nehru on 13% + The resolution defined the j 7 meee ined the ideals of the Constitution of Independent India, It provided the f k hin which the Constitution-making ‘was to work, « The Objective Ress i clai A ve SDiective Resolution proclaimed India as an Independent Sovereign Republic which equality and freedom. It assured that ‘adequate safeguards , backward and tribal areas, and depressed and other guaranteed its citizens justice, shall be provided for minor backward classes. ..°, « Nehru located the history of cons strug itution-making in India within a longer history of le for freedom and liberty, « ForNehru, although the event of constitution-making in India can be linked to revolutionary moments in the past, the case of the Indian Constitution was different, The events in the past did not provide a blueprint for the process of constitution-making in India * According to Nehru, © the form of democracy in India was to be decided through deliberations, © the provisions and ideals ofthe Indian Constitution cannot be derived from somewhere else. It was made evident with Nehru’s statement, “We ae not going just 10 copy: » the system of government in India was to be designed such that it would be apt for the rae Pee Coaitton was to fuse liberal ideas of democracy with Ee eee ee mie (ets ececy ie Ideas Yo the Indian situation. FT a AMO casersbi retiected the influences of fmaperial ule * The deliberations of the Corie erath Lahiri who saw the dark hand of imperialism, visionary in that path was Somnat Ete Constituent A\ ie é i ; onsti bly. Soon a a al ate interim government administration could operate only un * Soon, it was reali jtish Government in London. A “the Viceroy and the British ¢ ! en ’ hhediesiony te eat played a role in the creation of the interim government, it * Since, the British Gove! et i Assembly had to function. tions within which the tached certain Ce Constituent Assembly was expected to reflect the trictions, « «ated in the struggle for independence. jpated in that had partic the objective soc’ had * Despite all the res! aspirations of those304 Flying Colours History ey . A, as the 19% century, social struggles had be icy, equality and justice, Aeform of Hinduism had been advocated by Swami Vivekananda; according to whom, religions should become more just, * In Maharashtra, Jyotiba Phule pointed out to the sufferings of the depressed castes, * Communists and Socialists organised workers and peasants in the demand for economic and social justice, * Such struggles led to the increasing demand for representation in the government, which forced the British to introduce a number of constitutional reforms like the India Acts of 1909, 1919 and 1935. © These Acts increased the proportion of Indian participation in the provincial governments, © Under the India Act of 1919, the executive was made partly responsible to the provincial legislature. Under the Govemment of India Act of 1935, the executive became fully responsible to the provincial legislature * Under the Government of India Act of 1935, elections were held in 1937. The Congress came to power in eight out of eleven provinces. ¢ However, the developments of 1946 were different from the previous constitutional developments. cc The previous constitutional developments were not formulated and directly debated by Indians. They had been enacted by the British colonial government. co The legislatures elected under the Act of 1935 functioned within the framework of colonial rule. © The Constitution outlined in 1946 was meant for an independent, sovereign republic of India. DEFINING RIGHTS © On27" August 1947, B Pocker Bahadur made a powerful plea in favour of the continuation of separate electorates for the welfare of the minorities. * Based on India’s diverse populace, a need was felt for a political framework that would not only minimise the differences between communities but will also allow the minority communities to live in harmony with the rest. i # Such was possible only through adequate representation of the minorities in the political system that would allow their voices to be heard and their views to be taken into consideration. Separate electorates were seen by the Nationalists as an instrument of the colonial government to divide the people. ‘* The Nationalists were majorly opposed to the idea of separate electorates especially after witnessing the horrors of the Partition, Rather, according to them, the cause of the partition was the system of separate electorates, However, the demand for separate electorates was countered by Govind Ballabh Pant; according to whom, it was a suicidal demand that would harm not only the nation but also the minorities. It would isolate the minorities and make them more vulnerable.of a ee a ee age OO ee ‘tel Framing the Constitution 305 , sepa sbarate Clectorates were a no, \ll arguments Concerning righ © poison that had entered the body ri political unity 2 ig, ents were I 'Y and bui «te based tiizen of thee Ea & nation, every eee Concern that in order to maintain Other concemm daa ach group ha ee ‘dual had to be moulded into an equal The Consent “ining the rights of the City lated into the nation. ie stitution was to itizens were: ., Brant ri; es ‘ he State, Tights to the Citizens in return for their loyalty towards Communities were to y, f Members ofall contin eres x Cultural entities and assured cultural rights f. as ere 6: tae scope for divided loyalties, ie rn eee €qual members of one State so that there is no The problem of divided ion ue 'y towards the community over and above the State. they feared would impede the . 48.4 cause of grave concern for the nationalists which rocess of forgi However, the argument apainst s rging a strong nation and a strong State. as well. F i as V or example, Begum Aizaas Rasul believed that it would be self-destructive in nature and would isolate the mi inorities from the majority. By 1949, most Muslims were in agreement of the destructive nature of the system of separate electorates. Another point of view towards defining the rights was that of NC Ranga who believed that the term ‘minorities’ needs to be treated as an economic term. For him, the actual minorities in the State were the poor and downtrodden. According to Ranga, the legal rights being granted by the Constitution were meaningless for the poor until and unless conditions were created in which the constitutional rights could be enjoyed. And in order to be able to enjoy their right, the poor needed protection, Regarding rights, another turn to the debate was brought about by Jaipal Singh, who represented the tribals in the Assembly. He spoke for the need to protect the tribes and ensure conditions that would help the tribes to come up to the level of the general populace. Another concern in terms of defining the rights was the case of the depressed castes or the untouchables. that the problem of the untouchables ed castes argued that the pr ane Sone membess ai oe just protection and safeguards because the disabilities could not be resolved through rms and moral values of the society. oe f social nor h : allecting them were Pee depressed castes were considered to be results of social The causes of suffering of i insignificance. marginalisation and not their numerical insign! Hence, it was recommended that: © untouchability be abolished. eat © Hindu temples to be Haast offices t0 seats in legislatures and 80¥ constitutional lesis! However, it was believed 108) 12s the change o Social discrimination until 2% cociety itself: comes from within society 1. a be reserved for lower castes. Jations would not be enough to prevent fattitude towards social discrimination306 Flying Colours History THE POWERS OF THE STATE © The rights of the Central and State Governments was another topic of major debate in the Assembly. Nehru argued in favour of a strong Centre that would be able to ensure peace and integrity of the nation-state. + The Draft Constitution had three lists of subjects: Union, State and Concurrent. The Union subject were to be dealt with by the Central government, the subjects of the State list were to be dealt with by the state governments while in case of the subjects in the Concurrent list, both the Centre and State Government shared responsibilities. * Control over important industries and minerals was assigned to the central government, * The Constitution, through Article 356, also granted the Centre the power to take over conirol of the state administration upon the recommendation of the Governor. + In case of finances, a system of fiscal federalism was mandated. Under this system, © Incase of some taxes like the custom duties and Company taxes, all proceeds were to go the Centre, i © Incase of other taxes like excise duties and income tax, the proceeds were to be shared ween the Centre and the states. © Certain taxes like property tax, land tax, sales tax, etc., could be levied and collected by the states, * The rights of the states were defended by K Santhanam from Madras. He felt the need for a reallocation of power that would strengthen not only the centre but also the states. According to him, by assigning most of the powers to the centre would overburden the centre and prevent it from functioning effectively. Whereas, transferring some powers from the centre to the states would help the centre to function effectively and ultimately, make it stronger. * The states according to Santhanam would be crippled based on the proposed allocation of powers. The fiscal arrangement, he believed, would deprive the provinces of proper funds to carry out their duties. This led to arguments demanding greater power for the provinces at the Assembly, + The need for a strong centre was rigorously underlined, keeping in mind the memories of the riots, violence and communal frenzy that raged years before independence, + Individuals like Ambedkar, Nehru, Gopalaswami Ayyangar and Balakrishna Sharma favoured a strong centre which they believed was needed for: © proper planning for the well-being of the country, r © effective mobilisation of economic resources, © establish proper administration © defend the country against foreign aggression. violent across the country in theiif LANGUAGE OF THE nario aot iacaaiet 502 , The task of forging a g , language of a nation cane tion was faced wit ra rising people ! with another difficult task, i , The Cong lad narrowed do, People speaking a wide varie of li , Hindustani was a popular | eas ei Wn On the Hin . idustani language by the 1930: lend of Urd ae age amor ee ears i te ~ Hcl ng a large section of the Indian populace. It was a + Hind asalso alan; * Gandhi believed that ee ce developed through the interaction of diverse cultures. understand. According to him, 1; Peak in a language that every common person can easily between diverse cone oe Would act as an ideal language of communication North and South, ‘ould unify not only Hindus and Muslims but also the . From the end of the 19! cep WA, ', Lan; ae 7 z r politics of religious j doar hauee was becoming increasingly associated with the {ied rowing apart Hinde seeing of communal eons Hind and Und , increasi ; : Arabic words, while Urdu began to be ee SAREE Sse + In one of the Assembly session, Congressman RV Dhulekar had pleaded that Hindi be used for the purpose of constitution-making. « The language issue had led to a deadlock in the Assembly between those who wanted Hindi as the national language and those against it « Toresolve the deadlock, the Language Committee in the Assembly decided on acompromise, ie., Hindi in the Devanagari script will be the official language, but the transition to Hindi will be gradual. ‘cording to the Language Committee, « forthe first fifteen years after independence, English will be used for al official purposes. © each province will have to choose one of the regional languages in which all official work will be carried out. 5 ; + Arguments in the Assembly 100k a different turn when iShrimati G Durgabai from Madras expressed her concerns in favour of the non-Hindi speaking areas. According to her, ‘the fight in favour of Hindi as a national language appeared to have been aimed at preventing the influence of other powerful Indian languages on the composite culture of the nation.” * Through Durgabai, the Hous to Hindi. . As discussions went out of cont * Many believed in Hindustan ® accommodation, mutual adjustment Indian nation, But the status of Hin on the people. , deciding the ¢ was informed about the South’s strong opposition rol, a call was made alongthe lines of accommodation. the language of the people, based on the spirit of <, and respect for the diverse cultures constituting the di as a national language was seen as an imposition308 Fi ling Colours History CONCLUSION The Constitution of India was a product of intense debates and deliberations: Many of its provisions were decided upon by forging a middle ground between opposing points of view. However, on one central feature of the Constitution, there was ‘substantial agreement’, That feature was granting all adult citizens the right to vote. This was an unprecedented act in the history of democracies because, in other democracies like the UK and USA, the right to vote had been granted in various stages to different sections of the country’s populace, For example, the right to vote was granted to, at first, only men of property, followed by the men of education, then, the workers and peasants, and ultimately, the women. Another important feature of the Indian Constitution was its secularism. Under this feature The State had no official religion and treated all religions equally. Charitable institutions were also allowed to function. © The State was to maintain effective distance from religious communities. o Religious instructions in State-run educational institutions were banned. The feature of secularism implied that the State was not separated from religion, rather, a judicious distance between the two was to be maintained. This was the Indian variant of political secularism. Political secularism created the much-needed legal space for social reforms within the communities that allowed for the banning of untouchability and reforming personal and family laws. eeu aero 26" July In Britain, the Labour government comes to power. | December—January | General elections are held in India. 1946 | 16" May Cabinet Mission announces its constitutional scheme. 16” June | Cabinet Mission’s constitutional scheme is accepted by the Muslim League | 16" June Ascheme for the formation of an interim government at the Centre is presented by the Muslim League, 16” August Direct Action Day is announced by the Muslim League. 2™ September Interim government is formed by the Congress with Nehru as the Vice-President, 13% October The Muslim League decides to join the interim government 36" December | Clement Atlee meets some Indian leaders however, the talks fail. : 9 December The Constituent Assembly’s sessions begin.Framing the Constitution 309