Indian Constitution, a result of herculean efforts and thoughtful conflicts

The Indian Constitution, which completes 70 years today, was the result of three years of continuous efforts and visionaries' thoughtful conflicts. A lot of other democratic countries have had to struggle for years before they could embrace democracy and provide their citizens with the kind of rights that our Constitution had provided to its citizens at one stretch, writes N Rahul Kumar.

Hyderabad: November 26 has a unique historical significance as it was on this day in 1949 that the Constitution was adopted, and later came into force on January 26, 1950. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution.

However, the more we delve into the heart and soul of our Constitution; the more we realise that it is a legendary and historical manuscript. Numerous socio-economic aspirations and hopes formed the building blocks behind the drafting of the Constitution. No other constitution has had the privilege of being able to implement a democratic soul to a country, in a single stance, through providing all the rights in one Constitution, like that of India.

Constitutional rights are drafted irrespective of caste, creed, religion, sex, class, economic status and other social evils. Indian democratic existence has its roots in thoughtful resolutions that include multi-party democracy, independent judiciary, electoral union, clear separation of powers between central and state governments, special protections for minorities, reservation for tribes and oppressed communities, secularism that doesn’t back any specific religion and many such others.

An Unusual Victory

Lot of other democratic countries have had to struggle for years before they could embrace democracy and provide their citizens with the kind of rights that our Constitution had provided to its citizens at one stretch. There have been various instances where the social evil of religion and caste have tried to raise their ugly head to disrupt the peace and harmony this country takes pride in. Irrespective of the same, our visionary leaders have had in them, the strength and patience to collectively work upon and derive at a people-friendly Constitution. The exemplary 11 volumes of the Constitution are testament to the emotional conflict our intellectual leaders have gone through to draft each of the chapters.

Unity of Diverse Perspectives

The first Constitutional Convention was held on December 09, 1946. About 82% of the constituents of the Constitution were members of the Congress. All their thoughts and attitudes were not in a line. It was not easy to co-ordinate all of them to create the World's largest written constitution.

If the whole exercise was only limited to the Congressmen present, our Constitution would have been written under various political limitations. But the Congress did not see the Constitution as a party or an internal affair. It had provided a niche for the right candidates of the other parties, thereby seeking their opinions righteously. The appointment of Dr BR Ambedkar as the Chairman of the Constitutional Framework Committee is itself, an example of this.

Read: Constitutional Amendments that changed the course of the country

Efforts of the great leaders

Dr. Ambedkar handled the given responsibilities with unparalleled talent. Though there had been upto 300 people in the Committee, only 20 of them played a key role. On behalf of the Congress, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Babu Rajendra Prasad played a prominent role. The role of KM Munshi and Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer was also significant. The unique role of BN Rao who served as the legal advisor to the Constitution Parishad, and SN Mukherjee in the role of the Chief Draftsman are equally laudable.

Integration given prominence

Most of the provisions of the Government of India Act of 1935, which were created by the British rulers, were incorporated into the Constitution of India. Much has been drawn from the experiences of modern democracies. This led to criticism that traces of ‘Bharateeyata’ were being removed from the Constitution. Though some of the members advocated Gandhiji's suggestion of decentralising governance at the village level, this was not supported by some others. Ultimately, the view that modern constitutions are based on the rights of the individual and not at the beck and call of the Panchayats or other organisations, had succeeded in influencing the constituent makers.

There has been much debate about central-state relations. There has also been criticism for providing the Centre with more power over tax revenues. The central government as a system of protecting racial integration, while agreeing to a federal system that gives states a special status with certain powers, has been a major concern. And Ambedkar argued for strong central governance.

Support of Reservations

Patel had made sure that the proposal by some on having separate constituencies for Muslims, was rejected in the Constitutional convention. Patel said it was clear that those who wanted to do so had no place in India except in Pakistan and that special constituencies would prevent Muslims from fully embarking on merging into the nation as one. The demand for women's reservation was also curtailed. It was first agreed in the Convention that reservation in education, employment and politics should be reserved only for those who had been suffering and outcasts for generations, and those who had been left untouched. Jaipalsinghe, who captained the Indian hockey team at the 1928 Olympics and was instrumental in winning the gold medal, brought forward the tribal plight to the members of the country. It led to uneventful discussion that resulted in taking a decision in favour of providing reservation for the tribesmen.

Invitation to People-Voice

There is yet another factor that makes our Constitution truly special. People’s opinion was invited at a large scale. A huge number of representations were received, which were studied through. Various issues like food shortage, communal clashes, tens of thousands of refugees, the stubbornness of indigenous colonies, and confrontations in Kashmir had been disintegrating the country’s democracy; however, the drafting of the Constitution had to be taken up with compassion.

Read: Even after 7 decades, Constitution still relevant today: Prakash Ambedkar

Post-implementation

Even after the Constitution came into force, the journey was not smooth. The land reforms and the Hindu Code Bill were then objected to by the President himself. President Rajendra Prasad had questioned as to why he should be committed to ministerial advice. Controversy had subsided with constitutional experts saying it was mandatory. Disagreement amongst the members arose with regards to limiting fundamental rights to social and economic justice. In some cases, even in the courts, there was no positive response. Several Constitutional amendments had to be made to avoid court rulings.

The 42nd Amendment was introduced to dilute the various Constitutional provisions during the Emergency. The situation came to a head when the subsequent Janata government introduced a constitutional amendment to prevent those changes.

Protection with Court-Rulings

The ruling of many Supreme Court Judges, under the pretext of judicial activism, came with a number of protections for the Constitution and many comments that are favourable to the citizens of the country. The definition of the constitutional infrastructure in the Keshavananda Bharati case has contributed greatly to the concept of the executives of any organization being accountable. In the 1990s, secularism, as a value, endured many ups and downs, in spite of which it withstood strong.

The great constitution of India was passed on November 26, 1949, exactly 70 years ago. The leader of such a great and successful journey of the constitution is the common man himself. In India, multi-party political democracy flourishes and elections are held regularly, since it is the vote of the common man that decides the future of a democracy.

Read: Remembering Rajendra Prasad's contribution to India's Constitution