India had to face many problems soon after independence. Rehabilitating the refugees who migrated from Pakistan, merger of the princely states, maintenance of law and order were the challenges after independence. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel successfully achieved the merger of princely states and provinces with the Union of India and the challenge of framing a Constitution in order to enable us to govern the country was also fulfilled. Now let us know about the structure of our Constitution, its characteristics, the Fundamental Rights, fundamental Duties and Directive principles of state policy mentioned there in.
Do you know this? Cabinet Committee:
Lord
Pethick Lawrence – Secretary of state for India.
Sir
Stafford Cripps – President of the Commerce Association.
A.V.
Alexander – Captain of the Navy.
The
Indian Constituent Assembly:
Constitution
is a set of rules and regulations guiding the administration of a State. The
recommendations of the Motilal Nehru Committee and the decisions taken by the
meeting of the National Congress at Karachi emphasized the need for the
formation of a Constituent Assembly. On the recommendation of the cabinet
mission plan the constituent assembly formed in July 1946. The first meeting of
the constituent assembly was held on 9th December, 1946.
The
next meeting on 11th December 1946 Dr. Dr. Rajendra Prasad selected as the
president of constituent assembly. Eminent persons like Jawaharlal Nehru,
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, B.N. Rau, C.N.Mukherjee, Maulana
Abul Kalam Azad, C.Rajagopalachari,K.M. Munshi, T.T.Krishnamachari, Smt.
Sarojini Naidu, Smt. Sucheta Kripalani attended the meeting. Prominent people
from Karnataka, S.Nijalingappa, K.C.Reddy, Kengal Hanumanthaiah, T.
Siddalingaiah and others were also present.
Drafting
Committee:
The
Constituent Assembly Dr.B.R.Ambedkar formed 22 committees and some sub committees
to examine in detail all the issues related to the country. Dr.B.R.Ambedkar was
the Chairman of one of the most important committees, i.e., the Drafting
Committee. Based on his contribution to the framing of the constitution, he is
called as the ‘Chief Architect of Indian
Constitution’. The other members of this committee were N. Gopalaswamy
Iyengar, Alladi Krishnaswamy Aiyar, K.M.Munshi, T.T.Krishnamachari and some
other eminent statesmen.
Framing of the Constitution:
The
Constituent Assembly was formed on 11th December 1946, held 145 meetings and
framed a draft constitution. During these discussions, various laws enacted by
the British Government in 1909, 1919 and 1935, the British Parliamentary system,
the American Bill of Rights, the Social Directive Policies of Ireland were
studied and some elements of those were incorporated. Finally, the Indian
Constitution was approved on 26 November, 1949 and came into force on 26
January, 1950. This day (January 26) is celebrated as Republic Day.
Preamble of the constitution
The
Indian Constitution has combined in itself the best features of different
constitutions of the world and has its own Preamble. The Preamble contains the
fundamental policies and ideals of the constitution. It is the sum of the
structure, values, principles and goals of the constitution. It is based on the
aspirations and ideals of the people of India. The Preamble is a part of the
‘Objective Resolution’ put forward by Jawaharlal Nehru on December 13, 1946 and
approved by the Constituent Assembly on January 22, 1947.
Highlights of the Preamble:
1) We the people of India: The
principles above mentioned reflect the deep understanding of the constitution.
The Preamble which starts with We the people of India is very significant. This
indicates that though the members of the constituent assembly drafted the
Constitution, this drafting authority has been derived from the citizens of
India.
2) Sovereignty:
Sovereignty is the life of the Independent Nation. India being the sovereign
power to legislate on any subject and that it is not subject to the control of
any other State or external power. This upholds the sovereign power of our
nation.
3) Socialism: The
concept of socialism which is the part of the wish of the constitution is included
in the Preamble. The main objective of the constitution is to make India a
democratic and socialist country. It shows that the socialism can be
implemented through democracy.
4) Secularism:
Secularism is the assertion that all religions are treated equally. In the
opinion of Jawaharlal Nehru it is not only related to the worldly life but also
to the spiritual life. In general, secularism is to follow the policy of inter
faith equality or equality among all religions.
5) Democratic:
Democracy is a form of government. According Prof John Robert Seeley,
“Democracy is a government, where everyone has a share”. India is also a
Democratic country. Citizens are governed by the representatives elected by
them in general elections. This is a government of democracy where citizens are
the lords.
6) Republic: A
republic is a system in which the head of the state is directly or indirectly
elected by the people for a period of time. England is Democratic country but
not Republic. Because the head of
the England, the king/queen is hereditary. The President of India is
elected through an indirect electoral system.
7) Justice:
Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity are the four pillars of our Political
and Philosophical system. The main aim of our constitution is to provide
social, economic and political justice to all the citizens. ‘Justice is to take
what officially we need to get.’
8) Liberty:
This establishes that there are no unreasonable restrictions on Indian citizens
in term of what they think, their manner of expressions, and the way they wish
to follow up religion or worship and their thoughts in action, which is a
testimony to the greatness to the democracy. However, liberty is required for
all round development and we cannot even imagine the democracy without this
Liberty.
9) Equality:
Equality is as important as freedom. They are two sides of the same coin.
Freedom without Equality has no meaning. Equality means that there should be no
discrimination on the basis of any religion, caste, sex, color and place of
residence. The main aspiration is equal status and equal opportunities should
be available to all.
10) Fraternity:
Fraternity is essential for the dignity of the individual, unity and integrity
of the nations. Fraternity is living or developing any type of discriminations
of high-low, poor-rich and white-black. Fraternity is feeling the universal
brotherhood in all. Since respect and dignity is essential to everyone, we
should not discriminate.
11) Unity and Integrity:
There is a need to bring unity among different castes and religion people. We
have single citizenship to foster unity among all states. Similarly, 11
fundamental duties like respecting the constitution, National Flag and National
Flag have been included in the constitution to develop morale in the nation.
All these increase the spirit of unity and unity among the citizens of India.
They remind us that people also have responsibilities in nation building.
Totally, the Preamble is like mirror to the proposal of the constitution. This
has become the system, principles, ideals and values of the Indian political
system. We as citizens have the responsibility to implement and realize the
principles and stated goals mentioned in the proposal along with the rulers.
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