Class 9 Civics Chapter 2 Extra Question Answers - Constitutional Design

76) A famous speech of Jawaharlal Nehru is (a) Full measures (b) Triumph towards Victory (c) Tryst with Destiny (d) None of these

Answer:  (c) Tryst with Destiny  

77) Which among the following statement is not true for secularism? (a) Citizens have complete freedom to follow any religion (b) There is no official religion. (c) Government treats all religions with equal respect (d) Each state has its own religion.

Answer:(d) Each state has its own religion.  

78) Name the leader who has played a decisive role in the integration of the Indian princely state.

Answer:Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel played a decisive role in the integration of the Indian princely state. 

79)  Name the Education Minister in the first Union Cabinet.

Answer:Abul Kalam Azad was the Education Minister in the first Union Cabinet. 

80)  Name the founder President of Bharatiya Jansangh.

Answer: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was the founder President of Bharatiya Jansangh.

81) The image Raptures the spirit at South Africa today. South Africans call themselves a 'rainbow nation'. Can you guess why? 

Answer: South Africans call themselves a 'rainbow nation'. Because there are Whites, Black, Coloured people and Indians in South Africa who have different skin colours. But they are living and working together as one people unified like the colours of a rainbow. They have forgotten the racist brutal, repressive past. Now the transformation of South Africa is truly shared by all its people.  

82) Does the story of South African struggle for freedom remind you of the Indian national movement? Make a list of similarities and dissimilarities between the two on the following points ? Relationship between different communities ?Nature of colonialism ?Leadership: Gandhi/Mandela ?Party that led the stuggle: African National Congress/Indian National Congress ?Method of struggle

Answer:   Yes the story of South African struggle for freedom reminds me of the Indian National Movement.

1.  Nature of Colonialism

2.Relationship between Different Communities

3.Leadership: Gandhi/Mandela

4.Party that Led the Struggle: ANC/INC

5.Method of Struggle

83)   This is not fair! What was the point in having a Constituent Assembly in India if all the basics were already decided?

Answer: We can not say that there was no point in having a Constituent Assembly to discuss and frame a Constitution if the basics had already been decided. The basics were relating right to freedom, universal adult franchise, rights on minorities which are the basis of any democratic sociery. These basics were the guiding principles which were further developed and expanded to establish a welfare state. In a democracy it is the Constituent Assembly which makes the Constitutions with the help of the basics. So, the Constituent Assembly in India was established, even if all the basics were already decided. 

84)   Read the information about the makers of the Indian Constitution given in the side columns here. You don't need to memorise this information. Just give examples from these to support the following statements 1. The Assembly had many members who were not with the Congress, j 2. The Assembly represented members from different social groups. 3. Members of the Assembly believed in different ideologies.

Answer: 1. Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (1875-1950), Jaipal Singh (1903-70), Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956), Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (1901-53). 2. Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel - Leader of Peasants Satyagraha. Abul Kalam Azad - Theologian, Scholar of Arabic. Jaipal Singh - President ofAdivasi Mahasabha. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar ? Social revolutionary thinker and agitator against caste divisions and caste-based inequalities. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee - Active in the Hindu Mahasabha. 3. Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963), HC Mukherjee (1887-1956), Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964). Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949). Somnath Lahiri (1901-1984), Baldev Singh (1901-1961).  

85) Read the three quotations above carefully. I shall strive for a constitution which will release India from all thralldom and patronage... 1 shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country in whose making they have an effective voice; an India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people; an India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony. There can be no room in such an India for the curse of un touch ability or the curse of the intoxicating drinks and drugs. Women will enjoy the same rights as men ... I shall be satisfied with nothing else. On the 26th of January 1950, we are going to enter a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. In politics we will be recognising the principle of one man one vote and one vote one value. In our social and economic life, we shall, by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of one man one value. How long shall we continue to live this life fo contradiction? How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life? If we continue to deny it for long, we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril. Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity. Freedom and power bring responsibility. The responsibility rests upon this assembly, a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India. Before the birth of freedom we have endured all the pains of labour and our hearts are heavy with the memory of this sorrow. Some of those pains continue even now. Nevertheless, the past is over and it is the future that beckons to us now. That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we may fulfil the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over. (i) Can you identify one idea that is common to all these three quotations? (ii) What are the differences in their ways of expressing that common idea?

Answer: The one idea that is common to all these three quotations is the ending of inequality in Indian society.  

86)  Compare the Preambles to the Constitutions of the United States of America, India and South Africa. (i) Make a list of ideas that are common to all these three. (ii) Note down at least one of the major differences among them. (iii) Which of the three makes a reference to the past? (iv) Which of these does not invoke God?

Answer:   In the first quotation, Gandhiji strived for an India in which there should be no higher or lower class of people and all communities should live in perfect harmony. In the second quotation, BR Ambedkar said. We are going to enter a life of contradictions. In politics, we will have equality but in social and economic life, we will have inequality." In the third quotation, Jawaharlal Nehru said about the ending of inequality, "the service of India means the ending of poverty, ignorance, disease and inequality of opportunity."  

87)  A friend from Nepal has written you a letter describing the politics situation there. Many political parties are opposing the rule of the king. Some of them say that the existing Constitution given by the monarch can be amended to allow more powers to elected representatives. Others are demanding a new Constituent Assembly to write a Republican Constitution. Reply to your friend giving your opinions on the subject.

Answer: (a) Each of these Preambles starts with We, the people." It means the source of all authority to govern these countries are the people of these countries. (b) In all these three, the idea of justice is embodied. 

88) Read the following extract from a conduct book for 'married women', published in 1912. 'God has made the female species delicate and fragile both physically and emotionally, pitiably incapable of self-defence. They are destined thus by God to remain in male protection ? of father, husband and son - all their lives. Women should, therefore, not despair, but feel obliged that they can dedicate themselves to the service of men'. Do you think the values expressed in this para reflected the values underlying our Constitution? Or does this go against the constitutional values?

Answer:   In the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States, there is a statement for the formation of union, which is not there in the Preambles to the Indian and South African Constitutions.  

89) Read the following statements about a Constitution. Give reasons why each of these is true or not true. (a) The authority of the rules of the Constitution is the same as that of any other law. (b) Constitution lays down how different organs of the government will be formed. (c) Rights of citizens and limits on the power of the government are laid down in the Constitution. (d) A Constitution is about institutions, not about values. Follow the newspapers for any report on a discussion on any Constitutional Amendment or demand for any Constitutional Amendment. You could, e.g., focus on the demand for Constitutional Amendment for reservation for women in legislatures. Was there a public debate? What reasons were put forward in favour of the amendment? How did different parties react to Constitutional Amendment? Did the amendment take place? 

Answer: The Preamble to the Constitution of South Africa makes a reference to the past. 

90) Who was Nelson Mandela?

Answer:  Nelson Mandela was the leader of African National Congress (ANC). He remained in for jail for 28 years in South Africa's most dreaded prison, Robben Island opposing the apartheid regime.  

91) What does 'Apartheid' mean?

Answer:  The official policy of racial discrimination and ill treatment of blacks followed by the government of South Africa between 1948 and 1989.  

92) Who were called 'blacks' in South Africa?

Answer:  The native people of South Africa are black in colour, they made up about three-fourth of the population and were called 'blacks'. 

93) How non-whites were treated in South Africa?

Answer: The white rulers treated all non-whites as inferiors. The non-whites did not have voting rights.  

94) What does 'Segregation' mean in South Africa?

Answer:  Trains, buses, taxis, hotels, hospitals, schools and colleges, libraries, cinema halls, theaters, beaches, swimming pools, public toilets, were all separate for the whites and blacks in South Africa. This was called 'Segregation'.  

95) What was ANC?

Answer: It was African National Congress, an umbrella organisation that led the struggle against the policies of segregation. This included many workers' unions and the Communist Party.  

96) How white racist continued their apartheid besides protests?

Answer:  Many sensitive whites also joined the African National Congress to oppose  apartheid. Several countries denounced apartheid as unjust and racist. But the white racist government continued to rule by torturing and killing black and coloured people.  

97)  When did apartheid end in South Africa?

Answer: As protests and strugglers against apartheid had increased, the government realised that they could no longer keep the blacks under their rule through repression. Finally at midnight of 26th April 1994, the Republic of South Africa got freedom from apartheid.  

98)  What policies were changed by white regime in South Africa?

Answer: Discriminatory laws were repealed. Ban on political parties and restrictions on media was lifted. After 28 years of imprisonment Nelson Mandela came released from Jail. The apartheid government came to an end.  

99) Who formed the constitution of New democratic South Africa?

Answer:  The party that ruled through oppression and brutal killings and the party that led the freedom struggle sat together to draw up a common constitution. 

100) When was the constitution of South Africa completed?

Answer: After two years of discussion and debate these constitution makers came out with one of the finest constitutions the world has ever had.  

101) How a state denounced by the entire world was being seen as a model of democracy?

Answer:  What made this change possible was the determination of the people of South Africa to work together, to transform bitter experiences into the binding glue of a rainbow nation. 

102) What does South African constitution teach us?

Answer:  It teaches us that the oppressor and the oppressed in this new democracy were planning to live together as equals. It was not easy for them to trust each other but still they set a good example in front of the other democratic countries of the world.  

103) What compromise was made by whites minority in South Africa?

Answer:   The whites agreed to the principle of majority rule and that of one person one vote. They also agreed to accept some basic rights for the poor and the workers.  

104) What compromise was made by black majority in South Africa?

Answer:  The blacks agreed that majority rule would not be absolute. They agreed that the majority would not take away the property of the white minority.  

105) With which rules trust was built between blacks and whites in South Africa?

Answer: These rules determine what the elected governments are empowered to do and what they cannot do. They also decided the right of the citizens. 

106) What is this set of basic rules called?

Answer:This set of basic rules is called a 'Constitution'. 

107)  What is a 'Constitution'?

Answer:The Constitution of a country is a set of written rules that are accepted by all  the people living together in a country.  

108)  Why is Constitution considered the Supreme law?

Answer: The Constitution is the supreme law that determines the relationship among  people living a territory (called citizens) and also the relationship between the people and the government.  

109) How difficult it was for India to frame a constitution for united India after independence?

Answer: At that time the people of India were emerging from the status of subjects to that of citizens. The country was born through a partition on the religious basis This was a traumatic experience for the people of India and Pakistan.  

110) What advantage did Indian Constitution makers have unlike South Africa?

Answer:  There was one big advantage for the makers of the Indian Constitution. Unlike South Africa, they did not have to create a consensus about what a democratic India should look like.  

111) Who was the first one to draft a constitution for India?

Answer:   In 1928, Motilal Nehru and eight other Congress leaders drafted a constitution for India.  

112) What resolution was made in 1931, Karachi session?

Answer:In 1931, tne resolution at the Karachi session of, the Indian National Congress dwelt on how independent India's constitution should look like.  

113) Which basic values were incorporated in our constitution from these pre- independence decisions?

Answer:  (i) Universal Adult Franchise. (ii) Right to freedom and equality. (iii) protecting the rights of minorities.  

114) What institutional details and procedures Indians derive from colonial laws?

Answer: The experience gained by Indians in the working of the legislative institutions proved to be very useful for the country in setting up its own institutions and working in them. Many institutional details and procedures from colonial laws like the Government of India Act of 1935 have been referred while drafting the constitution.  

115)  Which countries constitutional features inspired Indian Constitution makers?

Answer: (i) Ideals of French Revolution (ii) Parliamentary democracy of Britain (iii) Bills of Rights in US and (iv) Socialist Revolution in Russia. 

116) What was 'Constituent Assembly'?

Answer: The drafting of the document called the constitution was done by an assembly of elected representatives called the Constituent Assembly.  

117)  How was Constituent Assembly formed?

Answer:Elections to the Constituent Assembly were held in July 1946. Its first meeting was held in December 1946. When the country was partitioned into India and Pakistan, the Constituent Assembly was also divided into the Constituent Assembly of India and that of Pakistan.  

118) How many members did the Constituent Assembly have?

Answer: The Constituent Assembly that wrote the Indian Constitution had 299 members. 

119) When was the Constitution work completed and when did it come into effect?

Answer: The Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26th November 1949 but it came into effect on January 26, 1950. To mark this day we celebrate 26th January as Republic Day every year.  

120) Why did the Constitution come into effect on 26th January 1950?

Answer:  Since the Constitution makers wanted to give importance to the date 26th January as Jawaharlal Nehru declared Independence Day of India on 26th January 1931.  

121) What is the unusual achievement of our Constitution?

Answer: No large social group or political party has ever questioned the legitimacy of the Constitution itself. 

122) In which manner Constituent Assembly worked?

Answer: The Constituent Assembly worked in a systematic, open and consensual manner. 

123)  Why was a drafting committee formulated? Who was its Chairman?

Answer: The drafting Committee was formed to prepare a draft of the constitution for discussion. Its Chairman was Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. 

124) Who was the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly?

Answer:Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly.  

125) How many amendments were considered on the draft?

Answer: More than two thousand amendments were considered by the drafting Committee.