Framing the Constitution Class 12 History

Introduction

The Indian Constitution, effective from 26 January 1950, is the longest in the world, reflecting the country's size, diversity, and the need to unify a deeply divided nation post-Independence. It was designed to heal past and present divisions and to bring together Indians of all classes, castes, and communities in a shared political journey. It also aimed to foster democratic institutions in a culture historically marked by hierarchy. The Constitution was drafted between December 1946 and November 1949, with discussions in the Constituent Assembly spread across eleven sessions and 165 days. The process involved various committees refining the drafts. This chapter explores the history and debates behind the Constitution's creation, giving insight into the vision for the new nation.

A Tumultuous Time

• India gained independence on 15 August 1947 but was divided, leading to massive displacement and violence during the Partition.
• The Quit India struggle (1942) and Subhas Chandra Bose’s armed struggle were key events that fueled the fight for freedom.
• The Royal Indian Navy uprising (1946) and mass protests by workers and peasants were significant movements showing widespread discontent.
• Popular uprisings displayed significant Hindu-Muslim unity, contrasting with the political discord between Congress and the Muslim League.
• On Independence Day, 15 August 1947, there was an outburst of joy and hope, unforgettable for those who experienced it. However, many Muslims in India and Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan faced a harsh choice: the threat of violence and limited opportunities or being forcibly uprooted from their ancestral homes.
• The constitutional status of princely states was ambiguous after the British departure, with some maharajas seeking independent power, complicating the political landscape for the new nation.

The Making of the Constituent Assembly

• Members of the constituent assembly were indirectly elected. Members were elected by the provincial legislature. The constituent assembly was dominated by the Congress.
• The Muslim League boycotted the assembly as it wanted a separate constitution and a separate state.
• Though members were mostly from Congress but views and opinions of its members were diverse. In the constituent assembly, there was intense debate between the members regarding different ideas and proposals.
• Intense discussion within the constituent assembly was also influenced by the opinion of the public. The public was also asked to send in their views and ideas.
• Linguistic minorities asked for protection of their mother tongue, religious minorities demanded special safeguards. While Dalits asked for the abolition of caste suppression and reservation in education and government jobs.

The Dominant Voices

• Out of all 300 members of the constituent assembly, few members like Pt Nehru, Vallabh Bhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, BR Ambedkar, ICM Munshi and Alladi Krishna Swamy Aiyar had a remarkable contribution. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabh Bhai Patel and Rajendra Prasad were representatives of the National Congress.
• Pt Jawaharlal Nehru moved crucial “Objectives Resolution” as well as proposal of the National Flag. While Vallabh Bhai Patel played an important role in negotiating with princely states, merging these princely states with India. He drafted several reports and worked for reconciling the opposing point of view.
• Rajendra Prasad as a President of assembly steered the discussion along the constructive lines and made sure that all members had a chance to speak.
• Dr BR Ambedkar joined the cabinet on advice of Gandhiji and worked as law minister. He was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the constitution. KM Munshi and Alladi Krishnaswamy Aiyar were another two lawyers who played important role in drafting of the Constitution.
• There were two civil servants who gave vital assistance to these leaders, one among them was B.N. Rao, who worked as constitutional advisor to government of India and another was S.N. Mukherjee who put up complex proposal in clear legal language.
• Ambedkar was responsible for guiding the Draft Constitution through the Constituent Assembly, a process that took three years and filled eleven volumes of discussions.
• During the drafting, the members of the Assembly expressed their divergent views on key issues like the language Indians should speak, the political and economic systems to adopt, and the moral values to uphold. This highlighted the many conflicting ideas of India within the Assembly.

The Vision of the Constitution

• On 13th December, 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru introduced “Objectives Resolution”. It proclaimed India to be an “Independent Sovereign Republic” guaranteed its citizen, justice, equality, freedom and assured “adequate safeguards for minorities, backward and tribal areas, depressed, and backward classes”.
• Objective resolution outlined the ideals of constitution and provided frame-work for constitution making.
• Nehru referred to American and French constitution and event associated with its making. He said that we are not just going to copy them, instead he said it is important to learn from these, so mistakes can be avoided.
• Nehru said the system of government to be established in India had to fit in with the temper of our people and should be acceptable to them.
• The objective of the Indian Constitution was to blend liberal democratic ideas with the socialist concept of economic justice, and to adapt and reshape these ideas to fit the Indian context.

Nehru's Vision of India: Not Democratic?

The Will of the People

• Somnath Lahiri, a communist member said ‘we Indians need to be free from British influences’. He further said Constituent Assembly was British-made and was working with British plan.
• Nehru said, in his response that it is true, British government played role in Assembly’s birth and attached conditions to the function of assembly. But, he also said, we have met because of strength of the people behind us and we shall go as far as people wish to go along with us.
• The Constituent Assembly aimed to reflect the aspirations of those involved in the independence movement. Democracy, equality, and justice were ideals closely linked to India's social struggles since the nineteenth century.
•  As the demand for representation grew, the British introduced several constitutional reforms through Acts in 1909, 1919, and 1935, gradually increasing Indian participation in provincial governments. 
• In 1919, the executive became partly responsible to the provincial legislature, and nearly fully so under the Government of India Act of 1935. 
• The 1937 elections under the 1935 Act saw the Congress win in eight out of 11 provinces.
• Nehru argued that members of assembly were elected by provincial legislature and provincial legislature is elected by Indian people. So here, we represent our country men.
• The constituent assembly was expected to express the aspirations of people. Democracy, equality and justice were ideals that people of India aspires for.

Defining Rights

• Nehru invoked the “will of the people”, stating that the Constitution's makers must fulfill the “passions in the hearts of the masses.” 
• The way of defining the rights of people was quiet different. Different demands were made by different groups of people.
• These demands, ideas, opinions were debated, discussed and conflicting ideas were reconcilled and then consensus was made to take collective decision.

The Problem with Separate Electorates

• Intense debate took place in assembly on the issue of separate electorate. B. Pocker Bahadur gave powerful presentation for continuation for separate electorate. He said electorate will help in giving minorities representation in the political system and in governance of the country. The need of Muslim could not be understood by non-Muslims-he further said.
• Many nationalist leaders saw separate electorates system as a tool to divide people on the basis of religion and they also believed that this idea was finally culminated in partition of the country. Therefore many leaders were against it.
• Sardar Patel strongly declared that separate electorate was a poison that has entered the body of politics of our country and turned one community against other, caused blood sheds, riots and partition. So for a peace we need to remove separate electorate.

• GB Pant in a debate said, separate electorate is not only harmful for nation but also for minorities. He said that majority community had an obligation to try and understand the problem of minorities and empathise with their aspirations. 
• Demand of separate electorate would permanently isolate the minorities and will make them vulnerable and in addition it will deprive them of any effective say within government.
• All these arguments against separate electorate was based on the unity of nation, where every individual is a citizen of a state, and each group had to be assimilated within the nation.
• By 1949, most of the Muslim members of constituent assembly agreed against separate electorates and removed it.
• Instead, Muslims needed to take an active part in the democratic process to ensure that they had a decisive voice in the political system.

"We will need much more than this Resolution"

• NG Ranga, a socialist and a leader of peasant movement welcomed the Objectives Resolution and urged that the term minority be interpreted in economic terms. The real minorities are poor and downtrodden.
• NG Ranga welcomed all legal and civil rights granted by the constitution to its citizen but said these rights can only be enjoyed when suitable conditions or opportunities are provided.

Who are the real minorities of India as per N.G. Ranga

• Jaipal Singh a representative, a tribal, spoke in detail about the exploitation, oppression and discrimination faced by tribal all through the history. He further said about the need to protect the tribes and to make provisions that would help them come to the level of the general population.
• Jaipal Singh said, there is a need to break physical and emotional distance to integrate them into mainstream. He stressed on reservation of seat in legislature, as it helps them to give their demands voice and people would be compelled to hear it.

"We were suppressed for thousand years"

• Depressed Castes form 20-25% population of our country, so they are not minority but they have faced marginalization continuously.
• Members of Depressed Castes suffered systematic marginalization. They had no access to public places, they were suppressed through distorted social and moral orders. Depressed Castes had no access to education and had no share in the administration.
• Members of Depressed Castes emphasized the problem of untouchability that could not be resolved through safeguard and protection. To completely remove this, there is a need to integrate these people into mainstream and bring attitudinal change in the society.
• The constituent assembly made a provision that abolished untouchability, Hindu temples be-thrown open to all castes and seats in legislature as well as jobs in government offices be reserved for lowest castes. Many recognized that social discrimination could only be solved through a change in the attitudes within society.

The Powers of the State

• Issue of division of power of the government at the centre and at state level was intensely debated.
• Draft constitution provided three lists of subject i.e. Union List-union government can make laws on it. State List, State government can make laws on it and Concurrent List-Both Union and State government can make laws on listed items.

• Many items were placed under exclusive Union control and more on the Concurrent list than desired by the provinces. The Union also controlled minerals and key industries. Article 356 allowed the Centre to take over a state's administration based on the Governor's recommendation. 
• The Constitution established a complex fiscal federalism: the Centre retained proceeds from customs duties and Company taxes, shared income tax and excise duties with states, and assigned estate duties to states. States could levy and collect their own taxes, such as land and property taxes, sales tax, and the lucrative tax on bottled liquor.

"The centre is likely to break"

• K Santhanam said reallocation of power was necessary, not only to strengthen the state but also the centre. He said if centre is overburdened with responsibility it could not function properly. So it is important that some powers to the state should be transferred.
• Again, Santhanam said states should be given appropriate fiscal provision so that they can work independently and they do not need to depend on centre for even nominal expenditure.
• Santhanam and many others predicted dark future if allocation is not done properly. He further said that province might revolt against centre and centre will break, as excessive power is centralised in the constitution.

"What we want today is a strong Government"

• The need for strong government had been further reinforced by the events of partition. Many leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, BR Ambedkar, Gopalaswami Ayyangar, etc. advocated for strong centre.
• Before Partition the Congress had agreed to grant considerable autonomy to the provinces. This was agreed to satisfy the Muslim League. But after partition, there was no political pressure and voilence aftermath of partition gave further boost to centralised power.

The Language of the Nation

• In the Constituent Assembly issues over national language was intensely debated over months. Language was an emotional issue and it was related to culture and heritage of the particular region.
• By 1930s, Congress and Mahatma Gandhi accepted Hindustani as National language. Hindustani language was easy to understand and was a popular language among large section of India. Hindustani developed with the interaction of diverse culture and language.
• Hindustani language was chiefly made up of Hindi and Urdu but it also contained words of another language. But unfortunately, the language also suffered from communal politics. Gradually, Hindi and Urdu started moving apart. Hindi started using more Sanskritise words similarly Urdu became more persianised. Even then, Mahatma Gandhi retained his faith in Hindustani. He felt that Hindustani was a composite language for all Indians.

National Languages of India

A Plea for  Hindi

• RV Dhulekar, a member of constituent assembly made a strong plea to make Hindi as national language and language in which constitution should be made. The plea evoked strong opposition.
• Language Committee of assembly produced a report in which it tried to resolve the issue by deciding that Hindi in Devanagri script would be an official language but transition to Hindi world be a gradual process and for initial 15 years after Independence, English to be used as official language.
• Provinces were allowed to choose one language for official work within the province.

The Fear of Domination

• SG Durgabai, a member of constituent assembly said that there is intense opposition against Hindi in South India.
• After the eruption of controversy regarding the language, there is a fear in the opponent that Hindi is antagonistic to provincial language and it cuts the root of provincial language and cultural heritage associated with it.
• She had accepted Hindustani as language of people but the language is being changed. Words from Urdu and regional languages were removed. This move erodes the inclusive and composite character of Hindustani, and due to this, anxieties and fear developed in the mind of people of different language groups.
• Many members felt that issue of Hindi as a national language must be treated cautiously and the aggressive tenor and speech will only create fear in non-Hindi speaking people and will further complicate the issue. There should be mutual understanding between different stake holders.

Foundations and Principles of the Indian Constitution

• The Indian Constitution was created through intense debate and discussion, with many decisions coming from compromises between different views.

• A major agreement was to grant voting rights to all adults, which was a bold move. In other countries, voting rights were given gradually.

• Another key feature was secularism. Although not explicitly stated in the Preamble, it was included in the Fundamental Rights:
  1. Freedom of religion (Articles 25-28)
  2. Cultural and educational rights (Articles 29, 30)
  3. Equality rights (Articles 14, 16, 17)

• The Constitution guaranteed:
  1. Equal treatment of all religions
  2. No compulsory religious instructions in schools
  3. No religious discrimination in jobs

• It also allowed for social reforms, like banning untouchability and changing personal and family laws.

• Indian secularism involves a balanced distance between the State and religion.

The Constituent Assembly debates show how different ideas were discussed and how members changed their views over time based on arguments and events.

Timeline

• 26 July 1945 – Labour Government comes to power in India
• 16th May 1946 – Cabinet Mission announces its constitutional scheme.
• 16th June 1946 – Cabinet Mission presented the scheme for the formation of an interim government at centre.
• 2 Sept 1946 – Congress forms the interim govt.
• 13 October 1946 – Muslim League decides to join the interim government.
• 11 August 1947 – Jinnah was elected as the president of Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.
• 14 August 1947 – Pakistan Independence
• 15 August 1947 – India became an independent nation

Conclusion