Analysis

Chronicles of Indian Democracy: Celebrating Constitution Day

8 months ago
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BR Ambedkar constitution

The Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949, for ‘We the people of India’. After being unnoticed for a long, the day began to be celebrated as Constitution Day since 2015. This day is indeed a historic day for the nation, with the framing of a Constitution for the governance of independent India. 26 November is also known as National Law Day.

November 26, commemorates the adoption of the constitution of India back in 1949, though it came into force on January 26, 1950, chosen specifically as the ‘date of commencement’ to denote the historical importance of the day in 1930 when Purna Swaraj Day was celebrated, following the resolution of Indian national congress at Lahore Session in 1929.

It was M N Roy who first proposed the idea of a constituent assembly in 1934, however, it was in 1946 after the Cabinet Mission plan that elections were held for the formation of the constituent assembly. The Constituent Assembly of India appointed a total of 13 committees to deal with different tasks related to the framing of the Constitution.

The herculean task took over 2 years, 11 months, and 18 days, which is evidence of the effort, patience, and thought process that must have gone into the framing of this rule book for democratic governance in India.

The Constitution has a clear imprint on day-to-day life, though we may not be really conscious of it. If we ask a policeman why he is stopping us, it is because the Constitution has given us that right, from getting a passport and flying, taking up a profession we like, and eating the food we like, it is the Constitution that made this possible through fundamental rights. 

The freedom of movement, freedom of expression, freedom to choose a calling of our liking, freedom to buy, sell, and carry on any trade, and freedom to wear garments of our choice; all these freedoms emanate from the Constitution in the form of fundamental rights. These freedoms were never available to us before we won independence from the British.

Is our Constitution just a patchwork?

In this regard, Dr. B.R Ambedkar proudly acclaimed that the Constitution of India has been framed after ‘ransacking all the known Constitution of the World.’

The structural part of the Indian Constitution stands on the Government of India Act, of 1935, and it has borrowed most of its provisions from the constitutions of various other countries as well.The philosophical part of the Indian Constitution in the form of ‘The Fundamental Rights’ and ‘Directive principles of the State Policy’ derive their inspiration from the American Constitution and Irish Constitution respectively, whereas the political part of the Indian Constitution encompassing the principles of government formation, the relation between the cabinet and legislature, etc are mostly drawn from the British Constitution.

Some of the important features borrowed from other constitutions of the world are:

  • French Constitution- Republic, Ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity in the Preamble.
  • South Africa- Procedure for amendment in the Indian Constitution, Election of members of Rajya Sabha
  • Russia [Formerly Soviet Union (USSR)]- Fundamental duties, Ideals of justice (social, economic, and political) in the Preamble. 
  • Germany (Weimar)- Suspension of Fundamental Rights during emergency
  • Ireland- Nomination of members to Rajya Sabha, method of election of the president
  • US- Independence of judiciary, Judicial review, Impeachment of the president, Removal of Supreme Court and High Court judges and Post of Vice-president  
  • UK- Parliamentary government, rule of Law, Single Citizenship
Also Read: Constitution Day: What Is Ambedkar’s Contribution To Women?

It is important to note that, though the Indian constitution contains borrowed provisions, it has unique and salient features like, being the lengthiest constitution of the world, a federal system with unitary bias, it has a blend of rigidity and flexibility, unique aspect of secularism that connotes giving equal respect and protecting all religions which differs from western concept of secularism that demands complete separation between religion(church) and the state(politics), all are a reflection of the unique content and spirit of the Indian Constitution, where even if some provisions though have been borrowed, they have been modified accordingly to suit the Indian constitution and at the same time it has avoided the faults from the other constitution of the world.

In this context, it is important to take into account what Dr. BR Ambedkar said: ‘One likes to ask whether there can be anything new in a constitution framed at this hour in the history of the world. More than a hundred years have rolled over when the first written Constitution was drafted. It has been followed by many countries reducing their constitutions to writing. What the scope of a constitution should be has long been settled. Similarly, what are the fundamentals of a constitution are recognized all over the world. Given these facts, all Constitutions in their main provisions must look similar. The only new things if there can be any, in a Constitution framed so late in the day are the variations made to remove the faults and to accommodate it to the needs of the country.

The charge of producing a blind copy of the Constitutions of other countries is based, I am sure, on an inadequate study of the Constitution. As to the accusation that the draft Constitution. has produced a good part of the provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935, 1 make no apologies. There is nothing to be ashamed of in borrowing. It involves no plagiarism. Nobody holds any patent rights in the fundamental ideas of a Constitution. (Constituent Assembly Debates, Volume VII, p. (35-38).

The unique Spirit of the Indian Constitution guides the Republic

The Chief Justice of India, D. Y. Chandrachud compared the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution to the North Star, an unfailing guide that shows the way when the path appears convoluted.

Over the years, the blend of rigidity and flexibility in the Indian constitution has withstood the sands of time, mainly due to the foresightedness of our constitution makers which made the Indian constitution an organic and living document, where it may appear objectionable to some for being a ‘patchwork’ but it has guided the Republic as pole star in maintaining the democratic character of the country, sewing the secular fabric with liberty, equality, and fraternity and securing social, economic and political justice for all its citizens.

So we Indians can take justifiable pride to celebrate and cherish the enlightened and most resilient Constitution drafted in the post-colonial world.

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