HOW INDIAN IS OUR CONSTITUTION

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INDIANNESS OF CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
By Chitranjan Sawant

The Constitution of India was framed by the Constituent Assembly that was absolutely Indian. An overwhelming majority of members of the body that enacted the most important document for governance of Bharat and observe Rule of Law comprised freedom fighters who had given their best to making India free. Their credentials were above reproach. Our Founding Fathers of the Constitution enjoyed the love, respect and admiration of people of India. People loved the members of the Constituent Assembly and got love in return in abundance.

FEATURES OF INDIANNESS

Language, culture, dress, education, Sanskars and above all the Mindset go to make the Indianness or otherwise of our Constitution. The vast majority of constitution makers came from villages of India. They were soaked in the soil, water and air of India. Regretfully they were not allowed to have their say in matters constitutional.

Leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and many legal luminaries of the Aiyar and Iyengar Tambram intellectual clans dominated the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly from A to Z. The semi-literate Ram and Ghanshyam, who were in an overwhelming majority in the Assembly, followed no English, what to say of legal lingua franca in a foreign tongue. Their presence in the Hall was the only contribution that they could make. Thus the Constitution of India in its final shape did not have an imprint of the People of India, the rural India, the India of the Vedic culture or the Ganga-Jamuni composite culture, notwithstanding the fact that it was enacted, adopted by the People of India and promulgated by the People of India just two months after enactment and signing by one and all concerned with it.

The Constitution was a finished product in a book form on 26 November 1949. It was adopted on 26 January 1950 and then the same day the Republic of India came into being.

One regrets to note that despite all factors being favourable to India and Indians, the Constitution of India lacked an Indian soul that was needed to make it effective at the ground roots level.

The Constitution of India failed the litmus test of being Indian in character. It was everything but a document for the People, by the People and of the People of India that is Bharat. What a pity that the members of that august body, the Constituent Assembly failed to give just one Indian name to the motherland. It is called India that is Bharat in our Constitution and other legal documents.

The founding fathers of the Constitution of India were in favour of adopting just one national anthem – vande mataram. What a shame the present national anthem jana gana mana came from behind riding the shoulders of Jawaharlal Nehru and usurped the throne. The whole country regrets that dacoity till this day. Nehru did so just to please a section of the Muslim minority, ignoring the numerically superior Hindus of Bharat, jettisoning VANDE MATARAM and superimposing a Tagore written song that the vast majority of Indian believes was written as an eulogy for King George V when he visited the British India in 1911. We have to live with that disgrace forever, thanks to Nehru’s monumental folly.
Dr Rajendra Prasad, President of the Constituent Assembly and a down to earth scholar and legal luminary sensed the mood of the House and the Indian Nation and said that Vande Mataram will be the National Song of India and shall have the same stats as the trumped up national anthem. That solemn promise remained on paper only and the inspiring anthem of the struggle for independence days gradually faded into oblivion.

As a commentator on Akashvani and Doordarshan on the Independence Day ceremony at the Red Fort and the Republic Day Parade on the Raj path, I miss the good old VANDE MATARAM that I had sung along with other students on many a march against the British imperialism on road to freedom. Freedom came sans the song of freedom. A shame for those who appease the anti-national elements just to retain political power in their hands. Who cares for the country? Who cares for the people?

FEATRES OF OUR CONSTITUTION

The Constitution of India is a written document and is relied solely on its text by the judiciary. Althoughthe Hindi text is the authentic text of the Constitution of India, it is the English text that rules the roost and is relied upon by many a legal battle fought in courts of law. Unlike the British constitution which is by and large convention and tradition based and is in a written form to a minor degree only, the Indian constitution gives a little leeway to judicial interpretation where written word is clear in its intent. Indeed the Supreme Court and the High Court have the constitutional mandate for a Judicial Review and their interpretation is not only the Last Word in the matter but also lays down law of the land.
The Judiciary ensures that the country is governed by the provisions of law and that the Rule of Law is respected and obeyed always. The Indian jurisprudence, that relies on the Anglo-Saxon and Roman jurisprudence, lays down:
HOWEVER HIGH YOU MAY EVER BE,
THE LAW IS ABOVE YOU.
The Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles are a part of the Constitution of India. It has 395 Articles and Nine Schedules. With the result, the Indian Constitution is a bulky book, difficult to carry and harder to understand in letter and spirit. It falls on the strong shoulders of the Indian Judiciary to interpret the Constitution of India for the benefit of the People of India.
The Artices, Schedues, Clauses and Sub-clauses are so complicated that even judicial brains are perplexed and confused many a time, what to say of Sepoy Bhup Singh of the Indian Army who rarely knocks at the door of a Temple of Justice, even if he is wronged and feels aggrieved. It is well nigh impossible for a common man to get Justice since it is so expensive that he cannot afford it in this ife.
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