Myths and Facts of Making of Constitution
(Yugandhar – Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar)
It was during 1965-70…India and China was over and India was defeated in that war. Indian economy was shattered like anything facing two major wars post independence. Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru was trying to bring up the economic condition of India on national and international platform. He visited United States of America in this connection. As soon as he arrived USA, the US media surrounded him and pondering question on the ongoing situation and the stand taken by the government. Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru felt annoyed, disturbed and could not answer the question posed on him by the US media. Later on the Media person tried to enquire the state of mind of Mr. Nehru from Mr. Kennedy, the US President. Kennedy smiled at media personals and replied gently. His words spoke the truth, he said “ Mr. Abraham Lincoln was so lucky that we could find his murderer immediately. But this man(referring to Mr.Nehru) is unable to find the real enemies of his nation.
So true was Mr.Kennedy… what have we done to this GREAT NATION..? India could have been the epitome of knowledge, the superpower in all aspects, one of the most revered countries of the world. But…the situation is altogether different. We are fighting among us…for money…for position…for separate states….for Caste, Religion, Race, Gender Inequality… etc, etc.., We need to question ourselves today whether our freedom fighters fought to see this day ? How and why we have made their sacrifices go in vain..? Must be introspected isn’t it…? I remember Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar warned us in his maiden speech in the constituent assembly. He aptly said “…if we could not run our country with utmost honesty, then it would be the second death of India and we may even loose our existence as a nation.”
Now let me turn up on my main subject here. Constitution… a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed. Constitution, which is a vital document, according to which the country carries out its operations. Constitution protects the rights of the citizens of a concerned nation, irrespective of their religion, caste, creed, sex or physical appearance. A constitution, thus, can be safely said to be a social contract between the government and the people it governs. It can also be deemed as the fundamental underlying framework of government for a nation. In a constitutional country therefore, every person is treated equally, regardless of his office or position and is expected to abide by higher law.
Writing a constitution of any nation is not an easy task. It becomes more difficult when we think of India wherein hundreds of castes, races, religions, traditions, beliefs, and customs are prevailing. Therefore it needs Top Class mastery over the World Constitutions, Excellence in Political Knowledge and brilliance, Top class Philosopher who can study the past, analyze the present and could foresee the future, it also needs great knowledge of difference civilizations, society and culture and also the legal knowledge command, in depth knowledge of world history, Democracy, Anarchy, Imperialism etc., and the knowledge of different administrations and its branches. Constitution can be made only by such person who has in depth knowledge of Law and Social System of all the countries. It becomes more difficult when it comes to India wherein the larger section of people lived in thousand years in slavery, experienced several atrocities. After being ruled by Britishers for more than 150 years I feel it’s not less than a miracle to write the constitution of India. And that miracle could become possible only because of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar.
It is well known that the Indian society has never digested the fact that the greatest constitution has been written by AN UNTOUCHABLE. Therefore it is evident that time and again Dr.B.R.Ambedkar’s role in writing constitution is a subject of serious criticism.
Heinrich Gobel says “ If untruth is said hundred times people start accepting the untruth as truth”. The given example suits in the Indian context. It has been seen for 64 years now, every small or big so called writer and intellectual (including the masses who are least aware of constitution) criticize Dr.B.R.Ambedkar for writing constitution and also denies that he is the father of Indian constitution. It is natural that their stomach pain with the fact that the constitution is been written by an untouchable. Right from Valmiki Choudhary to Arun Shourie, and Vallab Bhai panth to Mr.L.K.Advani, each of them and many others criticized the Indian Constitution and Dr.B.R Ambedakar’s role as the father of the Constitution.
Arun Shourie few years back tried by omitting his anger on Dr.B.R.Ambedkar and his followers by saying that “the followers of Ambedkar seems to be fool as they revere Indian constitution as their religious text and Ambedkar as their God.”
I would like to refer one incident of constitutional making. In his book “Constitution In Making” Mr. B.N. Rao writes that He and a committee of few members travelled all over the world for recommending B.N. Rao’s name for writing Indian constitution. Later on the same committee goes to England and meets Prof. Jennings, a renowned political science philosopher. Prof. Jennings laughs at them and says that “there is one person in your own country whom we refer several times. He is political science genius having abundant knowledge and command on all the world constitutions and political science, his name is DR.B.R.AMBEDKAR. Prof. Jennings further adds to his comment that, “I don’t understand why you people are travelling everywhere when there is already a master of all world constitutions in your own country”. Mr.B.N.Rao and other committee members felt insulted by Jennings comments. After being insulted the said committee headed by Mr. B. N. Rau returns to India. Mr.Mukundrao Jayakar resigned from his candidature and gave his seat to Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. As a result we see Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in the Parliament being elected from Bombay.
It was not an easy task for Dr.Babasaheb Ambedakar to write the constitution. We all know how Congress conspired against babasaheb’s election from Khulana(West Bengal, Undivided India) and parted Khulana in Pakistan though the hindu population was above 60%. Congress did not stop here, I would like to mention Mr.Vallabh Bhai Patels words, he says “ I have closed all the doors and windows of the Parliament and myself standing on the main gate and will see how Dr.Ambedkar enters the Parliament.” Such was the hatred mindsets were playing games against Babasaheb.
It is well known to all of us that everyone raises doubt on THE ROLE OF DR.B.R.AMBEDKAR IN FRAMING THE CONSTITUTION…It indeed makes me sad thinking that Indian Society has never accepted the truth that the constitution has been written by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. They not only criticize him but also go to the extent saying that he was not the only person who contributed in writing the constitution. They step ahead and question Ambedkar’s credibility saying that he copied most of the part of the constitution from various democratic constitutions of the world. Such as Canada, Australia, USA and Switzerland.
As we all have enough literature which can prove that writing the constitution could become a reality just because of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. To make my stand absolute and apt, I would like to clear the readers doubt herein. Apart from Dr.B.R.Ambedkar the following members were there in the Drafting Committee.
1. N.Gopal Swami Iyangar
2. Alladi Krishna Swami Iyangar
3. Sayyed Mohammad Sadulla
4. K.M.Munshi
5.B.L.Mittal
6.D.P. Khaitan (T.T.Krishnamchary after the death of Mr.Khaitan in 1948.)
Dr.Rajendra Prasad was the President of Constituent Assembly.
It is evident that, though there were the above committee members in the Drafting Committee, NOT EVEN A SINGLE PERSON WORKED FOR FRAMING UP THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION. I would like to remind few statements made by the eminent personalities, they are as follows…
“ There were 7 members appointed in the Constitutional Assembly, One of them resigned, whose place was empty all the time, one person died and that place was also empty, one member used to lived in America, ultimately his place also remained empty, one member was busy with his political duties and could not spare time in the Assembly, one or two people were out of Delhi hence it was impossible for them to adjust in Delhi’s cold weather. Ultimately the whole responsibility of framing of constitution shouldered on Dr.Ambedkar. We all are obliged and grateful to Dr.Ambedkar, who could complete the tough task of drafting the constitution ALONE. Therefore his work is truly appreciable.”
(Mr.T.T.Krishnamchari in Constitutional Assemble Debate, Vol.7.page.231)
“ I would not accept that Dr.Ambedkar’s work of making Indian Constitution is like Hercules, because that is also an unequal comparison altogether”
( R.V.Dhulekar C and D Vol.11.)
“ I would say that Dr.Ambedkar’s role in making constitution is very important. No other member have worked so hard, taking so much pain and strain with utmost care that has been taken by Dr.Ambedkar ( Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru)
“Dr.Ambedkar is not only the Father of Indian Constitution but also The Mother….(Dr.K.V.Rao)
Lastly the President of the Drafting Committee Mr.Rajendra Prasad also could not stopped himself from praising Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, He says “if we have taken any correct decision sitting on this chair that must be to elect Dr.B.R.Ambedkar as the Chairman of Drafting Committee.” It is well proven by the above said statements made by those personalities who are respected by the whole of India on the contribution of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar in writing the Indian Constitution. I hope the above given reference are enough to show the role or Dr.B.R.Ambedkar in framing Indian Constitution. The above statements are of those national leaders whom everyone reveres with utmost respect. If we deny these statement then it means we don’t accept the above names and do not respect their statements too. I don’t think we need other references to prove furthermore the role of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar in writing Indian constitution.
DID THE CONSTITUTION TOOK A LONG TIME TO FRAME ?
While the constitution was in making many national leaders criticized Dr.B.R.Ambedkar for delaying in completing the constitution. I would like to refer the same constitutional making history wherein we can find the actual time taken for writing the Indian constitution.
The constituent Assembly came into being in November, 1946. Its members were elected in July, 1946. Out of 296 seats of British India, the Congress captured 211 seats and the Muslim League 73 seats. The rest were not filled up. The constituent Assemble met for the first time in New Delhi on December 9, 1946. The Muslim League refused to participate in its deliberations. In spite of this, the Assembly made a substantial progress. The objective resolution was passed on January 22, 1947, which later became the Preamble of the Constitution.
As a result of Partition under the PLAN OF JUNE 3, 1947,(Indian Independence Act) a separate Constitution Assembly was set up for Pakistan on July 16, 1947. The representatives of Bengal, Punjab, Sind, North Western Frontier Province, Baluchistan and the Sylhet district of Assam (which had joined Pakistan by a referendum) ceased to be members of the Assembly of India (which was constituted in 1946) and there was a fresh election in the new Provinces of West Bengal and East Punjab. As a result, when the Constituent Assemble reassembled on the 31st October, 1947(after Independence) the membership of the House was reduced to 299.
The Constituent Assemble appointed a Drafting Committee on 29th August, 1947 under the Chairmanship of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. Now, My question to the critics is that, at one side whole nation was against the election of Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar in the constituent assembly, and on the other hand Babasaheb Ambedkar was made Chairman of the Drafting Committee. How it is possible…needs to be answered, but so far as I have not found any answers whenever I had a prolonged debates on Constitution with many people.
We all knew that, when the drafting committee began its work the problem of federation with the Native States had ceased to exist, as the Native States which acceded to India merged in India ( after the suggestions given by Dr.B.R.Ambedakar to Vallab bhai Panth). Now the point to be noted is that the critics must observe the time which was wasted during the above said period. Even though we could see that our constitution came in force only in 2 Years 11 Months and 18 days. It is totally illogical on part of the critics to say that the constitution has taken long time into frame.
The “Draft Constitution” prepared by the Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar was published in January, 1948. The people of India were given 8 months to discuss the draft and propose amendments. As many as 7,635 amendments were proposed and 2,473 were actually discussed. These all amendments were checked and studied by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar alone during the making and this has been accepted by the whole constituent assembly. If we compare the duration of writing the other world constitutions and the Indian constitution (having 395 Articles, 8 Schedules and 22 Parts(1951)) it is difficult task to complete writing such a vast constitution in the given spare of time i.e 2 years 11 months and 18 days.
US Constituiton : The US Constitution was written during the Constitutional Convention, which was when all the members of the Constitutional Congress came together to write supreme laws that the government still relies on. The constitutional Convention met for 116 days from May, 1787 to September 1787. The members of Congress worked on it the entire time, so it took 116 days to write the US Constitution.
Australian Constitution : The Australian Constitution was approved in a series of referendums held over 1898–1900 by the people of the Australian colonies, and the approved draft was enacted as a section of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp) became law on 9 July 1900, and entered into force on 1 January 1901. The Australian Constitution has 128 Articles divided into VIII Chapters and One Schedule. We see that the Australian Constitution took almost 2 years to come into effect. I can give as many examples of the world constitution to prove that Indian Constitution does took lessor time in framing than other countries. We have to understand the different social culture, vast disparities in social, cultural and traditional aspects and most important almost all population was under Caste/Religious slavery.
But unfortunately, rather praising for the less time taken by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar in writing constitution Indians feel honored to criticize him for delaying in framing up constitution.
It is a clear sign of degrading the great constitution and Dr.B.R.Ambedkar alleging that he had taken a long time to write the constitution. And even if we say that it has taken a long time to prepare the constitution then the blame should be taken by the then national leader(?) who always obstructed Dr.B.R.Ambedkar in drafting the constitution(Read Constitution debates how the then so called intellectuals obstructed on every petty clauses and prolonged the discussion for various amendments).
WAS AMBEDKAR NOT THE ‘AUTHOR’ OF INDIAN CONSTITION:
This is also not a new criticism being made on Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. It has become a tradition for those who deny the fact that Dr.B.R.Ambedkar is the only father of the constitution. I have already given ample examples above to prove that Dr.B.R.Ambedkar is the only father of the Indian constitution. To strengthen my argument, I would mention an anonymous statement which reads as “I have seen only two persons working hard day and night in the constitution making and they are Dr.B.R.Ambedkar and his Dog Tobby”.
According to many critics Dr.B.R.Ambedkar is not single author of the constitution rather there are many other people who contributed in the making of constitution. I would like to ask a question to those people who deny the fact the Dr.Amebdkar wrote the constitution…will you give credit to the Engineer or those people who helped in constructing the house and to those who brought the Raw-Material...? Can anyone tell who constructs the house..! The Engineer...or...the labors who brought the Raw-Materials..? If you give the whole credit to the workers who brought the raw material for constructing the house, then as per one of my reference given above, THE DOG “TOBBY” MUST BE GIVEN HIS DUE CREDIT FOR NOT SLEEPING WHOLE NIGHT DURING THE CONSTITUTION MAKING…! Why does his contribution should be denied? Isn’t it..!
It is said by many people that Mr.B.N.Rao prepared a draft constitution and gave it to Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. Based on the information given by him in the draft, Dr.Ambedakar could write the constitution. I would suggest to those who are misled by the false history of constitutional writers to read the constitutional debates once again and the words of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. They would certainly notice that Dr.Ambedkar denied most of the provisions given by Mr.B.N.Rao in his draft. I would like to say that Mr.B.N Rao was never present in the Assembly in debates because he was totally upset by the election of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar as the Chairman of Drafting Committee. Later on he left to Hegue country and lived his rest of life there itself.
WHETHER THE CONSTITION IS COLLABORATION OF OTHER DOCUMENTS?
Indian Society has never digested the fact that an untouchable rose from nowhere and able to write the greatest constitution of the world. Therefore time and again the anti-constitutional forces have been trying to degrade the efforts made by Dr.Ambedkar in writing the constitution. They even go to the extent saying that “the constitution is a collaborative document of various other world constitutions and previous enactments made by Britishers such as Govt.of Indian Act 1919 and 1935. It is also said that Dr.Ambedkar prepared the constitution on the “draft already been prepared on the basis of the reports of various committees comprising numerous members of the constituent assembly. These reports were then compiled and collated by the secretariat of the assembly led by SN Mukherjee, who was the chief draftsman, and by an expert ‘Constitutional Advisor’ named BN Rau.”
Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar criticized both the 1919 and 1935 acts in his several writing. He showered brutal criticism for the above said acts have done injustice to the people of India. It really doesn’t make any sense in saying that Ambedkar copied provision from the above said acts. It is a clear understanding that people are trying to prove that Ambedkar has not done anything but copied things from other sources.
I have already mentioned the exact words of Mr.T.T.Krishnamchary on the role played by Dr.Ambedkar and other committee members. Not even a single committee member put up their efforts in writing the constitution. On which base anyone can claim to be the author of constitution without giving his time and effort..? If this is so then as I said The Dog “ Tobby” would also be given his credit..!
Here is the chronology of Sitting of Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assemble met in November, 1948 to consider the provisions of the Draft, clause by clause, after several sessions in consideration of the clauses, second reading was completed by 17th October, 1949. The Constituent Assembly again sat on 14th November 1949. The Constituent Assembly held 11 Sessions. The Draft Constitution was considered for 114 days. As many as 7,635 amendments were proposed and 2,473 were actually discussed. Here we have to see that each and every amendment was scrutinized by Dr.Babasaheb Amebdkar. He thrown almost all the amendments proposed by the members and throwed them in dustbin. Dr.B.R.Ambedkar referred all the amendments which came to him, discussed all of them in the Assemble and proposed only the above said issues in the Assembly. I could hardly see during all this process there is any role of Mr.SN Mukherjee or BN Rau in the assemble, in fact when Mr.BN Rao understood that he will not be given any place in the Constituent Assembly, he left India forever and settled in Hegue. He never returned India thereafter. Therefore, it is baseless in saying that BN Rau contributed during the assembly discussion.
In relation to the Constitutional Advisory Committee, comprising BN Rao, Mr.Vallab Bhai Patel and other, the committee itself took advises from Dr.B.R.Ambedkar when the question of unification of various institutions (562 Native States) came up. Hence it is totally baseless to claim that the draft was already prepared and Dr.Ambedkar used the same draft in writing the constitution and even the role of Advisory Committee.
It to bring into the readers notice that Dr.Ambedkar has been acknowledged by whole world as the father of Indian Constitution. Hungary (a country) has schools, colleges and universities in the name of Dr.Ambedkar, even The President of U.S.A. Mr.Barack Obama acknowledged Dr.Ambedkar as the father of Indian Constitution.
In “The Principles of Social And Political Theory” written by Prof.Arnest Walker, he has dedicated his book to the Preamble of Indian Constitution. Columbia University honoured Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar by D.Litt in 1954 for his great contribution in writing the constitution. Columbia not only honored babasaheb but also set up a statue in Lehman Library as a “Symbol of Knowledge”. It is accepted by the whole world that Dr.Ambedkar’s political and Constitutional excellence and vision is on par with the world philosophers, his vision and wisdom to foresee the future Is unmatched in all over the world and therefore whole world revere him as a constitutional father and a philosophical mastermind, who has given this world the Masterpiece Gem of Parliamentarian Democracy in the form of Indian Constitution.
It is a sign of every great personalities that they don’t take credit of their work. They always give credit to others. Dr.B.R.Ambedkar did the same thing by acknowledging every member of the committee for making up the constitution. It was his big heart that he acknowledged every member, but it is sad and unfortunate that the Indian society and the so-called educated people doesn’t acknowledge nor be thankful to Dr.B.R.Ambedakr for his great work. Rather people feel great honor by criticizing the constitution and its father Dr.B.R.Ambedkar.
There is one more Ambedkar rising in the world scenario which is not been acknowledged by the poor Indian intellectuals. The whole world is now studying Dr.Ambedkar as a philosopher, as an emancipator of crores of backward classes of India, who rose against the tyranny of brahmnical atrocities and liberated his people from the mental slavery, who alone rose against the thousand years old mental and physical slavery and gave millions of people a new era of Liberty, Equality Fraternity and Justice. The whole world is studying and following his contribution for Humanitarian Principles which have universal appeal. That’s the reason why Columbia University honored Dr.B.R.Ambedkar as THE MOST REMARKABLE COLUMBIAN and placed him among the TOP 4 PEOPLE WHO CONTRIBUTED IN THE MAKING OF UNIVERSE.
Written By:
Adv.Mahendra Jadhav (LLM – Constitutional Law)
Contact No. +918008754848
Hyderabad.
(Yugandhar – Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar)
It was during 1965-70…India and China was over and India was defeated in that war. Indian economy was shattered like anything facing two major wars post independence. Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru was trying to bring up the economic condition of India on national and international platform. He visited United States of America in this connection. As soon as he arrived USA, the US media surrounded him and pondering question on the ongoing situation and the stand taken by the government. Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru felt annoyed, disturbed and could not answer the question posed on him by the US media. Later on the Media person tried to enquire the state of mind of Mr. Nehru from Mr. Kennedy, the US President. Kennedy smiled at media personals and replied gently. His words spoke the truth, he said “ Mr. Abraham Lincoln was so lucky that we could find his murderer immediately. But this man(referring to Mr.Nehru) is unable to find the real enemies of his nation.
So true was Mr.Kennedy… what have we done to this GREAT NATION..? India could have been the epitome of knowledge, the superpower in all aspects, one of the most revered countries of the world. But…the situation is altogether different. We are fighting among us…for money…for position…for separate states….for Caste, Religion, Race, Gender Inequality… etc, etc.., We need to question ourselves today whether our freedom fighters fought to see this day ? How and why we have made their sacrifices go in vain..? Must be introspected isn’t it…? I remember Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar warned us in his maiden speech in the constituent assembly. He aptly said “…if we could not run our country with utmost honesty, then it would be the second death of India and we may even loose our existence as a nation.”
Now let me turn up on my main subject here. Constitution… a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed. Constitution, which is a vital document, according to which the country carries out its operations. Constitution protects the rights of the citizens of a concerned nation, irrespective of their religion, caste, creed, sex or physical appearance. A constitution, thus, can be safely said to be a social contract between the government and the people it governs. It can also be deemed as the fundamental underlying framework of government for a nation. In a constitutional country therefore, every person is treated equally, regardless of his office or position and is expected to abide by higher law.
Writing a constitution of any nation is not an easy task. It becomes more difficult when we think of India wherein hundreds of castes, races, religions, traditions, beliefs, and customs are prevailing. Therefore it needs Top Class mastery over the World Constitutions, Excellence in Political Knowledge and brilliance, Top class Philosopher who can study the past, analyze the present and could foresee the future, it also needs great knowledge of difference civilizations, society and culture and also the legal knowledge command, in depth knowledge of world history, Democracy, Anarchy, Imperialism etc., and the knowledge of different administrations and its branches. Constitution can be made only by such person who has in depth knowledge of Law and Social System of all the countries. It becomes more difficult when it comes to India wherein the larger section of people lived in thousand years in slavery, experienced several atrocities. After being ruled by Britishers for more than 150 years I feel it’s not less than a miracle to write the constitution of India. And that miracle could become possible only because of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar.
It is well known that the Indian society has never digested the fact that the greatest constitution has been written by AN UNTOUCHABLE. Therefore it is evident that time and again Dr.B.R.Ambedkar’s role in writing constitution is a subject of serious criticism.
Heinrich Gobel says “ If untruth is said hundred times people start accepting the untruth as truth”. The given example suits in the Indian context. It has been seen for 64 years now, every small or big so called writer and intellectual (including the masses who are least aware of constitution) criticize Dr.B.R.Ambedkar for writing constitution and also denies that he is the father of Indian constitution. It is natural that their stomach pain with the fact that the constitution is been written by an untouchable. Right from Valmiki Choudhary to Arun Shourie, and Vallab Bhai panth to Mr.L.K.Advani, each of them and many others criticized the Indian Constitution and Dr.B.R Ambedakar’s role as the father of the Constitution.
Arun Shourie few years back tried by omitting his anger on Dr.B.R.Ambedkar and his followers by saying that “the followers of Ambedkar seems to be fool as they revere Indian constitution as their religious text and Ambedkar as their God.”
I would like to refer one incident of constitutional making. In his book “Constitution In Making” Mr. B.N. Rao writes that He and a committee of few members travelled all over the world for recommending B.N. Rao’s name for writing Indian constitution. Later on the same committee goes to England and meets Prof. Jennings, a renowned political science philosopher. Prof. Jennings laughs at them and says that “there is one person in your own country whom we refer several times. He is political science genius having abundant knowledge and command on all the world constitutions and political science, his name is DR.B.R.AMBEDKAR. Prof. Jennings further adds to his comment that, “I don’t understand why you people are travelling everywhere when there is already a master of all world constitutions in your own country”. Mr.B.N.Rao and other committee members felt insulted by Jennings comments. After being insulted the said committee headed by Mr. B. N. Rau returns to India. Mr.Mukundrao Jayakar resigned from his candidature and gave his seat to Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. As a result we see Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in the Parliament being elected from Bombay.
It was not an easy task for Dr.Babasaheb Ambedakar to write the constitution. We all know how Congress conspired against babasaheb’s election from Khulana(West Bengal, Undivided India) and parted Khulana in Pakistan though the hindu population was above 60%. Congress did not stop here, I would like to mention Mr.Vallabh Bhai Patels words, he says “ I have closed all the doors and windows of the Parliament and myself standing on the main gate and will see how Dr.Ambedkar enters the Parliament.” Such was the hatred mindsets were playing games against Babasaheb.
It is well known to all of us that everyone raises doubt on THE ROLE OF DR.B.R.AMBEDKAR IN FRAMING THE CONSTITUTION…It indeed makes me sad thinking that Indian Society has never accepted the truth that the constitution has been written by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. They not only criticize him but also go to the extent saying that he was not the only person who contributed in writing the constitution. They step ahead and question Ambedkar’s credibility saying that he copied most of the part of the constitution from various democratic constitutions of the world. Such as Canada, Australia, USA and Switzerland.
As we all have enough literature which can prove that writing the constitution could become a reality just because of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. To make my stand absolute and apt, I would like to clear the readers doubt herein. Apart from Dr.B.R.Ambedkar the following members were there in the Drafting Committee.
1. N.Gopal Swami Iyangar
2. Alladi Krishna Swami Iyangar
3. Sayyed Mohammad Sadulla
4. K.M.Munshi
5.B.L.Mittal
6.D.P. Khaitan (T.T.Krishnamchary after the death of Mr.Khaitan in 1948.)
Dr.Rajendra Prasad was the President of Constituent Assembly.
It is evident that, though there were the above committee members in the Drafting Committee, NOT EVEN A SINGLE PERSON WORKED FOR FRAMING UP THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION. I would like to remind few statements made by the eminent personalities, they are as follows…
“ There were 7 members appointed in the Constitutional Assembly, One of them resigned, whose place was empty all the time, one person died and that place was also empty, one member used to lived in America, ultimately his place also remained empty, one member was busy with his political duties and could not spare time in the Assembly, one or two people were out of Delhi hence it was impossible for them to adjust in Delhi’s cold weather. Ultimately the whole responsibility of framing of constitution shouldered on Dr.Ambedkar. We all are obliged and grateful to Dr.Ambedkar, who could complete the tough task of drafting the constitution ALONE. Therefore his work is truly appreciable.”
(Mr.T.T.Krishnamchari in Constitutional Assemble Debate, Vol.7.page.231)
“ I would not accept that Dr.Ambedkar’s work of making Indian Constitution is like Hercules, because that is also an unequal comparison altogether”
( R.V.Dhulekar C and D Vol.11.)
“ I would say that Dr.Ambedkar’s role in making constitution is very important. No other member have worked so hard, taking so much pain and strain with utmost care that has been taken by Dr.Ambedkar ( Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru)
“Dr.Ambedkar is not only the Father of Indian Constitution but also The Mother….(Dr.K.V.Rao)
Lastly the President of the Drafting Committee Mr.Rajendra Prasad also could not stopped himself from praising Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, He says “if we have taken any correct decision sitting on this chair that must be to elect Dr.B.R.Ambedkar as the Chairman of Drafting Committee.” It is well proven by the above said statements made by those personalities who are respected by the whole of India on the contribution of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar in writing the Indian Constitution. I hope the above given reference are enough to show the role or Dr.B.R.Ambedkar in framing Indian Constitution. The above statements are of those national leaders whom everyone reveres with utmost respect. If we deny these statement then it means we don’t accept the above names and do not respect their statements too. I don’t think we need other references to prove furthermore the role of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar in writing Indian constitution.
DID THE CONSTITUTION TOOK A LONG TIME TO FRAME ?
While the constitution was in making many national leaders criticized Dr.B.R.Ambedkar for delaying in completing the constitution. I would like to refer the same constitutional making history wherein we can find the actual time taken for writing the Indian constitution.
The constituent Assembly came into being in November, 1946. Its members were elected in July, 1946. Out of 296 seats of British India, the Congress captured 211 seats and the Muslim League 73 seats. The rest were not filled up. The constituent Assemble met for the first time in New Delhi on December 9, 1946. The Muslim League refused to participate in its deliberations. In spite of this, the Assembly made a substantial progress. The objective resolution was passed on January 22, 1947, which later became the Preamble of the Constitution.
As a result of Partition under the PLAN OF JUNE 3, 1947,(Indian Independence Act) a separate Constitution Assembly was set up for Pakistan on July 16, 1947. The representatives of Bengal, Punjab, Sind, North Western Frontier Province, Baluchistan and the Sylhet district of Assam (which had joined Pakistan by a referendum) ceased to be members of the Assembly of India (which was constituted in 1946) and there was a fresh election in the new Provinces of West Bengal and East Punjab. As a result, when the Constituent Assemble reassembled on the 31st October, 1947(after Independence) the membership of the House was reduced to 299.
The Constituent Assemble appointed a Drafting Committee on 29th August, 1947 under the Chairmanship of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. Now, My question to the critics is that, at one side whole nation was against the election of Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar in the constituent assembly, and on the other hand Babasaheb Ambedkar was made Chairman of the Drafting Committee. How it is possible…needs to be answered, but so far as I have not found any answers whenever I had a prolonged debates on Constitution with many people.
We all knew that, when the drafting committee began its work the problem of federation with the Native States had ceased to exist, as the Native States which acceded to India merged in India ( after the suggestions given by Dr.B.R.Ambedakar to Vallab bhai Panth). Now the point to be noted is that the critics must observe the time which was wasted during the above said period. Even though we could see that our constitution came in force only in 2 Years 11 Months and 18 days. It is totally illogical on part of the critics to say that the constitution has taken long time into frame.
The “Draft Constitution” prepared by the Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar was published in January, 1948. The people of India were given 8 months to discuss the draft and propose amendments. As many as 7,635 amendments were proposed and 2,473 were actually discussed. These all amendments were checked and studied by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar alone during the making and this has been accepted by the whole constituent assembly. If we compare the duration of writing the other world constitutions and the Indian constitution (having 395 Articles, 8 Schedules and 22 Parts(1951)) it is difficult task to complete writing such a vast constitution in the given spare of time i.e 2 years 11 months and 18 days.
US Constituiton : The US Constitution was written during the Constitutional Convention, which was when all the members of the Constitutional Congress came together to write supreme laws that the government still relies on. The constitutional Convention met for 116 days from May, 1787 to September 1787. The members of Congress worked on it the entire time, so it took 116 days to write the US Constitution.
Australian Constitution : The Australian Constitution was approved in a series of referendums held over 1898–1900 by the people of the Australian colonies, and the approved draft was enacted as a section of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp) became law on 9 July 1900, and entered into force on 1 January 1901. The Australian Constitution has 128 Articles divided into VIII Chapters and One Schedule. We see that the Australian Constitution took almost 2 years to come into effect. I can give as many examples of the world constitution to prove that Indian Constitution does took lessor time in framing than other countries. We have to understand the different social culture, vast disparities in social, cultural and traditional aspects and most important almost all population was under Caste/Religious slavery.
But unfortunately, rather praising for the less time taken by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar in writing constitution Indians feel honored to criticize him for delaying in framing up constitution.
It is a clear sign of degrading the great constitution and Dr.B.R.Ambedkar alleging that he had taken a long time to write the constitution. And even if we say that it has taken a long time to prepare the constitution then the blame should be taken by the then national leader(?) who always obstructed Dr.B.R.Ambedkar in drafting the constitution(Read Constitution debates how the then so called intellectuals obstructed on every petty clauses and prolonged the discussion for various amendments).
WAS AMBEDKAR NOT THE ‘AUTHOR’ OF INDIAN CONSTITION:
This is also not a new criticism being made on Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. It has become a tradition for those who deny the fact that Dr.B.R.Ambedkar is the only father of the constitution. I have already given ample examples above to prove that Dr.B.R.Ambedkar is the only father of the Indian constitution. To strengthen my argument, I would mention an anonymous statement which reads as “I have seen only two persons working hard day and night in the constitution making and they are Dr.B.R.Ambedkar and his Dog Tobby”.
According to many critics Dr.B.R.Ambedkar is not single author of the constitution rather there are many other people who contributed in the making of constitution. I would like to ask a question to those people who deny the fact the Dr.Amebdkar wrote the constitution…will you give credit to the Engineer or those people who helped in constructing the house and to those who brought the Raw-Material...? Can anyone tell who constructs the house..! The Engineer...or...the labors who brought the Raw-Materials..? If you give the whole credit to the workers who brought the raw material for constructing the house, then as per one of my reference given above, THE DOG “TOBBY” MUST BE GIVEN HIS DUE CREDIT FOR NOT SLEEPING WHOLE NIGHT DURING THE CONSTITUTION MAKING…! Why does his contribution should be denied? Isn’t it..!
It is said by many people that Mr.B.N.Rao prepared a draft constitution and gave it to Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. Based on the information given by him in the draft, Dr.Ambedakar could write the constitution. I would suggest to those who are misled by the false history of constitutional writers to read the constitutional debates once again and the words of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. They would certainly notice that Dr.Ambedkar denied most of the provisions given by Mr.B.N.Rao in his draft. I would like to say that Mr.B.N Rao was never present in the Assembly in debates because he was totally upset by the election of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar as the Chairman of Drafting Committee. Later on he left to Hegue country and lived his rest of life there itself.
WHETHER THE CONSTITION IS COLLABORATION OF OTHER DOCUMENTS?
Indian Society has never digested the fact that an untouchable rose from nowhere and able to write the greatest constitution of the world. Therefore time and again the anti-constitutional forces have been trying to degrade the efforts made by Dr.Ambedkar in writing the constitution. They even go to the extent saying that “the constitution is a collaborative document of various other world constitutions and previous enactments made by Britishers such as Govt.of Indian Act 1919 and 1935. It is also said that Dr.Ambedkar prepared the constitution on the “draft already been prepared on the basis of the reports of various committees comprising numerous members of the constituent assembly. These reports were then compiled and collated by the secretariat of the assembly led by SN Mukherjee, who was the chief draftsman, and by an expert ‘Constitutional Advisor’ named BN Rau.”
Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar criticized both the 1919 and 1935 acts in his several writing. He showered brutal criticism for the above said acts have done injustice to the people of India. It really doesn’t make any sense in saying that Ambedkar copied provision from the above said acts. It is a clear understanding that people are trying to prove that Ambedkar has not done anything but copied things from other sources.
I have already mentioned the exact words of Mr.T.T.Krishnamchary on the role played by Dr.Ambedkar and other committee members. Not even a single committee member put up their efforts in writing the constitution. On which base anyone can claim to be the author of constitution without giving his time and effort..? If this is so then as I said The Dog “ Tobby” would also be given his credit..!
Here is the chronology of Sitting of Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assemble met in November, 1948 to consider the provisions of the Draft, clause by clause, after several sessions in consideration of the clauses, second reading was completed by 17th October, 1949. The Constituent Assembly again sat on 14th November 1949. The Constituent Assembly held 11 Sessions. The Draft Constitution was considered for 114 days. As many as 7,635 amendments were proposed and 2,473 were actually discussed. Here we have to see that each and every amendment was scrutinized by Dr.Babasaheb Amebdkar. He thrown almost all the amendments proposed by the members and throwed them in dustbin. Dr.B.R.Ambedkar referred all the amendments which came to him, discussed all of them in the Assemble and proposed only the above said issues in the Assembly. I could hardly see during all this process there is any role of Mr.SN Mukherjee or BN Rau in the assemble, in fact when Mr.BN Rao understood that he will not be given any place in the Constituent Assembly, he left India forever and settled in Hegue. He never returned India thereafter. Therefore, it is baseless in saying that BN Rau contributed during the assembly discussion.
In relation to the Constitutional Advisory Committee, comprising BN Rao, Mr.Vallab Bhai Patel and other, the committee itself took advises from Dr.B.R.Ambedkar when the question of unification of various institutions (562 Native States) came up. Hence it is totally baseless to claim that the draft was already prepared and Dr.Ambedkar used the same draft in writing the constitution and even the role of Advisory Committee.
It to bring into the readers notice that Dr.Ambedkar has been acknowledged by whole world as the father of Indian Constitution. Hungary (a country) has schools, colleges and universities in the name of Dr.Ambedkar, even The President of U.S.A. Mr.Barack Obama acknowledged Dr.Ambedkar as the father of Indian Constitution.
In “The Principles of Social And Political Theory” written by Prof.Arnest Walker, he has dedicated his book to the Preamble of Indian Constitution. Columbia University honoured Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar by D.Litt in 1954 for his great contribution in writing the constitution. Columbia not only honored babasaheb but also set up a statue in Lehman Library as a “Symbol of Knowledge”. It is accepted by the whole world that Dr.Ambedkar’s political and Constitutional excellence and vision is on par with the world philosophers, his vision and wisdom to foresee the future Is unmatched in all over the world and therefore whole world revere him as a constitutional father and a philosophical mastermind, who has given this world the Masterpiece Gem of Parliamentarian Democracy in the form of Indian Constitution.
It is a sign of every great personalities that they don’t take credit of their work. They always give credit to others. Dr.B.R.Ambedkar did the same thing by acknowledging every member of the committee for making up the constitution. It was his big heart that he acknowledged every member, but it is sad and unfortunate that the Indian society and the so-called educated people doesn’t acknowledge nor be thankful to Dr.B.R.Ambedakr for his great work. Rather people feel great honor by criticizing the constitution and its father Dr.B.R.Ambedkar.
There is one more Ambedkar rising in the world scenario which is not been acknowledged by the poor Indian intellectuals. The whole world is now studying Dr.Ambedkar as a philosopher, as an emancipator of crores of backward classes of India, who rose against the tyranny of brahmnical atrocities and liberated his people from the mental slavery, who alone rose against the thousand years old mental and physical slavery and gave millions of people a new era of Liberty, Equality Fraternity and Justice. The whole world is studying and following his contribution for Humanitarian Principles which have universal appeal. That’s the reason why Columbia University honored Dr.B.R.Ambedkar as THE MOST REMARKABLE COLUMBIAN and placed him among the TOP 4 PEOPLE WHO CONTRIBUTED IN THE MAKING OF UNIVERSE.
Written By:
Adv.Mahendra Jadhav (LLM – Constitutional Law)
Contact No. +918008754848
Hyderabad.
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