Constitution has given us what we could not get in 5000 years of our civilization

By Dr. Gunamani Sunani
The Constitution can be said as the will of the people choosing their strong sense of destiny and ambition. The opening words of the constitution of India, set out in the preamble begin with

“WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN, SOCIALIST, SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic, and political,
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith, and worship,
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity and to promote among them all,
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the Individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation,
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November 1949 do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION."
The Preamble is known as the spirit and backbone of the Indian Constitution. Not reading the preamble makes no sense in reading the constitution. It is the Preamble that gives brief ideas about why the constitution has been prepared.
The words used in the Preamble in Indian Constitution are some of the noblest and the Preamble was the key to the minds of the framers of the Constitution. The words “we, the people of India” declare in unambiguous terms that the constitution has been adopted, enacted, and given to themselves by the people of India. It emphasizes the sovereignty of the people and the fact that all powers of government flow from the people. It is the people of India on whose authority the constitution rests. They are the source of the constitution. In the Preamble India is described as a sovereign, socialist, secular, and Democratic Republic. It seeks to provide Justice, Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity for all citizens in order to safeguard the nation's integrity and togetherness. JUSTICE, LIBERTY, EQUALITY, and FRATERNITY are the most essential concomitants of a truly democratic order and therefore only elucidate the concept of a Democratic Republic.
The above golden letters of the “PREAMBLE” clearly speak for themselves. Still, to make the people know and realize the valuable things given to us by our constitution, let us enumerate some of the points that the constitution has given us.

Constitutional democracy with principles of Justice-Liberty-Equality-Fraternity.
The sovereignty of we the people.
Citizenship – (Fundamental rights and duties)
Fundamental Rights as inalienable rights with the remedy of writs to be implemented by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and High Courts.
The welfare state with Directive Principles is the duty of the state to the welfare of we people.
Parliamentary Democracy with Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary.
Right to Equality before the law, Rule of Law, and Justice.
Prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth.
Right to be elected as the Representative of the highest office of the country.
Right to life.
Right to Education.
Right to freedom of speech and expression, to assemble peacefully, to form associations or unions, to move freely, reside and settle in any part of the territory of the country.
Right to the profession, occupation, trade, or business.
Right to freedom of Religion (with a secular state).
Equality of opportunity.
Abolition of Untouchability.
Right against exploitation.
Right of Reservation to the Scheduled Caste/the scheduled Tribes/the Other Backward Classes in Education, Services (appointment and posts), and politics. Minorities and their cultural and Education Rights.
Unity of the country with a unified administration and defense.
Financial propriety, progress, and stability of the country.
The opportunity for regional aspirations and growth under Federalism with a Unitary State.
Foundation of an Indian Nation by Constitutionalism.

What more a constitution ought to give its people?
Let us quote Granville Austin, “The constitution has been accepted as the charter of Indian Unity. The constitution’s greatest success, however, lies below the surface of government. It has provided a frame of work for social and political development, a rational, institutional basis for political behavior. It not only establishes the national ideas, but more importantly, it lays down the rational, institutional manner by which they are to be pursued- a gigantic step for a people previously committed largely to irrational means of achieving otherworldly goals"….
To quote again Granville Austin’s views “The constitution, by its very existence, was a social revolutionary statement. It was to be modernizing force. Social revolution and democracy were to be the strands of the seamless web most closely related democracy, representative government, personal liberty, and equality before the law were revolutionary for the society-social-economic equitableness as expressed in the Directive Principles of State Policy was equally revolutionary. So were the constitution’s articles allowing abolishing Zamidari and altering property relations and those allowing for compensatory discrimination in education and employment for disadvantaged citizens.”
All these words in the Preamble of the Constitution of India speak a lot. The constitution has given us all, what we could not get in the past 5000 years of our civilization, however bad or good it may be. Not only so, but the constitution also gives us a realizable 'hope' to become civilized people and stand up as Babasaheb B.R. Ambedkar's dream- 'PRABUDDHA BHARAT (ENLIGHTENED INDIA) before the world community and march ahead with peace, prosperity, wisdom, and strength for ages to come.
“Long Live The Constitution. Long Live The People of India”.

Comments

Dr.Kapilendra Das said…

very nice article.

July 19, 2023

ROHIT NAIK said…

Fantastic articulation with simple and lucid terminology

November 26, 2024

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