Vol. 13 · pages 111–115

78 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES work put up by the Honourable Dr. Ambedkar and his Drafting Committee after months of laborious work which may definitely be qualified as the work of experts, work which is comparative, selective and efficient in character right from the beginning to the end……….. ***** The Honourable Shri K. Santhanam: ……..The Drafting Committee have done a good job of work, but at the same time I am afraid they cannot escape two valid criticisms. The Committee, I think illegitimately, converted themselves into a Constitution Committee. They have taken upon them selves the responsibility of changing some vital provisions adopted in the open House by this Assembly.............. ***** †Shri R. K. Sidhwa (C.P. & Berar: General): Mr. Vice-President, Sir, as an able and competent lawyer, the Honourable Dr. Ambedkar has presented the Draft Constitution in this House in very lucid terms and he has impressed the outside world and also some of the Honourable Members here, but that is not the criterion for judging the constitution. This is a Constitution prepared for democracy in this country and Dr. Ambedkar has negatived the very idea of democracy by ignoring the local authorities and villages…… ***** ‡Shri Jainarain Vyas (Jodhpur) : *Mr. Vice-President, Sir, Dr. Ambedkar and his colleagues as also the typist and copists have to be thanked for the labour expended in preparing the Draft Constitution that is before us. This is a very big Draft and many things have been included in it…… ***** #Shri B. A. Mandloi (C. P. and Berar: General): Mr. Vice-President, Sir, Dr. Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee, in a very lucid speech explained the salient points of the Draft Constitution. In answer to the questions which are raised, namely, what is the form of the Government and what is the constitution of the country, he has pointed out that it is a federal type of Government with a strong Centre and a parliamentary system of Government with a single judiciary and uniformity in fundamental laws. He has also said that the emphasis has been placed on responsibility rather than on stability. It is strong enough in peace-time as well as in war-time. He has answered in his speech the various criticisms levelled against the Draft Constitution and *CAD, Vol. VII, 6th November 1948. p. 262. †Ibid.. p. 265. ‡Ibid p. 269. #Ibid, p. 271.

79CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY DEBATES I submit that his peech is a very lucid exposition of the Draft Constitution. The Draft Constitution prepared by the Drafting Committee is based on the reports of the various Committees, namely, the Union Power Committee, the Provincial Constitution Committee, the Advisory Committee and the Minority Committee. The Constituent Assembly in its very first session passed a Resolution with respect to the objective of our Constitution. That Resolution was moved by our respected leader, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and was unanimously passed. We have to see that our Constitution is based on that fundamental Resolution—on that Objectives Resolution—in which the claims for justice, liberty, equality and fraternity had been granted. I submit that the Draft Constitution is a true reflection of the Objectives Resolution and therefore we can say that it has fulfilled our object. There is another touch-stone with which to see whether the Draft Constitution answers the purpose of our country and our nation. That touch-stone is whether it would maintain our freedom, our independence and our democratic, secular Government. I am of opinion that, looking from that point of view also, this Draft Constitution serves our purpose….. Sir, our Constitution is a Constitution which has been evolved by us from comparison of the various constitutions prevailing in the civilized countries all over the world. Various good points from all the constitutions have been taken with such modifications as are necessary in the interests of our country. If we faithfully and honestly work out the Constitution, I feel sure that our country would be prosperous, would be happy, would be strong, and we would be able to maintain our independence and not only maintain our independence but would be fulfilling the great mission of our departed leader, the Father of the Nation, who said that hereafter India would be in such a position as to free the other dependent countries and bring peace and prosperity in the whole world. With these words. Sir, I submit that the Motion moved by Dr. Ambedkar be accepted by the House. *Pandit Balkrishna Sharma (United Provinces : General) : Mr. Vice-President, Sir, so many friends have come here and offered their congratulations to the Honourable the Law Minister who was in charge *CAD, Vol. VII. 6th November 1948, pp. 272-73.

80 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES of this Draft Constitution that it will sound almost a tautology if I repeat the same sentiments again. But I think I will be failing in my duty if I do not offer my humble and respectful congratulations to the learned Law Minister for the very lucid manner in which he has presented this Draft Constitution for our consideration. Many friends and critics have come here and levelled certain charges against our Constitution. The one charge which has been repeated by many friends is that ours is a very bulky Constitution. The Mover himself referred to the bulky nature of this document. When we really examine the clauses and articles of the various other Constitutions we come to the conclusion that ours is indeed a bulky Constitution. Sir, as you know, it contains 315 Articles, whereas the Constitution of British North America, that is Canada, contains only 147 Articles ; the Commonwealth of Australia Act contains about 128 Articles ; the Union of South Africa Act contains 153 Articles ; the Irish Constitution contains only 63 Articles ; the U. S. Constitution contains 28 Articles ; the U.S.S.R. Constitution 146 Articles ; the Swiss Federal Constitution 123 Articles; the German Reich Constitution contains 181 Articles, and the Japanese Constitution 103 Articles. A glance at these Constitutions shows that none of them contains more than 200 Articles whereas our Constitution contains 315 Articles. Critics have tried to make a great deal out of this bulkiness of our Constitution. But we must not forget that ours is a big country of 330 millions and we are making a Constitution for almost one fifth of humanity. Therefore there should be no wonder that our Constitution is bulky………. Sir, our is a country which has got its own problems. In no country in the world are there what we call the principalities—the States— and there should be no wonder that in order to bring all these various factors in line with the present day democratic principles, the draftsmen of our Constitution could not compress into a few Articles all that they wanted to do. Therefore the charge that has been levelled against our Constitution that it is bulky seems to me to be frivolous……… ***** *Pandit Thakur Dass Bhargava (East Punjab : General) : ………. Since my friends insist that I should speak in English, I bow to their *CAD, Vol. VII, 6th November 1948, p. 275.

81CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY DEBATES wishes. It is true that I am able to express myself with greater ease in Hindi but at the same time I do wish that I should be understood by all the members of the House. Sir, I wish to join in the chorus of praise which has been showered in this House on the Drafting Committee, but I cannot do so without reservation. When I bear in mind the complaints made by some friends here, I do feel that the Drafting Committee has not done what we expected it to do. Some of the members were absent, some did not join, some did not fully apply their minds…….The real soul of India is not represented by this Constitution, and the autonomy of the villages is not fully delineated here and this camera (holding out the Draft Constitution) cannot give a true picture of what many people would like India to be. The Drafting Committee had not the mind of Gandhiji, had not the mind of those who think that India’s teeming millions should be reflected through this camera. All the same, Sir, I cannot withhold my need of praise for the labour, the industry and the ability with which Dr. Ambedkar has dealt with this Constitution. I congratulate him on the speech that he made without necessarily concurring with him in all the sentiments that he expressed before this House. I think, Sir, that the soul of this Constitution is contained in the Preamble and I am glad to express my sense of gratitude to Dr. Ambedkar for having added the word ‘fraternity’ to the Preamble. Now, Sir, I want to apply the touch-stone of this Preamble to the entire Constitution. If Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity are to be found in this Constitution, if we can get this ideal through this Constitution, maintain that the Constitution is good. ***** *Prof. Shibban Lal Saksena (United Provinces : General) :…… Mr. Vice-President, we are today called upon to discuss the principles underlying our Draft Constitution. To begin with, I must congratulate the learned Doctor who has placed this motion before us. I have read the speech, which he delivered, several times and I think it is a masterpiece of lucid exposition of our Constitution. I certainly think that there could not have been an abler advocacy for the Draft Constitution…… ***** *CAD, Vol. VII, 6th November 1948, p. 284.

82 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES *…….Lastly, Sir, I thank the Drafting Committee for providing us with a very fine Constitution. I also feel that the suggestions that I have made will be discussed at the amendment stage and finally find a place in the Constitution of our country. Sir, with these words, I commend the motion to the House. ***** †Shri Sarangdhar Das (Orissa States): Mr. Vice-President, Sir, like all the previous speakers I congratulate the Drafting Committee, and especially its Chairman. Dr. Ambedkar for the hard work that they have put in. But at the same lime, there are certain things in his speech with which I cannot agree…... ***** ‡Shri R. R. Diwakar (Bombay : General) : Mr. Vice-President, Sir, Honourable Members who have spoken before me have covered enough ground and I think I should nut take much time of the House in going over the same ground. I would like to make a few points which from my point of view are very important when we are on the eve of giving a new Constitution to our country. One thing which I wish to make quite clear is that the Draft Constitution which is before us is really a monumental work and we all of us have already given congratulations to the Drafting Committee and its Chairman who is piloting it through this House. At the same time I would like to point out that the Drafting Committee has not only drafted the decisions of the Constituent Assembly but in my humble opinion it has gone far beyond mere drafting, I may say that it has reviewed the decisions, it has revised some of the decisions and possibly recast a number of them. It might be that it was inevitable to do so under the circumstances, but at the same time we, the Members of the Constituent Assembly, should be aware of this fact when we are considering the Draft and when we are thinking in terms of giving our amendments……. ***** #Mahboob Ali Baig Sahib Bahadur (Madras : Muslim) : Mr. VicePresident, Sir, Dr. Ambedkar’s analysis and review were remarkably lucid, masterly and exceedingly instructive and explanatory. One may not agree with his views but it is impossible to withhold praise for *CAD, Vol. VII, 6th November 1948, p. 286 . †Ibid., p. 286. ‡Ibid., p. 291. #Ibid., 8th November 1948, p. 295.