What Sir Anthony Eden, the Prime Minister of Britain, said at the time of the emergence of Indian Republic, stated,
“Of all the experiments in government, which have been attempted since the beginning of time. I believe that the Indian venture into parliamentary government is the most exciting. A vast sub-continent is attempting to apply to its tens and thousands of millions a system of free democracy….. It is a brave thing to do so. The Indian venture is not a pale imitation of our practice at home, but a magnified and multiplied reproduction on a scale we have never dreamt of. If it succeeds, its influence on Asia is incalculable for good. Whatever the outcome, we must honour those who attempt it.”
A more meaningful was the opinion expressed by an American Constitutional authority, Prof. Granville Austin who wrote that,
“what the Indian Constituent Assembly began was “perhaps the greatest political venture since that originated in Philadelphia in 1787.”
Mahatma Gandhi had visualized the new Constitution of India in terms of universal values applied to the specific and special conditions of India. As early as 1931, he had written:
“I shall strive for a Constitution which will release India from thralldom and patronage. I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country in whose making they have an effective voice: an India in which there is no high class or low class of people, an India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony. There can be no room in such an India for the curse of untouchability. We shall be at peace with the rest of the world neither exploiting nor getting exploited. All interests not in conflict with the interests of the dumb millions will be scrupulously respected whether foreign or indigenous. Personally, I hate the distinction between foreign and indigenous. This is the India of my dreams for which I shall struggle.”
To day I heard a great speech ( as usually being heard by Indians on routine basis) praising the constitution of India.
Following were some of the points of interest/highlights of the then speeches:;
The constitution of india is capable to tackle all problems ie har mushkil kaa jwaab dene mein saksham
The constitution gives direction to all of us
The constitution legislations shall create confidence, in coming generations
introduce values in the biggest democracy on earth
Ours is a capable system with vision.
On the contrary the experiences of my previous three generations have been alarmingly different as far as the behavior and attitudes of the individuals holding constitutional authority viz a viz a common man.
I have no doubt in the capabilities and book value of various provisions given in various legislations by the authors of the constitution.
As we all are aware that partition of India based on religion engineered by Mr Nehru and Mr Jinnah.
But the had, in no way, added any human value in the constitution of biggest democracy on earth.
The fact that the partition voilence against Hindus & subsequent years voilence, had resulted in loss of millions of Hindus lives.
Intolerance against hindu religious belief had brought millions of people to streets.
Expecting very high values from the then self centered political leadership, was just a stupid dream of a common man.
We can not excuse the so-called founding fathers of India & Pakistan, for partitioning our great nation, because common people of india had expected that the constitution written on 26 Jan 1950, shall give at least some direction to the successors of the custodians of constitution of India, as regards safety of the vulnerable communities.
As far as my experiences and experiences of my previous generation is concerned, the then political leadership of India & Pakistan, had miserably failed, in tackling many situations in past.
What do you say ?