INDEX

S.NO TOPIC Pg no

1. Preamble 2-4

2. Preamble to the 5
constitiution
3. Meanimg of constitution 5-6

4. Preamble designed to 6-8

make India a wellfare
state
5. Legal implication of the 9
Preamble
6. Legal and constitutional 9-10
importance
7. Indian constitution in 10-13
relation to other
constitution
8. Basic tenants of Indian 13-14
democracy
9. Indian constitution and 14-16
women
10. Constitutional values 16-17

11. Constitutional values and 17-21

preamble

12. Gandhian principles 21-24

13. References 25

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2
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 PREAMBLE

India , Hindustan or Bharat are three names of one country, which in ancient
times was also called ‘ Arya bhumi ‘ or ‘Aryavrat’ in the south East Asia with
second largest population on this planet of 1.25 billion people and is second
biggest democracy after USA , having achieved independence from the British rule
after a freedom struggle spanning for 150 years and is now governed ruled and
guided by the biggest written constitution enacted on 26/11/1949, known as `Law
Day' in India and enforced on Republic Day 26/1/1950 with a beautiful &
meaningful preamble, which encompasses broad policy guidelines by which

`We the People of India', declared to be sovereign, decided to give to

ourselves after taking birth as a Democracy on getting freedom on the
Independence Day on 15/8/1947:

“We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a
Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic and to secure to 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 intergiry of
the Nation;
In our Constituent Assembly this twenty sixth day of November, 1949, to
hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution.”

The Constitution of India with long parliamentary debates drafted by the

committee of wise people headed by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar borrowed from various
Constitutions of the world over and Government of India Act, 1935 enacted
during British days and having undergone about 100 amendments, now comprises
of 395 Articles divided in 12 Parts and 12 Schedules, which broadly imbibes and
adopts democratic values, Fundamental Rights of citizens akin to United States of

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America, bicameral Parliament system from Westminster model in the unwritten
Constitutional system of United Kingdom, Fundamental Duties of the citizens &
the Directive Principles in Part IV and Indian Constitution though binds India in
Federal character, the Central Government being given the superior and supreme
powers for maintaining borders, unity, integrity and external relationship of the
country while the States, 28 in numbers constituted under the State
Reorganization Act, 1956, enjoy independent legislative powers about health, law
& order, primary education & Panchayati Raj Institutions etc. The amalgam of
separate yet coordinated fields of Legislatures, Executives & Judiciary
makes it a beautiful document with thriving life of law into it which has endured
cohesion, unity and integrity of the country for last so many years and the
experience of implementation of this document confirms the wisdom, intellect &
vision of the forefathers of this most wonderful legislative piece ever enacted on
this earth and, therefore, democracies all over the world. While the phenomenon,
namely, Rule by Public, becomes the guiding force in all other kinds of
governance, where people have revolted against other system of governance and
have fallen back upon the democratic system, as recently the Arabs Spring, Iraq
and Afghanistan wars ending into setting up of democratic governments, no
country in the known past has repelled and revolted against the democracy as a
method of governance and has chosen to go for some other form of government
like monarchy. The USA and Indian Constitutions have, therefore, become beckon
lights for guiding other countries, India more so because with the kind of
diversities in culture, religion and languages in various part of one country, still
remaining united, shows how substantial the country is.

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 PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION

Every constitution begins with a Preamble. The Preamble embodies the objectives
or aims or basic purposes of the constitution. It is a preface or introduction to the
constitution. The interpretation of constitution is based on the spirit of the
Preamble which has a specific significance. It contains the ideal, aspirations and
declaration of the nation to ensure justice and to build up the country as true
welfare state. The Preamble declares the aims and objectives of the constitution
and indicates the source of authority. It is the key to unlock the minds of makers
of the constitution . Prof M.V Pylee writes ,” Here was an opportunity for them to
give expressions to the dreams of a new order they had been dreaming of year”.

MEANING OF THE CONSTITUTION

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A constitution is the set of rules governing an organization .It contains the
supreme laws and rights of a people of a country .A constitution aims ay building
up a government structure in certain basic principles .”It is a political and
economic document .It represents a specific political economy “. The Preamble is
an integral part of the constitution of India . The Preamble is an ornamental part
of the constitution and is couched in lofty and striving language.

The words like JUSTICE , INTEGRITY, LIBERTY ,

EQUALITY, FRATERNITY evoke in our mind, the memories of the great struggles
the nations had to go through in order to secure them. The Preamble is an
embodiment of the principles in the objective resolution adopted by the
Constituent Assembly in 1947.

THE PREAMBLE DESIGNED TO MAKE INDIA A

WELFARE STATE

Socialist :

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 The 42nd Amendment to the constitution of India , 1976 has added the words
‘socialistic’ , ‘secular’ and ‘integrity of nation’ to the Preamble in our constitution.
The republic has now become ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’. The decision to include the
word ‘ SOCIALIST’ is significant . India has been steadily marching towards some
form of socialism since 1953 when the congress party accepted it as its ideal a
socialist commonwealth. The aim is to establish socialism in India. Socialism will
be achieved by the Parliamentary Acts.

Secular :

Secularism is the aim of the country . Democracy without socialism

and secularism is meaningless. Secularism is a glaring necessarily in India ‘s socio
political context . India is declared as a democratic state and democracy does not
allow cultural and religious discrimination . To build up an ideal democracy ,the
Preamble emphasizes justice , liberty, equality , fraternity as political ideals . The
Preamble envisages not only a democratic form of government but also a
democratic society which is infused with the ideals and spirit of “ justice , liberty ,
equality , fraternity “ . The objectives of Indian Republic is explained by the
Preamble in the 4 ways :

1. JUSTICE
2. LIBERITY
3. EQUALITY
4. FRATERNITY

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 India is working hard to ensure the triumph of justice, liberty , equality ,
fraternity . The preamble contains in a nutshell , its ideal and aspiration .It lays
down the principle objective which the government should strive to achieve .

Constitution committee commented ;

“ The Preamble is the most precious part of the constitution . It is the soul of the
constitution . It is the key set to the constitution . It is the jewel set in the
constitution .”

LEGAL IMPLICATION OF THE PREAMBLE

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 The Preamble is a priceless addition to the constitution of India and hence is
recognized as a part of the constitution but not as a part of its operative
provisions. The preamble is not an enactment , it is not enforceable by law. It lets
the constitution framers know the evils or inconvenience which they intend to
remedy . The recent observation of the Supreme court on the implication of the
Preamble in matter of rational interpretation of Fundamental Rights is quite
significant. The court is inclined to give expression to the view that preamble
sets forth the aims and objectives of the political system of India , it may be
invoked to determine the scope of fundamental rights.

LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL IMPORTANCE

OF THE PREAMBLE

No one can deny the legal and constitutional importance of the Preamble . The
Preamble contains the ideals and aspirations of the constitution – framers . It is a
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key to the constitution which aims at giving a real socialistic and democratic shape
to the Indian society in which equality and justice will always prevail . The nature
and character of the constitution of India and the political system of the country
are easily understood by the reading of the Preamble.

INDIAN CONSTITUTION IN RELATION TO

OTHER CONSTITUTION

INDIAN AND US CONSTITUTION :

India and the U.S.A. - one the most populous and the other the most powerful
democracy in the world – have several features in common. To start with, in both

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the countries the revolt against colonial rule was the genesis of freedom. In both
the countries there is dual authority – the authority of the Union and the
authority of the States – as part of the basic structure and framework of the
Constitution. If this basic structure were ever dismantled, the Constitution would
clearly suffer a loss of identity. There is a difference between the extent of
jurisdiction reserved for the States in the U.S.A. and that reserved for the States in
India, but the difference is one of degree and not of kind. In both the countries,
the Constitution was framed by a few hand-picked individuals who were not
elected on the basis of adult franchise. As regards the criticism that such a
Constituent Assembly had no right to impose a permanent Constitution on the
people, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar said in debates in 1948:

“Sir, it may be true that this Assembly is not a representative

assembly in the sense that Members of this Assembly have not been elected on
the basisof adult suffrage. I am prepared to accept that argument. But the further
inference which is being drawn that if the Assembly had been elected onthe basis
of adult suffrage, it was then bound to possess greater wisdom and greater
political knowledge is an inference which I utterly repudiate.”

Sir Henry Sumner Maine in his book on Popular Government (1918) observed that

“there is no word about which a denser mist of vague language and a larger heap
of loose metaphors, has collected”. The form of government is always regarded as
an essential feature of a Constitution. Prof. K.C. Wheare in his oft-quoted work
Modern Constitutions dealing with classification of Constitutions points out that
most systems of government fall into one or other of the categories of the
parliamentary or the non-parliamentary executive. By “non parliamentary
executive” he means the presidential form of government as in the USA. India
has deliberately opted for a parliamentary federal Constitution as rightly pointed
out by Prof. Granville Austin thus:

“The Constituent Assembly's decision to give India a parliamentary, federal

Constitution was not made in a day. The process took two and a half years
from the first meeting of the Congress Experts' Committee on the Constituent
Assembly, held in July 1946, to the debate on the Draft Constitution in
November 1948”.

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The democracy cannot exist unless all citizens have a right to participate in the
affairs of the polity of the country. The right to participate in the affairs of the
country is meaningless unless the citizens are well informed on all sides of the
issues, in respect of which they are called upon to express their views. One-sided
information, disinformation , misinformation and non-information, all equally
create an uninformed citizenry which makes democracy a farce when medium of
information is monopolized either by a partisan central authority or by private
individuals or oligarchy organizations. This is particularly so in a country like ours
where about 65 per cent of the population is illiterate and hardly 1 ½ percent of
the population has an access to the print media which is not subject to pre-
censorship.

INDIAN AND KOREAN CONSTITUTION :

The spirit of Preamble & life of Constitution of both democratic countries India
and Korea is very similar. The Preamble of Korean Constitution enforced on
12/7/1948 read as under Prof.G. Austin: The Indian Constitution – Cornerstone of
a Nation (1966),

“We, the people of Korea, proud of a resplendent history and

traditions dating from time immemorial, upholding the cause of the
Provisional Republic of Korea Government born of the March First
Independence Movement of 1919 and the democratic ideals of the April
Nineteenth Uprising of 1960 against injustice, having assumed the mission
of democratic reform and peaceful unification of our homeland and having
determined to consolidate national unity with justice, humanitarianism and
brotherly love, and To destroy all social vices and injustice, and To afford
equal opportunities to every person and provide for the fullest development
of individual capabilities in all fields, including political, econoic, social
and cultural life by further strengthening the basic free and democratic
order conducive to private initiative and public harmony, and To help each
discharge those duties and responsibilities concomitant to freedoms and
rights, and To elevate the quality of life for all citizens and contribute to
lasting world peace and the common prosperity of mankind and thereby to

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ensure security, liberty and happiness for ourselves and our posterity
forever, Do hereby amend, through national referendum following a
resolution by the National Assembly, the Constitution, ordained and
established on the Twelfth Day of July anno Domini Nineteen hundred and
forty-eight, and amended eight times subsequently.”

Like Korea, the broad division of Indian Constitution divides the State in main
three parts;
(i) Legislature (ii) Judiciary & (iii) Executive.

The Media now unofficially recognized as a fourth pillar of democracy but it has
no constitutional origin under the Indian Constitution. Korea has 300 members in
its National Assembly, however, as per the Constitution, the National Assembly
must have minimum of 200 members. India has 542 elected Parliamentarians in
Lower House and 250 members in Upper House.

BASIC TENANTS OF INDIAN DEMOCRACY

Prof. A.V. Dicey confined its scope to three kindred conceptions. In the first place,
the rule of law meant absence of arbitrary power on the part of the Government.
Next it meant that no man is above the law and every man, whatever be his rank
or condition, is subject to the ordinary law of the realm and amenable to the
jurisdiction of the ordinary tribunals, i.e. equality before the law or the equal
subjection of all classes to the ordinary law of the land, administered by the
ordinary law courts. The third meaning given by Dicey is that the law of
the Constitution is not the source but the consequence of rights of individuals, as
defined and enforced by the courts. This last meaning is out of place in India. Sir
Ivor Jennings in his book The Law and the Constitution, critically examined the
three meanings of the rule of law given by Prof. Dicey. He commented that Dicey

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was imagining a Constitution dominated by the doctrine of laissez-faire. According
to Jennings, “the truth is that the rule of law is apt to be rather an unruly horse”.
It implies many notions which are imprecise: a State regulated by law, law and
order, separation of powers, since the fusion of powers in one authority is
dictatorship or absolutism. He adds:

“It contains also the notion of equality, a notion whose scope however is
as imprecise as the notion of the rule of law itself. It assumes that among
equals the laws should be equal and should be equally administered, that
like should be treated alike”.

INDIAN CONSTITUTION AND WOMEN

Women folk, about half of the population of India, enjoys special status in Indian
Constitution & Laws. Historically, the weaker sex & somehow not given its due
position, the law makers have done commendable job in India to raise this class
to its due level of respect and recognition. Though as a caveat, one would like to
observe that gap between law & fact is the proverbial slip between cup & the lips.
A former Judge of Supreme Court of India, Justice Dr. AR. Lakshmanan reminisces
in his book “Voice of Justice”(2007) as under, to quote:

“The Constitution opened a new horizon of hope for women in our

developing nation, with the engrafting of non-discrimination and special clauses,
intended to protect and promote the rights and legitimate aspirations of
women as equal citizens of India. These special clauses are found in Articles
15, 39, 42 and 51A of our Constitution. These provisions hold out the promise
of a new social order in what women would prefer to call a “male dominated
society”.

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“In the Indian Constitution, the rights of women are traceable to the
nondiscrimination law contained in Article 15 and 15(3), besides Articles 39 and
42. Special attention to the legitimate interests of women has been paid by
incorporating articles of far reaching benefits. The women are guaranteed
equal political and civil rights such suffrage, employment, access to places of
public resort, etc. They are also afforded extra special protection on account
of their general health, responsibilities of mother hood, etc.”

Besides Constitution, several legislations also seek to protect, promote & enrich
rights for women folk like Domestic Violence Act, Anti Dowry Law & even
Supreme Court in Vishakha & Ors. vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors.16 laid down
guidelines for providing them safe working environment & some of them are as
under:
(i) It shall be the duty of the employer or other responsible persons in
work places or other institutions to prevent or deter the commission of acts of
sexual harassment and to provide the procedures for the resolution, settlement
or prosecution of acts of sexual harassment by taking all steps required.
(ii) All employers or persons in charge of work place whether in the public or
private sector should take appropriate steps to prevent sexual harassment.
Appropriate work conditions should be provided in respect of work, leisure,
health and hygiene to further ensure that there is no hostile environment
towards women at work places and no employee woman should have reasonable
grounds to believe that she is disadvantaged in connection with her
employment.

“Voice of Justice” (2007) by Dr.Justice AR. Lakshmanan, Former Judge, Supreme

Court of India and Former Chairman, Law Commission of India.

(III) Where such conduct amounts to a specific offence under the Indian Penal
Code or under any other law, the employer shall initiate appropriate action in
accordance with law by making a complaint with the appropriate authority.

(iv) These guidelines not prejudice any rights available under the Protection of
Human Rights Act, 1993.

(v) Accordingly, we direct that the above guidelines and norms would be strictly

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observed in all work places for the preservation and enforcement of the right to
gender equality of the working women. These directions would be binding and
enforceable in law until suitable legislation is enacted to occupy the field.

CONSTITUTIONAL VALUES

The Constitution of any country serves several purposes. It lays down certain
ideals that form the basis of the kind of country that we as citizens aspire to live
in. A country is usually made up of different communities of people who share
certain beliefs, but may not necessarily agree on all issues. A Constitution helps
serve as a set of principles, rules and procedures on which there is a consensus.
These form the basis according to which the people want the country to be
governed and the society to move on. This includes not only an agreement on the
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type of government but also on certain ideals that the country should uphold. The
Indian Constitution has certain core constitutional values that constitute its spirit
and are expressed in various articles and provisions. But do you know what is the
meaning of the word, ‘value’? You may immediately say that truth, non-violence,
peace, cooperation, honesty, respect and kindness are values, and you may
continue to count many such values. In fact, in a layman’s understanding, value is
that which is very essential or ‘worth having and observing’ for the existence of
human society as an entity. The Indian Constitution contains all such values, the
values that are the universal, human and democratic of the modern age

CONSTITUTIONAL VALUES AND THE

PREAMBLE

The Preamble to any Constitution is a brief introductory statement that conveys

the guiding principles of the document. The Preamble to the Indian Constitution
also does so. The values expressed in the Preamble are expressed as objectives of
the Constitution. These are: sovereignty, socialism, secularism, democracy,
republican character of Indian State, justice, liberty, equality, fraternity, human
dignity and the unity and integrity of the Nation.

CONSTITUTIONAL VALUES :

1. SOVEREIGNITY : The preamble declares India “a sovereign socialist secular

democratic republic”. Being sovereign means having complete political
freedom and being the supreme authority. It implies that India is internally
all powerful and externally free. It is free to determine for itself without any
external interference (either by any country or individual) and nobody is
there within to challenge its authority. This feature of sovereignty gives us
the dignity of existence as a nation in the international community. Though
the Constitution does not specify where the sovereign authority lies but a
mention of ‘We the People of India’ in the Preamble clearly indicates that
sovereignty rests with the people of India. This means that the
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 constitutional authorities and organs of government derive their power
only from the people.

2. SOCIALISM : The social and economic inequalities have been inherent in

the Indian traditional society. Which is why, socialism has been made a
constitutional value aimed at promoting social change and transformation
to end all forms of inequalities. Our Constitution directs the governments
and the people to ensure a planned and coordinated social development in
all fields. It directs to prevent concentration of wealth and power in a few
hands. The Constitution has specific provisions that deal with inequalities in
the Chapters on Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy.

3. SECULARISM: We all are pleased when anyone says that India is a home to
almost all major religions in the world. In the context of this plurality
(means more than one or two; many), secularism is seen as a great
constitutional value. Secularism implies that our country is not guided by
any one religion or any religious considerations. However, the Indian state
is not against religions. It allows all its citizens to profess, preach and
practise any religion they follow. At the same time, it ensures that the
state does not have any religion of its own. Constitution strictly prohibits
any discrimination on the ground of religion.

4. DEMOCRACY: The Preamble reflects democracy as a value. As a form of

government it derives its authority from the will of the people. The people
elect the rulers of the country and the elected representatives remain
accountable to the people. The people of India elect them to be part of the
government at different levels by a system of universal adult franchise,
popularly known as ‘one man one vote’. Democracy contributes to stability,
continuous progress in the society and it secures peaceful political change.
It allows dissent and encourages tolerance. And more importantly, it is
based on the principles of rule of law, inalienable rights of citizens,
independence of judiciary, free and fair elections and freedom of the press.
5. REPUBLIC : India is not only a democratic nation but it is also a republic. The
most important symbol of being a republic is the office of the Head of the
State, i.e. the President who is elected and who is not selected on the basis

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 of heredity, as is found in a system with monarchy. This value strengthens
and substantiates democracy where every citizen of India is equally eligible
to be elected as the Head of the State. Political equality is the chief
message of this provision.

6. JUSTICE : At times you may also realise that living in a democratic system
alone does not ensure justice to citizens in all its totality. Even now we find
a number of cases where not only the social and economic justice but also
the political justice is denied. Which is why, the constitution-makers have
included social, economic and political justice as constitutional values. By
doing so, they have stressed that the political freedom granted to Indian
citizens has to be instrumental in the creation of a new social order, based
on socio-economic justice. Justice must be availed to every citizen. This
ideal of a just and egalitarian society remains as one of the foremost values
of the Indian Constitution.

7. LIBERTY: The Preamble prescribes liberty of thought, expression, belief,

faith and worship as one of the core values. These have to be assured to
every member of all the communities. It has been done so, because the
ideals of democracy can not be attained without the presence of certain
minimal rights which are essential for a free and civilized existence of
individuals.

8. EQUALITY: Equality is as significant constitutional value as any other. The

Constitution ensures equality of status and opportunity to every citizen for
the development of the best in him/her. As a human being everybody has a
dignified self and to ensure its full enjoyment, inequality in any form
present in our country and society has been prohibited. Equality reflected
specifically in the Preamble is therefore held as an important value.

9. FRATERNITY : There is also a commitment made in the Preamble to

promote the value of fraternity that stands for the spirit of common
brotherhood among all the people of India. In the absence of fraternity, a
plural society like India stands divided. Therefore, to give meaning to all the

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 ideals like justice, liberty and equality, the Preamble lays great emphasis on
fraternity. In fact, fraternity can be realized not only by abolishing
untouchability amongst different sects of the community, but also by
abolishing all communal or sectarian or even local discriminatory feelings
which stand in the way of unity of India.

10.DIGNITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL: Promotion of fraternity is essential to realize

the dignity of the individual. It is essential to secure the dignity of every
individual without which democracy can not function. It ensures equal
participation of every individual in all the processes of democratic
governance.

11.UNITY AND INTEGRITY OF THE NATION: As we have seen above, fraternity

also promotes one of the critical values, i.e. unity and integrity of the
nation. To maintain the independence of the country intact, the unity and
integrity of the nation is very essential. Therefore, the stress has been given
on fostering unity amongst all the inhabitants of the country. Our
Constitution expects from all the citizens of India to uphold and protect the
unity and integrity of India as a matter of duty.

12.INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND JUST INTERNATIONAL ORDER : The value of

international peace and a just international order, though not included in
the Preamble is reflected in other provisions of the Constitution. The Indian
Constitution directs the state (a) to promote international peace and
security, (b) maintain just and honourable relations between nations, (c)
foster respect for international law and treaty obligations, and (d)
encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration. To uphold
and observe these values is in the interest of India. The peace and just
international order will definitely contribute to the development of India.

13. FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES : Our Constitution prescribes some duties to be

performed by the citizens. It is true that these duties are not enforceable in
the court of law like the fundamental rights are, but these duties are to be
performed by citizens. Fundamental duties have still greater importance
because these reflect certain basic values like patriotism, nationalism,

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 humanism, environmentalism, harmonious living, gender equality, scientific
temper and inquiry, and individual and collective .

GANDHIAN PRINCIPLES

INTRODUCTION:

Gandhiji's entire public life was based on certain principles. He had

lived and worked for it. All of his principles, truth and Non-violence are the
basic pillars of his entire life. The other important principles are Satyagraha,
Morality and Religion, and Sarvodaya. Personality and Principles of Mahatma
Gandhi.

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TRUTH :

Truth is the corner stone of the entire thought of Gandhiji . Gandhiji

was an ardent follower of Truth who not only preached but also practiced it
in practical life. He says, "I am but a seeker after truth. I claimed to be
making a ceaseless effort to find it. But I admit I haven't yet found it. To find
Truth completely is to realize one self and one's destiny, i.e., to become
perfect. I am painfully conscious of my imperfections. Therein lies all the
strength, because it is a rare thing for a man to know his own limitation.
Gandhiji had a firm faith in Truth and his whole life was oriented towards its
pursuit. In all his thoughts and actions Gandhiji always emphasized the
adherence to Truth and Non-violence. But of these two concepts truth always
had the first place for him. In other words, it was only in the pursuit truth
that he discovered Non-violence.

According to Gandhiji, Satya (Truth) in the first place is derived from

Sat which means 'being' of what is existing. Thus Gandhiji concludes from
this that Truth means that which exists. Except truth nothing exists in reality.
Gandhiji says that Truth is a reality and this reality is nothing but God.
Gandhiji says, "(god is Truth) In other words, according to Gandhiji, God
Personality is the other name for Truth. In 1925, in a talk with Christian
missionaries in Darjeeling, Gandhi said that for him "God and Truth are
convertible terms. And moreover, in an address at Wardha, he had declared, "to
me Truth is God and there is no way to find Truth except the way of non-
violence'. Thus Gandhiji changes his position and propounds that Truth is
God. He released truth from the ethico-spiritual bondage; and applied
efficiently and to a greater extent successfully to every walk of life such as
social, political, aesthetic, ethical, religious etc. Realization of' Truth has no
meaning if it is not translated into action. Man is both an individual and
social being simultaneously. Once he realizes the Truth and begins to act upon it
and stops there, then that action would be incomplete and may not
have much lasting value. He has to share his new insight with others. The
sharing is essentially a human action. Through this process the individual
has to get a chance to Testify the Truth. Truth is to be practiced in all the
activities of life. Gandhiji says that Truth should be pursued at any cost,
even at the cost of one's life because truth reveals knowledge which is the
most important element of life. Gandhiji opines that where there is truth,
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there exists knowledge. And where there is no Truth there is no knowledge.

And where there is true knowledge, there is bliss and sorrow disappears. In
other words, it means that truth is a light of knowledge by which the darkness
of ignorance is removed. For to reach 'Truth Gandhiji practiced certain
vows, such as the vow of Truth, the vow of Brahmacharya (purity), the vow
of Non-violence, the vow of poverty and non-possession. Among all these
five vows Gandhiji gives much importance to Non-violence and says that
Ahimsa (Non-violence) is the means through which Truth can he found out.

NON VIOLENCE

Another important principle of Gandhiji was Non-violence. Gandhiji

considered this ideal primarily as a weapon for moral regeneration and
reorientation. With the help of this unique weapon of moral power he drove
out the Britishers and fought the ills of society in all spheres of life. For
Gandhjji, Non-violence is the law of life. According to him, it must pervade
the whole being and should not be applied to isolated acts. But this law
should also be practiced both at the individual and national basis. Gandhiji
was an ardent follower of the principle of Non-violence in both theory and
practice. The whole life of Gandhi-ji was directed, regulated and moulded by
the spirit of non-violence.

SATYAGRAHA :
Gandhiji used the term satyagraha during 1906 to 1914 in
South Africa to represent the non violence movement. The term satyagraha is the
combination of two words satya and Agraha. Satya means truth Agraha means
adherence. In other words satyagraha means truth force , non violence force
,love force or soul or spirit or morality. Satyagraha aims at achieving non
violence.it is the tool used by him to ensure love .

MORALITY AND RELIGION :

Gandhiji applied morality in every field of life – social
political religious and economic .He solved all the problems based on morality .

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For Gandhiji morality is the basis for all . To him morality and religion is the
convertible terms morality is the basis for religion .History reveals without
morality religion doesn’t exist. Morality is acquired by a man through the
observance of Truth and nonviolence. For Gandhiji morality and religion are two
faces of the same coin from which neither of them can be separated

SARVODAYA:
SARVODAYA means the rise or welfare of all Gandhiji’s
activities were inspired by the principles of sarvodaya, which can be called non
violent socialism . The basic principle behind it is that the good of individuals is
contained in the good of all .Individual well being can be realized only through the
realization of the dignity and well being of all . In sarvodaya society , satya and
ahimsa are the unshakeable basis for political and social activities .

CONCLUSION:
The magnitude of personality and principles of Gandhiji was
intense and immense , his multi faceted personality clearly revealed the fact that
he was an ardent admirer of human rights . He had lived and worked for it
Gandhiji stands for the welfare of all , without certain moral principles we cannot
respect and accept the rights of others , our fellow beings.

REFERENCES

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Articles:

1 . The preamble to the Indian Constitution by Dr. M.N Buch 2000

2 . Constitution of India by M.V.Pylee
3 . Constitutional values and Preamble by Dr. Justice vineet Kothari

Websites:

1 . www.news18.com
2 . http://lawctopus.com
3 . www.constitution.org
4 . www.gandhiaashramsevagram.org

Books:
1 . The Preamble by Deepa kansra Universal law publishing - An imprint of lexis
nexis (1st Jan 2013)
2 . M.K.Gandhi , An Autobiography or The story of my experiments with truth ,
Navajeevan Publishing house , Ahmedabad , 1989 .

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Preamble to the Indian
Constitution

A.Fathima Nowreen
17/UCMA/001
B.Com 2 nd year

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