● There are certain basic rules that the citizens and the government have to follow.

All
such rules together are called constitutions .
● As the supreme law of the country, the constitution determines the rights of citizens,
the powers of the government and how the government should function.

DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION IN SOUTH AFRICA:

● Nelson Mandela, being tried for treason by the white South African government. He
and seven other leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 for daring to
oppose the apartheid regime in his country.
● He spent the next 28 years in South Africa’s most dreaded prison, Robben Island
Struggle against apartheid:
● Apartheid was the name of a system of racial discrimination unique to South Africa.
● Apartheid: The official policy of racial separation and ill treatment of blacks followed
by the government of South Africa between 1948 and 1989.
● The white Europeans imposed this system on South Africa. During the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries, the trading companies from Europe occupied it with arms
and force, in the way they occupied India. But unlike India, a large number of ‘whites’
had settled in South Africa and became the local rulers. The system of apartheid
divided the people and labelled them on the basis of their skin colour.
● The native people of South Africa are black in colour. They made up about
three-fourth of the population and were called ‘blacks’.
● Besides these two groups, there were people of mixed races who were called
‘coloured’ and people who migrated from India.
How did the whites treat other races:
● The white rulers treated all non- whites as inferiors.
● The non-whites did not have voting rights.
● The apartheid system was particularly oppressive for the blacks.
● They were forbidden from living in white areas.
● They could work in white areas only if they had a permit.
● Trains, buses, taxis, hotels, hospitals, schools and colleges, libraries, cinema halls,
theatres, beaches, swimming pools, public toilets, were all separate for the whites
and blacks. This was called segregation.
● They could not even visit the churches where the whites worshipped.
● Blacks could not form associations or protest against the terrible treatment.
Struggle against apartheid:
● Since 1950, the blacks, coloured and Indians fought against the apartheid system.
They launched protest marches and strikes.
● The African National Congress (ANC) was the umbrella organisation that led the
struggle against the policies of segregation. This included many workers’ unions and
the Communist Party. Many sensitive whites also joined the ANC to oppose apartheid
and played a leading role in this struggle.
● Several countries denounced apartheid as unjust and racist. But the white racist
government continued to rule by detaining, torturing and killing thousands of black
and coloured people.
● As protests and struggles against apartheid had increased, the government realised
that they could no longer keep the blacks under their rule through repression. The
white regime changed its policies.

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 ● Discriminatory laws were repealed. Ban on political parties and restrictions on the
media were lifted. After 28 years of imprisonment, Nelson Mandela walked out of the
jail as a free man.
● Finally, at the midnight of 26 April 1994, the new national flag of the Republic of
South Africa was unfurled marking the newly born democracy in the world. The
apartheid government came to an end, paving way for the formation of a multi-racial
government.
● After the emergence of the new democratic South Africa, black leaders appealed to
fellow blacks to forgive the whites for the atrocities they had committed while in
power. They said let us build a new South Africa based on equality of all races and
men and women, on democratic values, social justice and human rights. The party
that ruled through oppression and brutal killings and the party that led the freedom
struggle sat together to draw up a common constitution.
● After two years of discussion and debate they came out with one of the finest
constitutions the world has ever had. This constitution gave to its citizens the most
extensive rights available in any country. Together, they decided that in the search for
a solution to the problems, nobody should be excluded, no one should be treated as
a demon. They agreed that everybody should become part of the solution, whatever
they might have done or represented in the past.
● The South African constitution inspires democrats all over the world.

WHY DO WE NEED A CONSTITUTION?

The black majority was keen to ensure that the democratic principle of majority rule was not
compromised. They wanted substantial social and economic rights. The white minority was
keen to protect its privileges and property.
What were the compromises made :
● The whites agreed to the principle of majority rule and that of one person one vote.
They also agreed to accept some basic rights for the poor and the workers.
● The blacks agreed that majority rule would not be absolute. They agreed that the
majority would not take away the property of the white minority.
● The only way to build and maintain trust in such a situation is to write down some
rules of the game that everyone would abide by.
What are the basic rules of a constitution:
● These rules lay down how the rulers are to be chosen in future.
● These rules also determine what the elected governments are empowered to do and
what they cannot do.
● Finally these rules decide the rights of the citizen.
● These rules will work only if the winner cannot change them very easily.
● these rules will be supreme, that no government will be able to ignore these.
Thus, the constitution of a country is a set of written rules that are accepted by all people
living together in a country. The Constitution is the supreme law that determines the
relationship among people living in a territory (called citizens) and also the relationship
between the people and government. A constitution does many things:
● First, it generates a degree of trust and coordination that is necessary for different
kind of people to live together;
● Second, it specifies how the government will be constituted, who will have power to
take which decisions;

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 ● Third, it lays down limits on the powers of the government and tells us what the
rights of the citizens are; and
● Fourth, it expresses the aspirations of the people about creating a good society.
All countries that have constitutions are not necessarily democratic. But all countries that are
democratic will have constitutions.
MAKING OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION
Difficulties in making the Indian constitution:
● At that time the people of India were emerging from the status of subjects to that of
citizens. The country was born through a partition on the basis of religious
differences. This was a traumatic experience for the people of India and Pakistan.
● At Least ten lakh people were killed on both sides of the border in partition related
violence. There was another problem.
● The British had left it to the rulers of the princely states to decide whether they
wanted to merge with India or with Pakistan or remain independent. The merger of
these princely states was a difficult and uncertain task.
● When the constitution was being written, the future of the country did not look as
secure as it does today. The makers of the constitution had anxieties about the
present and the future of the country.
Path to creating our constitution
● Much of this consensus about what a democratic India should look like had evolved
during the freedom struggle.
● Our national movement was not merely a struggle against a foreign rule. It was also
a struggle to rejuvenate our country and to transform our society and politics.Many
differences occurred while framing the constitution. Such differences exist even
today.
● As far back as in 1928, Motilal Nehru and eight other Congress leaders drafted a
constitution for India.
● In 1931, the resolution at the Karachi session of the Indian National Congress dwelt
on how independent India’s constitution should look like. Both these documents were
committed to the inclusion of universal adult franchise, right to freedom and equality
and to protecting the rights of minorities in the constitution of independent India. Thus
some basic values were accepted by all leaders much before the Constituent
● The familiarity with political institutions of colonial rule also helped develop an
agreement over the institutional design. British rule had given voting rights only to a
few. The experience gained by Indians in the working of the legislative institutions
during British rule proved to be very useful for the country in setting up its own
institutions and working in them. That is why the Indian constitution adopted many
institutional details and procedures from colonial laws like the Government of India
Act, 1935.
factors contributed to the making of our Constitution:
● Our leaders gained confidence to learn from other countries, but on our own terms.
Many of our leaders were inspired by the ideals of French Revolution, the practice of
parliamentary democracy in Britain and the Bill of Rights in the US. The socialist
revolution in Russia had inspired many Indians to think of shaping a system based on
social and economic equality. Yet they were not simply imitating what others had
done. At each step they were questioning whether these things suited our country. All
these factors contributed to the making of our Constitution.
The Constituent Assembly

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 ● The drafting of the document called the constitution was done by an assembly of
elected representatives called the Constituent Assembly. Elections to the Constituent
Assembly were held in July 1946. Its first meeting was held in December 1946.
● Soon after, the country was divided into India and Pakistan. The Constituent
Assembly was also divided into the Constituent Assembly of India and that of
Pakistan. The Constituent Assembly that wrote the Indian constitution had 299
members. The Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949 but it came
into effect on 26 January 1950. To mark this day we celebrate January 26 as
Republic Day every year.
● The Constitution does not reflect the views of its members alone. It expresses a
broad consensus of its time. Many countries of the world have had to rewrite their
Constitution afresh because the basic rules were not accepted by all major social
groups or political parties. In some other countries, the Constitution exists as a mere
piece of paper. No one actually follows it. The experience of our Constitution is
different. Over the last half a century, several groups have questioned some
provisions of the Constitution. But no large social group or political party has ever
questioned the legitimacy of the Constitution itself. This is an unusual achievement
for any constitution.
● The second reason for accepting the Constitution is that the Constituent Assembly
represented the people of India. There was no universal adult franchise at that time.
So the Constituent Assembly could not have been chosen directly by all the people of
India. It was elected mainly by the members of the existing Provincial Legislatures:
●
● This ensured a fair geographical share of members from all the regions of the
country.
● The Assembly was dominated by the Indian National Congress, the party that led
India’s freedom struggle. But the Congress itself included a variety of political groups
and opinions. The Assembly had many members who did not agree with the
Congress.
● In social terms too, the Assembly represented members from different language
groups, castes, classes, religions and occupations. Even if the Constituent Assembly
was elected by universal adult franchise, its composition would not have been very
different.
● Finally, the manner in which the Constituent Assembly worked gives sanctity to the
Constitution.
How did the constituent assembly work:
● The Constituent Assembly worked in a systematic, open and consensual manner.
First some basic principles were decided and agreed upon. Then a Drafting
Committee chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar prepared a draft constitution for discussion.
Several rounds of thorough discussion took place on the Draft Constitution, clause by
clause. More than two thousand amendments were considered. The members
deliberated for 114 days spread over three years. Every document presented and
every word spoken in the Constituent Assembly has been recorded and preserved.
These are called ‘Constituent Assembly Debates’. When printed, these debates are
12 bulky volumes! These debates provide the rationale behind every provision of the
Constitution. These are used to interpret the meaning of the Constitution.

GUIDING VALUES OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION:

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 ● Mahatma Gandhi. He was not a member of the Constituent Assembly.He believed
India should be a place in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country in whose
making they have an effective voice; an India in which there shall be no high class
and low class of people; an India in which all communities shall live in perfect
harmony. He believed in extreme equality.
● This dream of an India that has eliminated inequality was shared by Dr. Ambedkar,
who played a key role in the making of the Constitution but he had a different
understanding of how inequalities could be removed. He often bitterly criticised
Mahatma Gandhi and his vision. in his concluding speech to the Constituent
Assembly, Dr. Ambedkar said that India was entering a life of ‘contradictions’ on 26th
January, 1950. According to him in politics, Indians would have equality but in social
and economic life, there would be inequality. Politics should be based on the principle
of one man one vote and one vote one value. In social and economic life, by reason
of social and economic structure one must continue to deny the principle of one man
one value.
● Jawaharlal Nehru gave his famous speech ( tryst with destiny) to the Constituent
Assembly at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947. As a Congress leader he
advocated socialism, democracy and anti imperialism.

The ideals written in the Preamble of the Constitution are as under :

Justice: Every citizen of India will have social, economic and political justice.
Liberty: Every citizen will have the liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship.
Equality: Every citizen will be provided with the equality of status and opportunity.
fraternity: All the citizens of India have been assured about the dignity of individual and the
unity and integrity of the nation

The Preamble of the Constitution reads like a poem on democracy. It contains the
philosophy on which the entire Constitution has been built. It provides a standard to examine
and evaluate any law and action of the government, to find out whether it is good or bad. It is
the soul of the Indian Constitution. Key words in the preamble:
● WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA: The constitution has been drawn up and enacted by
the people through their representatives, and not handed down to them by a king or
any outside powers.
● SOVEREIGN: People have the supreme right to make decisions on internal as well
as external matters. No external power can dictate the government of India.
● SOCIALIST: Wealth is generated socially and should be shared equally by society.
Government should regulate the ownership of land and industry to reduce
socio-economic inequalities.
● SECULAR: Citizens have complete freedom to follow any religion. But there is no
official religion. Government treats all religious beliefs and practices with equal
respect.
● DEMOCRATIC: A form of government where people enjoy equal political rights, elect
their rulers and hold them account- able. The government is run according to some
basic rules.
● REPUBLIC: The head of the state is an elected person and not a hereditary position.
● JUSTICE: Citizens cannot be discriminated against on the grounds of caste, religion
and gender. Social inequalities have to be reduced. Government should work for the
welfare of all, especially of the disadvantaged groups.

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 ● LIBERTY: There are no unreasonable restrictions on the citizens in what they think,
how they wish to express their thoughts and the way they wish to follow up their
thoughts in action.
● EQUALITY: All are equal before the law. The traditional social inequalities have to be
ended. The government should ensure equal opportunity for all.
● FRATERNITY: All of us should behave as if we are members of the same family. No
one should treat a fellow citizen as inferior.

Institutional design
● The Constitution of India is a very long and detailed document. Therefore it needs to
be amended quite regularly to keep it updated. Those who crafted the Indian
Constitution felt that it had to be in accordance with people’s aspirations and changes
in society. They did not see it as a sacred, static and unalterable law. So, they made
provisions to incorporate changes from time to time. These changes are called
constitutional amendments.
● Like any Constitution, the Indian Constitution lays down a procedure for choosing
persons to govern the country. It defines who will have how much power to take
which decisions. And it puts limits to what the government can do by providing some
rights to the citizens that cannot be violated
Basic definitions:
● Apartheid: The official policy of racial separation and ill treatment of blacks followed
by the government of South Africa between 1948 and 1989. Clause: A distinct
section of a document.
● Constituent Assembly: An assembly of people’s representatives that writes a
constitution for a country.
● Constitution: Supreme law of a country, containing fundamental rules governing the
politics and society in a country.
● Constitutional amendment: A change in the constitution made by the supreme
legislative body in a country.
● Draft: A preliminary version of a legal document.
● Philosophy: The most fundamental principles underlying one’s thoughts and actions.
● Preamble: An introductory statement in a constitution which states the reasons and
guiding values of the constitution.
● Treason: The offence of attempting to overthrow the government of the state to which
the offender owes allegiance.
● Tryst: A meeting or meeting place that has been agreed upon.