CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN

Q/A

Key Terms –
1. Apartheid - refers to the policy of racial segregation and ill treatment of blacks
followed by the White government of South Africa between 1948 and 1989.
2. Sovereign – A government that has the supreme right to make decisions on internal
as well as external matters without any outside interference or influence.
3. Secular – Separation of religion from State. There is no official religion of the nation.
4. Fraternity – Treating all fellow citizens as one’s family.
5. Republic – A political system where the head of the state is an elected person and not
a hereditary position.

Q1. Which basic values were incorporated in our Constitution from our pre-independence
days?
Ans. The values were - inclusion of universal adult franchise, right to freedom and equality
and to protecting the rights of minorities.

Q2. How can you say that Apartheid was oppressive for the Blacks?
Ans. (i) Blacks were forbidden from living in white areas.
(ii) They could work in white areas only if they had a permit.
(iii) Trains, buses, hotels, hospitals etc were all separate for the whites and blacks.
(iv) They could not even visit the churches where the whites worshipped.
(v) Blacks could not form associations or protest against the terrible treatment.

Q3. What were the fears of both Blacks and Whites before the formation of a new South
Africa? How did they overcome it?
Ans. The basic fear between Blacks and Whites was a deficit of trust.
(i) The white minority was keen to protect its privileges and property.
(ii) The black majority was keen to ensure that the democratic principle of majority
rule was not compromised.
(iii) They wanted substantial social and economic rights.
They overcame these issues by striking a bargain –
(i) The whites agreed to the principle of majority rule and that of one person one
vote.
(ii) They also agreed to accept some basic rights for the poor and the workers.
(iii) The blacks agreed that majority rule would not be absolute.
(iv) They agreed that the majority would not take away the property of the white
minority.
In order to formalise this compromise, they decided to formally draft a Constitution that
everyone would abide by.

Q4. Describe the efforts made by the people of South Africa to struggle against the
Apartheid system.
Ans. The blacks and coloured fought against the Apartheid by –
 (i) Launching protest marches and strikes.
(ii) Forming the African National Congress (ANC) that led the struggle against the
policies of segregation.
(iii) Many sensitive whites also joined the ANC to oppose apartheid.
(iv) Several countries denounced apartheid as unjust and racist.

Q5. What kind of inspiration do we get from South Africa?

Ans. (i) South Africa inspires us in the following ways –
(i) It teaches us that the oppressor and the oppressed could live together as equals in
a democracy.
(ii) It exemplifies human qualities of forgiveness and healing.
(iii) It serves as a classic example of power-sharing.
(iv) It shows that a state denounced by the entire world till 1994 as the most
undemocratic one is now seen as a model of democracy.

Q6. List the efforts of the black leaders after the unleashing of democracy in South Africa.
Ans. (i) Black leaders appealed to fellow blacks to forgive the whites for the atrocities they
had committed while in power.
(ii) They urged their citizens to build a new South Africa based on equality of all races, on
democratic values, social justice and human rights.

Q7. Define Constitution. State the purposes of having one.

Ans. A constitution of a country is a set of written rules that are accepted by all people living
together in a country. A constitution does many things:
(i) It generates a degree of trust and coordination that is necessary for different kind
of people to live together.
(ii) It specifies how the government will be constituted, who will have power to take
which decisions.
(iii) It lays down limits on the powers of the government and tells us what the rights of
the citizens are.
(iv) It expresses the aspirations of the people about creating a good society.

Q8. Explain the difficult circumstances under which the Indian Constitution was made.
Ans. (i) Indians were still dealing with the traumatic experiences of partition related
violence.
(ii) The people of India were emerging from the status of subjects to that of citizens.
(iii) Integration of many princely states into the Indian Union had to be completed.

Q9. What resolution was made in 1931, Karachi session of the INC?
Ans. In the Karachi session, some basic values were accepted by all leaders regarding what a
free and democratic India would be like. They agreed on values like - inclusion of universal
adult franchise, right to freedom and equality and to protecting the rights of minorities.

Q10. What is a Constituent Assembly? How many members were a part of India’s
Constituent Assembly?
Ans. Constituent Assembly is an assembly of people’s representatives that writes a
constitution for a country. The Constituent Assembly that wrote the Indian constitution had
299 members.

Q11. From which country are our Constitution makers influenced by its practice of
Parliamentary democracy?
Ans. Britain

Q12. What was the Drafting Committee? Also state what are Constituent Assembly
Debates?
Ans. Drafting Committee was a group of learned Indians who were given the task of writing
the Constitution. Dr. B.R.Ambedkar was its Head.

Every document presented and every word spoken in the Constituent Assembly has been
recorded and preserved. These are called ‘Constituent Assembly Debates’.

Q13. Give three reasons why we should accept a Constitution drafted more than 60 years
ago.
Ans. (i) The Constitution does not reflect the views of its members alone. It expresses a
broad consensus of its time.
(ii) The Constituent Assembly represented the people of India as they were elected mainly
by the members of the existing Provincial Legislatures.
(iii) The Constituent Assembly worked in a systematic, open and consensual manner. Topics
were discussed and debated thoroughly. Ample scope was left for future amendments if
required.

Q15. Why is Preamble called the preface of the Indian Constitution?

Ans. The Preamble is called a preface as it is an introductory statement to our Constitution.
It contains the values that guide all the articles of the Indian Constitution.

Q16. What is the importance of our Preamble?

Ans. (i) The Preamble of the Constitution contains the philosophy on which the entire
Constitution has been built.
(ii) It provides a standard to examine and evaluate any law and action of government.
(iii) It is the soul of the Indian Constitution.

Q17. Explain why Constitution is necessary in a democracy.

Ans. Having a Constitution is necessary because –
(i) It lays down a procedure for choosing persons to govern the country.
(ii) It defines who will have how much power to take which decisions.
(iii) It puts limits to what the government can do by providing some rights to the
citizen that cannot be violated.
(iv) It provides for mechanisms to amend itself with changing times.

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