साkshar

an institute of learning
Sakshar_institute__

Constitutional
Design
Ch 2 | Class 9 S.St. (Civics)

Handwritten Notes
By: Sapna Sharma
 Constitutional Design
Glossary
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 thought 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 faithfulness.

Tryst: A meeting or meeting place that has been agreed upon.

Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela was 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.

Apartheid
(i) Apartheid was the name of a system of racial discrimination unique to
South Africa where the white European minority discriminated the native
black majority.

(ii) The blacks were forbidden from living in white areas. They could work
in white areas only if they had a permit.

(iii) 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.

(iv) They could not even visit the churches where the whites worshipped.

(v) Blacks could not form associations or protest against the terrible
treatment.

Nelson Mandela in Prison

 Struggle against the Apartheid
(i) Since 1950, the blacks, the coloured and Indians fought against the
apartheid system. They launched protest marches and strikes.

(ii) 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.

(iii) Many sensitive whites also joined the ANC to oppose apartheid and
played a leading role in this struggle.

(iv) Nelson Mandela was 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

(v) 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.

End of Apartheid in South Africa

(i) As protests and struggles against apartheid had increased, the
government realised that they could no longer keep the blacks under their
rule through repression. Discriminatory laws were repealed. Ban on political
parties and restrictions on the media were lifted.

(ii) 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.

(iii) The apartheid government came to an end, paving way for the formaton
of a multi-racial government. Mandela, became the first president of new
South Africa
How did South Africans make a democratic constitution?
(i) 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.

(ii) They build a new South Africa based on equality of all races, social
justice and human rights.

(iii) 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.

(iv) The South African constitution inspires democrats all over the world. A
state denounced by the entire world till recently as the most undemocratic
one is now seen as a model of democracy.

Why do South Africans need a constitution?

(i) 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.

(ii) After long negotiations both parties agreed to a compromise. 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.

(iii) 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.

(iv) The only way to build and maintain trust in such a situation is to
write down some rules of the country that everyone would abide by. These
rules also determine what the elected governments are empowered to do
and what they cannot do.
(v) They agreed on some basic rules which will be supreme, that no
government will be able to ignore these. This set of basic rules is called a
constitution.

What do constitutions do in a Democracy?

(i) A Constitution generates a degree of trust and coordination that is
necessary for different kind of people to live together.

(ii) A Constitution specifies how the government will be constituted, who will
have power to take which decisions.

(iii) A Constitution lays down limits on the powers of the government and
tells us what the rights of the citizens are.

(iv) A Constitution expresses the aspirations of the people about creating a

good society.

(v) All countries that have constitutions are not necessarily democratic. But
all countries that are democratic will have constitutions.

Constitution of India
Factors contributed to the making of our Constitution

(i) In 1928, Motilal Nehru and eight other Congress leaders drafted a
constitution for India with the following features - universal adult franchise,
right to freedom and equality and to protecting the rights of minorities

(ii) In 1931, the resolution at the Karachi session of the Indian National
Congress dwelt on how independent India’s constitution should look like with
the following features - universal adult franchise, right to freedom and
equality and to protecting the rights of minorities.

(iii) The experience gained by Indians in the working of the legislative

institutions of the colonial period proved to be very useful for the country in
setting up its own institutions.
(iv) Indian constitution adopted many institutional details and procedures
from colonial laws like the Government of India Act 1935.

(v) 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, the Bill of
Rights in the US and the socialist revolution in Russia.

How India’s Constitution was made ?

(i) At that time the people of India were emerging from the status of subjects
to that of citizens.

(ii) The country was born through a partition on the basis of religious
differences. This was a traumatic experience for the people of India. At least
ten lakh people were killed on both sides of the border in partition related
violence.

(iii) 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.
Who were the makers of the Indian Constitution?

(i) The drafting of the document called the constitution was done by an assembly
of elected representatives called the Constituent Assembly.

(ii) Election to the Constituent Assembly was held in July 1946. The Constituent
Assembly that wrote the Indian constitution had 299 members. Its first meeting
was held in December 1946. The Constituent Assembly worked in a systematic,
open and consensual manner.

(iii) 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.

(iv) 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.

(v) The Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949 but it came into
effect on January 26, 1950. To mark this day we celebrate January 26 as
Republic Day every year.

Why should we accept the Constitution made by this Assembly more than
fifty years ago?

(i) 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.

(ii) The Constituent Assembly 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.

(iii) 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.

(iv) In social terms, the Assembly represented members from different language
groups, castes, classes, religions and occupations.
(v) Finally, the manner in which the Constituent Assembly worked gives sanctity to
the Constitution. The Constituent Assembly worked in a systematic, open and
consensual manner. More than two thousand amendments were considered.

Constituent Assembly Debates

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

(ii) When printed, these debates are 12 bulky volumes! These debates
provide the rationale behind every provision of the Constitution.

(iii) These are used to interpret the meaning of the Constitution.

Guiding values of the Indian Constitution

Understanding of the overall philosophy of our Constitution can be done in
two ways.

(i) By reading the views of some of our major leaders on our Constitution:

Mahatma Gandhi - He had spelt out what he wanted the Constitution to do: An
India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people, all
communities shall live in perfect harmony, no room for untouchability or the
curse of the intoxicating drinks and drugs and Women will enjoy the same
rights as men.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar - who played a key role in the making of the Constitution
but he often bitterly criticized Mahatma Gandhi and his vision. In his
concluding speech to the Constituent Assembly he stated his anxiety very
clearly. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we
will have inequality
Jawaharlal Nehru - In his famous speech to the Constituent Assembly he
stated that when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.
Freedom and power bring responsibility. The service of India means the
service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and
ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the
greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye.

(ii) By reading the preamble to the Constitution:

The Constitution begins with a short statement of its basic values. This is
called the Preamble to the constitution. Preamble of the Indian Constitution
guides all the articles of the Indian Constitution. The keywords in the
Preamble of the Constitution of India are discussed as follows:

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA: This statement means that the constitution was
not handed down to us by any king or by any outside power, rather it was
drawn and enacted by the people of India through their representatives.

SOVEREIGN: The sovereignty means that

India is a free country and no external
power can dictate the government of
India. It is important to note that the
British had proposed a dominion status
for India which meant it would have been
a country under the British monarchy.
The Constituent Assembly rejected that
proposal and preferred for full freedom.

SOVEREIGN: The sovereignty means that

India is a free country and no external
power can dictate the government of
India. It is important to note that the
British had proposed a dominion status
for India which meant it would have been
a country under the British monarchy.
The Constituent Assembly rejected that
proposal and preferred for full freedom.
SECULAR: There is no official religion in India and no religion gets special
status from the government of India. Citizens have complete freedom to follow
any religion. All religions are treated with equal respect by the government.

DEMOCRATIC: India would adopt a form of government in which people would

elect their rulers and hold them accountable. It was also decided that the
people would enjoy equal political rights.

REPUBLIC: This term means that the head of the state, i.e. the President of
India is an elected person and it is not a hereditary position.

JUSTICE: The land of the law would not discriminate between citizens on the
basis of caste, religion and gender. The government would work for the
welfare of poor and oppressed so that social inequalities could be reduced.

LIBERTY: Citizens are given the liberty to express their opinions in a way
which is found suitable by them. There are no unreasonable restrictions on
the liberty of citizens.

EQUALITY: All citizens are equal before the law; irrespective of differences in
socio-economic conditions. Every citizen would be provided equal
opportunities to improve his/her socioeconomic conditions.

FRATERNITY: Each citizen should respect the spirit of brotherhood and no one
should treat a fellow citizen as inferior.