CHENNAI: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’. This line from Charles Dickens’ famous novel, A Tale Of Two Cities, perfectly captures the early years after India’s independence when the country was struggling to recover from the scars and traumas of the bloodshed that Partition unleashed. And yet it was the best of times as the values of a free India that was still fighting poverty, communalism, and other fallouts of an almost 200-year-old colonial shackle, was being enshrined in a book that would guide the newborn nation through the decades.
The Indian Constitution, also called ‘The Red Book’ for its black-red cover, has been the guiding light of Indian social, economic, and administrative systems. But how were those initial days and who were the architects of the Constitution? In his book 10 Makers Of The Indian Constitution, author-publisher and the executive editor of Penguin Random House, Karthik Venkatesh has given some answers.
About personalities
“The Constitution word has been doing rounds in Indian political circles for years. The growing debates strengthened my interest in writing the book. However, instead of digging into the Constitution, I focussed on the Constituent Assembly and 10 eminent personalities who contributed towards making the book. I chose the 10 on the basis of their interesting lives and diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds,” says Karthik.
The 10 are Jawaharlal Nehru, BR Ambedkar, Jaipal Singh Munda, Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, Dakshayani Velayudhan, Hasrat Mohani, KM Munshi, Hansa Mehta, G Durgabai, and James Joy Mohan Nichols Roy. What is perhaps well known is that despite contrasting ideologies, the men tried to work together. For instance, BR Ambedkar, who was an ardent critic of Gandhi’s stance against separate electorates which he felt would help Dalits, and the Congress, became the head of the drafting committee and the first law minister of independent India. What is less known are figures like Munda.
An ICS and hockey professional-turned-politician, and an ardent supporter of tribal rights, he critiqued the proposal of prohibition, associating it with tribal identity. The book cites a part of his speech: “In West Bengal, for instance, it would be impossible for paddy to be transplanted if the Santhal does not get his rice beer.
These ill-clad men, without even their barest wants satisfied, have to work knee-deep in water throughout the day, in drenching rain and in mud. What is it in the rice beer that keeps them alive? I wish the medical authorities in this country would carry out research in their laboratories to find out what it is that the rice beer contains, of which the Adivasis need so much, and which keeps them against all manner of diseases.”
Representation, debates
How did the Constituent Assembly come into being and who could be part of it? As the book reveals, the assembly attracted members who were elected from various provinces. The Congress, which had the largest member-share in the assembly, relied on either freedom fighters and/or representatives of provincial interests. Many non-Congress politicians like BR Ambedkar became part of it by being elected from provinces where they had the majority. To represent India’s diversity, members from India’s minority populations and 15 prominent women were inducted.
What was fiercely contested was the question of ensuring a ‘national language’ for the country. The book reveals that leaders like PD Tandon, KM Munshi, Ravi Shankar Shukla, and Sampurnanand advocated Hindi as the national language. Nehru, Abul Kalam Azad, and G Durgabai backed Hindustani, and Lakshmi Kanta Maitra batted for Sanskrit saying it was “the grandmother of all languages”.
Eventually it was decided to implement the ‘Munshi-Ayyangar formula’ which proposed Hindi in Devanagari script to be the official language of the union, and that English would be used in all official works for 15 years from the date the Constitution was adopted. Both languages were later allowed to continue as official languages.
The Constitution was finally signed by all the members of the assembly in 1950. Since then,it has been the guiding light of Indian democracy protecting the interests of citizens despite significant challenges.