Civics

 1. Match the following leaders with their roles in the making of the Constitution:

Motilal Nehru	President of the Constituent Assembly
B.R. Ambedkar	Member of the Constituent Assembly
Rajendra Prasad	Chairman of the Drafting Committee
Sarojini Naidu	Prepared a Constitution for India in 1928

Answer.

Motilal Nehru	Prepared a Constitution for India in 1928
B.R. Ambedkar	Chairman of the Drafting Committee
Rajendra Prasad	President of the Constituent Assembly
Sarojini Naidu	Member of the Constituent Assembly

2. Read again the extracts from Nehru’s speech ‘Tryst with Destiny’ and answer the following:

1. Why did Nehru use the expression “not wholly or in full measure” in the first sentence?
2. What pledge did he want the makers of the Indian Constitution to take?
3. “The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye”. Who was he referring to?

Answer.

1. Jawahar Lal Nehru in his speech, ‘Tryst with Destiny’ used the expression, ‘not wholly or in full measure’ as for him, nation-building was a challenging task which can’t be achieved overnight. Hence, he wanted nation-building to be a gradual process.
2. Nehru wanted makers of the Indian constitution to take a pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.
3. Nehru was referring to Mahatma Gandhi, the father of our nation.

3. Here are different opinions about what made India a democracy. How much importance would you give to each of these factors?

1. Democracy in India is a gift of the British rulers. We received training to work with representative legislative institutions under the British rule.
2. Freedom Struggle challenged the colonial exploitation and denial of different freedoms to Indians. Free India could not be anything but democratic.
3. We were lucky to have leaders who had democratic convictions. The denial of democracy in several other newly independent countries shows the important role of these leaders.

Answer.

1. Democracy was chosen as the prime value of our nation during the freedom struggle against the British. Yes, with the Indian Councils Act, Indians started participating in the councils and hence, their experiences paved the way for legislative institutions in independent India.
2. Freedom struggle did challenge the colonial exploitation but it worked for democracy by making laws with consensus and not imposing anything on anyone.
3. Our freedom struggle fought a bloodless struggle with tools like ‘Satyagraha’ and ‘Ahimsa.’ These struggles were undertaken to free India from the clutches of the British and give Indians the freedom they deserved.

4. Read the following extract from a conduct book for ‘married women’, published in 1912. ‘God has made the female species delicate and fragile both physically and emotionally, pitiably incapable of self-defence. They are destined thus by God to remain in male protection – of father, husband and son – all their lives. Women should, therefore, not despair, but feel obliged that they can dedicate themselves to the service of men’. Do you think the values expressed in this para reflected the values underlying our constitution? Or does this go against the constitutional values?

Answer.

The values expressed in the above-mentioned para do not reflect the values underlying our Constitution. Our constitution gives fundamental rights to each of its citizens regardless of gender, caste, sex, place of birth and religion. Women are given equal rights as men in our constitution through various Acts.