[Photos courtesy We, The People Abhiyan]
Stories have the power to transform, and one story transformed me as I sat in a garage one summer afternoon in Delhi. At that time, I had already worked for 16 years in the social development sector on improving rural livelihoods. I sat with a friend who told me the story of how the Preamble to our Constitution came to be a pledge taken by “We, the People of India”. We sat poring over the one long sentence that forms the Preamble, starting with “We, the People of India” and ending with “adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution”. Between these two phrases is the “solemn resolve” of securing and promoting justice, equality, liberty, and fraternity for everyone. The framing of the sentence stirred me, clearly an invocation for each of us to play our part in creating a society based on these values. It became evident that whatever I did, at work or in my home or with friends, I had to consciously ensure that I was pushing the needle towards equality, justice, and freedom—not just for me but for each of us.
[Source:Legislative Department]
But the interesting thing is that this brave declaration by We, the People almost missed starting in this way. When the text of the Preamble came up for discussion in October 1949, the Constituent Assembly had already completed substantive parts of the Constitution. Now was the time to write its essence and spirit, as it were. There was a fair amount of consensus that We, the People of India should be mentioned in the Preamble as the Assembly clearly saw themselves as working on behalf of the people of India. But there was heated debate on how the sentence should start. H V Kamath proposed that it should start with “In the name of God”. Shibban Lal Saxena felt that in addition to invoking God, the Preamble must include Mahatma Gandhi’s name right after. There was some consternation on the part of Rohini Kumar Chaudhury for not including Goddess. While stressing that he was a believer in God, A. Thanu Pillai raised the concern that mentioning God in the Preamble would affect the fundamental right of freedom of faith. He suggested that every person has the right to believe in God or not. Ambedkar clarified that the drafting committee viewed the text as a declaration by the people of India so it made sense to have them take the oath, giving to themselves the Constitution. So finally, after all this debate, it was decided that the Preamble would start as an oath taken by We, the People of India.
The power of collective ownership
To me, as an Indian looking at it decades later, it makes perfect sense. The words “We, the People” give us power, ownership, and a sense of collective. It tells us that it’s up to us. No matter how bleak things look, it is finally up to us to make them better.
In 2010, I set up a non-profit, We The People Abhiyan, devoted to the cause of helping citizens practice their constitutional role, power, and responsibility. This has meant facilitating hundreds of workshops and trainings, mostly in rural India, and mostly with people from marginalised communities. It has meant creating videos, using audio recordings, presenting the Constitution and its making in simple ways that people can make sense of and use in their context, to solve problems and make sustainable improvements.
Stories from the making of the Constitution are the forgotten tales that I have used time and again—to inform, inspire and galvanise action. Like when I stood in the middle of about 25 women in rural Haryana. Most of the women had covered their heads. We were discussing gender equality. I wanted to start the conversation with something that they could relate to in their lives, something that resembled equality. So, I said to them that I had completed my graduation and then studied for two more degrees. So, I had the right to three votes. But people who were not educated got only one vote. The more educated you are, the more votes you get in any election. At first, there was a stunned silence. It took them a minute to process what I was saying and then an older lady got up and said that’s not true. Every person in this country gets one vote—one person, one vote. She said it with clear confidence and then all the women joined her and called out my bluff. We laughed together and then settled down to the story of how our right to vote was debated and decided in the Constituent Assembly nearly 75 years back.
[With some of the women participants in Jharkhand]
[Training of maulanas from different parts of the country.]
Adult suffrage and the will of the nation
The discussion on who gets the right to vote was a critical one. The Drafting Committee proposed that the general election in the country would take place by universal adult franchise, that is, everybody despite their caste, religion, gender, or educational background would have the right to vote. If this would go through, India would be amongst the first countries to give the right to vote to its whole populace at once. Even the USA gave the right to vote to women almost 133 years after their Constitution was made. But this proposal met with some disagreement. Pandit Thakur Dass Bhargava worried about the sheer magnitude of the effort to bring nearly 12 crore voters onboard. He suggested that for the first ten years, the right to vote should be limited to literate people. For others like Brajeshwar Prasad, and K T Shah, education was a minimum requirement for a democracy.
On the other hand, members like Krishna Chandra Sharma felt that only with adult suffrage would the legislature express the will of the nation as a whole. That was indeed abundantly true for that time. With literacy hovering around 11%, huge swathes of the Indian population would most certainly be excluded. Kamlapati Tiwari reminded everyone of what was at stake. He said passionately, “If we had not provided an adult franchise what else could we have provided for? Years of freedom struggle and revolt against foreign rule led to India’s independence and the constitution-making project. And adopting democracy and the adult franchise was not a novel but a natural choice.” Out of the 300 members, there were 15 women. They spoke consistently of equality as a basic principle for democracy and demanded that all people, men and women, must at once get the right to vote. And so it came to pass. Today, each adult citizen of India has an equal and undeniable right to vote: one person, one vote.
This story never ceases to stun. The scenario that women very nearly did not have this basic right, that 15 women in the Constituent Assembly fought for their rights, prompts intense discussion. It pushes women to stand up and make their voices count in their homes, at work and in the community. It motivates them to find out when the next Panchayat meeting is, and participate, and speak about the problems they are facing and work towards addressing them.
[During a training session in Gujarat, people write their understanding of the words in the Preamble.]
We, the People
Another story prompts deep reflection on diversity and inclusion. And that story is on the composition of the Constituent Assembly. The members represented vast diversity in regions, political parties, languages, castes, tribes, genders, professions, and religions. There were representatives from the Indian National Congress, Muslim League, Unionist party, Unionist Party (Muslims), Scheduled Caste Federation, Jan Sangh, Communist Party of India, among others. There were Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, Christians, Scheduled castes, and tribes, speaking a plethora of languages. There were lawyers, industrialists, social workers, politicians, activists, teachers, farmers, etc. This comes as a shock to people who believe that the Constitution was made by the sole contribution of Babasaheb Ambedkar. And then when they find that their community or region or religion was represented, there is a realisation that their interests had been considered. The Constitution then goes from “it's a document for them to… it is a document for us all”.
This then is the magic of the stories of the making of our Constitution. They remind us of the dilemmas we faced as an emerging nation, and of the values we stood by in the face of all odds. They force us to remember that the things we take for granted today have come from debate, negotiation, and intense struggle. And they invite and exhort us to practice our pledge as We, the People of India, each day, wherever we may be and whatever we may do.
Curated list of large and small initiatives on constitutional awareness
Ambedkar National Memorial
26, Alipur Road, Civil Lines Near Vidhan Sabha, New Delhi, Delhi 110054
[Photo source: Dr Ambedkar National Memorial]
Dedicated to the life and legacy of B R Ambedkar, it has a substantive section on the Constitution.
Gallery on the Constitution, Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya
Teen Murti Marg, New Delhi 110011, New Delhi
[Photo source: Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya]
The PM museum fittingly begins with a gallery on the Constitution, from where all PMs derive their powers and duties.
Constitution Museum, Jindal University
Sonipat, Haryana
A newly opened museum entirely devoted to the Constitution as the basic book of law.
Supreme Court Museum
Supreme Court, New Delhi
[Photo Source: Supreme Court of India]
The museum focuses on the system of law. It also has original papers related to landmark judgements and judicial interpretations that have shaped India.
Installations in 100 gram panchayats in three districts
Kollam, Kottayam and Thrissur have constructed installations of the Preamble. This is part of an initiative by the Kerala Institute of Local Administration. In fact, Kollam is the only Constitution Literate district in India.
Constitution Park, Pune
S. M. Joshi Socialist Foundation, Navipeth Pune
[Photo source: PIB]
The park was jointly developed by the Indian Army and Punit Balan Group. It displays artwork from 22 chapter of the Constitution along the curved wall of Clock Tower.
Samvidhan Samta Dindi
From Phulewada Ganjpeth Pune to Pandharpur
This is part of a yatra taken by Warkaris (devotees) in honour of the Hindu god, Vitthal. It focuses on the universal values of brotherhood and equity that Hindu saints like Tukaram stood for and their intersection with constitutional values.
This is part of a religious yatra mostly undertaken in the last week of June for 15 days.
Samvidhan Gallery
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar National Memorial, Mahad, Raigad, Maharashtra
and Sajani Gampanchayat, Tal, Hatkalngne, Kolhapur
Contains artefacts and posters related to the Constitution
Samvidhan Mahotsav
Panvel Khanda Colony, Panvel, Raigad
Celebrated on 26th November, this festival brings the Constitution alive through exhibitions, games, events, songs and dances.
Samvidhan Katta
Ulave, Raigad, Maharashtra and S M Joshi Socialist Foundation, Pune
These are installations of the Preamble around which discussions on the Constitution are held.
Samvidhan Nilyam
Balia, Uttar Pradesh
This is a library for rural children and youth devoted to understanding the Constitution.
In addition, in Rajasthan and Jharkhand and in other parts of the country, installations and copies of the Preamble have been put up in chaupals, street corners, and within institutions.
Marking 75 years of the Constitution this year, several events are being organised. The two photos above are from one such event, Hamari Virasat in Mumbai. It was an exhibition of 75 craft panels created by 75 artisan groups depicting constitutional values of equality, liberty, justice and fraternity.
Dig Deeper
For more resources on making of the Constitution
A non-profit website dedicated to understanding the Constitution
We, The People Abhiyan: Making of the Indian Constitution
A non-profit creating different artifacts related to the making of the Constitution
Samvidhaan - a 10 episode series by Shyam Benegal
21 Places that define India@75 by Founding Fuel
