"Constitution is not mere a lawyers document, It is a vehicle of life, & It's spirit shall always be the spirit of ages, If I find the Constitution being misused, I shall be the first to burn it". - Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (Constituent assembly debates 1949)

It takes courage to take responsibility for stabilizing the pivot of the "fundamental law of the land" of a newborn chaotic nation, but rather it takes even more courage of taking whole responsibility, despite all antagonism, Singularly, to create a future, on shackles of the distorted present. At the stroke of the midnight hour, on the 15th of August 1947, when the world was in deep sleep, India was awakened to life and freedom. The biggest challenge of the time was to establish law & order, to give Ourselves a constitution. Who other could have been the best choice than the most capable person in the assembly - Dr. B. R. Ambedkar himself.

On the basis of several reports by various Working Committees in the pre-independence era, the Constitutional Adviser Sir Benegal Narsing Rou, submitted a draft of the constitution by the end of October 1947. In order to consider this draft, the Drafting Committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Ambedkar, who was a law minister at that time, was set up.

Although Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was not the prior choice for all members of the provisional parliament, Owing to Dr. Ambedkar's image as a “leader of deprived class” & “stringent voice” against dominant trends in society. They were limited by the imagination that if the responsibility of drafting the constitution is given to Dr. Ambedkar, he will go in favour of the deprived and against the dominant faiths, making it an unbalanced constitution. But Dr. Ambedkar proved all the voices taciturn by his unequivocal and unrenderable devotion towards equality in society by even compromising on his own values to satisfy the divergent but promising opinions in Constituent assembly debates.

With the help of other members of the Committee, who were Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, N.G. Ayyangar, K.M. Munshi, Sir. B. N. Mitter, Sayyid Mohammad Sadulla, and T. T. Krishnamachari, chairman Dr. Ambedkar prepared the first draft. In light of Comments and Criticisms from the provisional parliament, a second draft was prepared. It Consisted of 315 Articles and 9 Schedules. The introduction of the final draft was followed by the first reading from November 4th to November 9th, 1948. The second and brief reading was a clause by clause discussion summoned from November 15th, 1948 till October 1949. The November 14th initiated the final reading which was Adjourned on the 26th day of November 1949 with the adoption of our Constitution having 395 articles and 8 schedules. The constitutional government officially commenced on 26th January 1950.

The journey of preparing a constitution was not just another authorship of a legal draft. It was the journey of providing legal backing to the voice of even the last person in the queue. Even individually, this journey was the journey of self-illumination, realization, and enlightenment for Dr. Ambedkar. This journey made him much more than a beloved barrister of the masses to the global genius, and mind behind the most sophisticated Constitution of the world.

Preparing the world's longest written Constitution, Owing to the Country's Size and diversity, was a behemoth task. Total extensive work of more than 11 months and 18 days, at a total expenditure of rupees 64 lakhs, the Constitution was written by Dr. Ambedkar by Ransacking all the known Constitutions of the world. Government of India act 1935 provided the structural base, the American Constitution provided inspiration to fundamental rights, Irish Constitution inspired Directive principles of state policy, British Constitution inspired political part, while other sources were, Canadian, French, U.S.S.R., Japanese and Constitution of Weimar 1 republic.

Our Constitution became a unique blend of Rigidity and flexibility, with many “firsts” attached to it. It remained federal in form, but unitary in spirit, becoming the first constitution of the world to grant Universal adult Franchise, that is, equal right to vote, to each and every citizen, irrespective of race, religion, caste, gender, education or wealth, since its adoption. This was rather the boldest step supported by the due conscience of Dr. Ambedkar, to trust the wisdom of the masses. Art 17, Part 3 of the Constitution made "Untouchability” of any form, forbidden. Art 21 provided protection for the life and personal liberty of each and every person in this Country. Constitution provided for an independent but integrated judiciary, strong legislature, and cooperative executives. It is kept in place for due checks and balances. The constitution reflected the dream of the makers.

Answering all the Criticism, Dr. Ambedkar once Said, " We haven't made the best Constitution in the world, we just made it with much flexibility to serve the aspiration of the dynamic age, but kept it much rigid so that the basic structure, moral & Soul will remain Inevitable! "

Along with the main draft, there were many recommendations provided by Dr. Ambedkar but they could not find their place in the final draft due to differences of opinion between him and other prominent members of the assembly, just to quote an example when professor K.T. Shah raised a point that ‘every minister, before joining the cabinet, shall give details of his property’, Dr. Ambedkar argued that “In that case, Minister must also give such details on leaving the office, so that he will remain answerable to any unreasonable increase in wealth, by such way, any ill-gotten wealth can be tracked”. Although such provisions could not stand the demand of those times., those preventive measures could have been revolutionary in their sphere of influence as a pre-emptive step, stabilizing present Anti-corruption legislations.

Even after the tremendous amount of time, energy and mind burning he had done, he neither took any credit to himself nor forgot to submit his kind gratitude to Sir Benegal Narsing Rou, Mr. Motilal Nehru, and many others for their pivotal efforts and thoughts that India shall have a constitution, free from any external influences, by our people, for our people. As he firmly believed that the best government is the government that rests upon the people it governs, not upon the majority, neither wealth nor authority, but on the free public opinion. He believed that the nation's work is not done yet, and “The third thing we must do is not be content with mere political democracy. We must note that our political democracy can not last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy. What does social democracy mean? It means a way of life which recognizes liberty, equality, and fraternity as the principles of life.”

Winston Churchill was the one who used to laugh at the idea of an independent India, as quote "If Independence is granted to India, power will go to the hands of rascals, Rogues, freebooters, all Indian leaders will be of low caliber and men of straw. They will fight amongst themselves for power and India will be lost in political squabbles. A day would come when even oxygen and water would be taxed in India”, my answer to him stands loud and clear, while all major democracies Continue to Scramble, India is the nation whose constitution Survived the decades of storms and mist, but still stands relevant.

University of Chicago School of law concluded that on average, a constitution Survives around 17 years, for validation, France had 14 constitutions to date, Mexico had 5 and Pakistan had about 3 constitutions till now, But Indian Constitution stands firm even after surpassing 72 Years and Counting. Only because it is the result of the day & night efforts of the Bharat Ratna, Dr. Ambedkar.

As the nation is celebrating its stronghold, the Aazadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, 75 years of our Glorious democracy, the strongest ounce we owe is to Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, as despite provoking and provocative, his life is a symbolic instructive to everyone who yarns for human dignity. He proved himself not only as of the voice of the downtrodden but also the timeless leader we are proud of.

Lastly, what better can I do, instead of conveying a message from Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar himself, that, “law is not autonomous, it is deeply embedded within the society, it Orders the behavior of Individuals, Orders the power of government and Orders the Contestation of the ethics.” We shall not only shout slogans or take rallies to Commemorate it, we shall understand its heart and soul.

“ Whatever the Constitution may or may not provide, the welfare of Country will depend upon the men who administer it and those who reside".

Jai Hind...!

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