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Nelson Mandela

Official policy of discrimination against the Blacks

1. It is an introductory part of the constitution. It is called the key of the Constitution. "We the people of India" means the constitution has been drawn up and enacted by the people through their representatives.

2. Secular means that citizens have complete freedom to follow any religion. But there is no official religion.

1. The makers of the Indian constitution had anxieties because making the constitution for a huge and diverse country like India was not an easy affair.

2. The country was born through partition on the basis of religious differences.

3. At least ten lakh people were killed on both sides of the border in partition related violence.

4. Another problem was that 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 to remain independent.

The apartheid system was particularly oppressive for the blacks. They were forbidden from living in white areas. They could work in white areas only if they had a permit. Trains, buses, taxis, hotels, hospitals, schools and colleges, swimming pools, public toilets etc. were all separate for the whites and blacks. They could not even visit the churches where the whites worshipped. Blacks could not form associations or protest against the terrible treatment.

The constitution of a country is a set of written rules that are accepted by all people living in that country. It is the supreme law that determines the relationship among the people living in a territory (called citizens) and also the relationship between the people and government. It specifies how the government will be constituted and who will have the power to take different decisions.

In his concluding speech to the Constituent Assembly Dr.Ambedkar said that India was entering a life of ‘contradictions’ on 26th Jan 1950. By this he meant that in politics Indians would have equality but in social and economic life, there would be inequality. In politics India would be recognising the principle of one man one vote, with one value, but in social and economic life, the principle of one man one value would be denied.

India is a country of many religions and it respects all religions. No religion is given the status of state religion and equal respect is given to all beliefs, faiths and practices. Citizens have complete freedom to follow any religion.

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. They urged the people to build a new South Africa based on equality of all races, and of men and women, on democratic values, social justice and human rights.

A constitution does many things to make a country a democratic one:

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

(ii) It specifies how the government will be constituted and who will have the power of taking which decisions.

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

(iv) It expresses the aspirations of the people about creating a good society.

Constitutional Amendments are changes in the constitution made by the Supreme Legislative body in a country. The constitution of India is a very long and detailed document. Therefore it needs to be amended quite regularly to keep it updated.

The oppressor and the oppressed, i.e. the whites and the blacks were planning to live together, as equals. It was not going to be easy for them to trust each other. They wanted to safeguard their interests. The only way to build and maintain trust was to write down some rules. This set of basic rules was the constitution needed for South Africa.

The answer is  (B) 26 April 19964

The answer is  (D) 1964

(a) This is not a true statement since the authority of the rules of the Constitution is much more than that of any other law.
(b) No, it is not correct because our Constitution lays down how different organs of the Government will be formed.
(c) This is a correct statement since in our Constitution rights of citizens and limits on the power of the government have been clearly laid down.
(d) A constitution is about institutions through which different values are being inculcated.

(a) The importance of this fact cannot be ignored. We should acknowledge that we learnt many good things from the British rulers and democracy was one of them.

(b) Freedom struggle was important in spreading the idea of nationalism in India and inculcating the practice of making decisions by consensus.

(c) We were indeed lucky that we did not have leaders who were autocratic. India’s freedom struggle is the only example of a bloodless freedom struggle in the contemporary history. This could be possible because our nationalist leaders had the maturity to listen to others’ views.

Both the options are plausible. If the existing constitution is proper then it can be amended to include more powers to elected representatives. If the existing constitution is full of loopholes, then a new constitution should be drafted. For this, a Constituent Assembly should be formed by including the elected representatives and they should collectively decide about a particular option.

Substantial social and economic rights

Protect its privileges and property

Motilal Nehru draft a Constitution for India in 1928.

Karachi was the 1931 session of Indian National Congress held.

Mahatma Gandhi

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

1. It is a set of written rules that are accepted by all the people of a country.

2. It is needed as it is the supreme law that determines the relationship among citizens of a country.

3. It defines how the government will be formed and also limits the powers of the government and defines the rights of the citizens.

1. The Indian Constitution is neither wholly flexible nor wholly rigid. It is partly rigid and partly flexible.

2. It is not as flexible as the British constitution is, nor as rigid as the American constitution is:

Some of the articles of the constitution can be amended by a simple majority of the parliament, e.g. changing the names of states, altering boundaries of states, matters relating to citizenship etc.

3. Some of the articles of the constitution can be amended with 2/3 majority of the members of parliament, e.g. the election of the president of India.

4. If any change in it is intended then it has to be passed first by a majority of the total members in each house of parliament.

The answer is (D) Government of India Act 1935