Musings on the Constitution-LX Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan-A Constitution for the Demons

Musings on the Constitution-LX
Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan

It may suffice to quote the man Ambedkar and leave it to the reader to judge, as he or she may.

I Shall be the First Person to Burn It Out
It is by placating the sentiments of smaller communities and smaller people who are afraid that the majority may do wrong, that the British Parliament works. Sir, my friends tell me that I have made the Constitution. But I am quite prepared to say that I shall be the first person to burn it out. I do not want it. It does not suit anybody. But whatever that may be, if our people want to carry on, they must not forget that there are majorities and there are minorities, and they simply cannot ignore the minorities by saying, “Oh, no. To recognise you is to harm democracy.” I should say that the greatest harm will come by injuring the minorities.
-Dr BR Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha on 2 September 1953

A Constitution for the Demons

Two years later, on 19 March 1955, Dr Anup Singh, a Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, brought up Ambedkar’s remark, when the Fourth Amendment Bill was being discussed. Dr Singh asked, “Last time when you spoke, you said that you would burn the Constitution.”

Do you want a reply to that? I would give it to you right here. My friend says that the last time when I spoke, I said that I wanted to burn the Constitution. Well, in a hurry I did not explain the reason. Now that my friend has given me the opportunity, I think I shall give the reason. The reason is this: We built a temple for god to come in and reside, but before the god could be installed, if the devil had taken possession of it, what else could we do except destroy the temple? We did not intend that it should be occupied by the Asuras. We intended it to be occupied by the Devas. That’s the reason why I said I would rather like to burn it.
-Dr BR Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha on 19 March 1955

That surely was a fascinating aside. Back to basics. There were just two copies of the Constitution made in original. One in English and another in Hindi and the two copies were signed by the members of the Constituent Assembly. The English version today contains 444 Articles in 12 Parts, 12 Schedules and 103 Amendments made till Jan,2020, captured in 1,17, 369 words. It obviously ranks as the longest Constitution in any democratic polity. Both the English and Hindi versions were handwritten.

The lucky one who got to write the two handwritten versions was Prem Behari Narain Raizada. He was the calligrapher whom Jawaharlal Nehru approached to write the Constitution in italic calligraphic style. Raizada was born on 17th Dec, 1901 and he belonged to a family of calligraphics. He was orphaned at school and was brought by his grandparents. He studied in St Stephens Delhi and agreed to write on two conditions. 1. He will not accept any honorarium 2. He must be allowed to put his signature on every page and his grandfather’s name – Ram Parshad Saxena- on the last page. He was allotted a room in the House- which is now named Constitution Club, and his conditions were accepted.

The originals were written on parchment sheets measuring 16×22 inches. It is estimated that they have a life span of over one thousand years. Calligraphy is the art of decorative handwriting with resort to pen or a painting brush. The completed manuscript in beautiful italic calligraphic handwriting of Raizad had 251 pages each and weighed 3.75 kgs. Raizada has used ‘432 pen holder bibs’ for accomplishing the task of writing the Indian Constitution. The nibs were affixed to a wooden holder and dipped in ink-pot for the writing.

Examples of nibs used by Shri Prem Behari to hand-write the constitution.

As we have already noted the 2 original copies of the Indian Constitution were ‘designed’ by the team of famous painter Nandlal Bose and his students from Tagore’s Shanthiniketan. They set to work on the borders capturing the historical and cultural legacy of India over millenia. The Preamble page was notably was left to the skill and hands of artist BeoharRammanohar Sinha. The originals as they are, are kept in a safe were beautified by those artists and the handwriting of Raizada enhanced it. The first of the signatures to the completed manuscript was affixed by then our first President Bapu Rajendra Prasad and the last of the signatures by Feroze Gandhi, as President of the Constituent Assembly, son in law of Nehru.

The constitution of India as a work of art

The two originals,in English and Hindi, are in safe custody in the helium filled cases in the Library of Parliament if India. The Assembly met in 11 sessions amidst – India’s Independence, partition, violence of communal clashes and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The 11th and final session took place between 14th Nov and 26th Nov,1949- and on the last day- the final draft became ready. It is a matter of record that 284 out of 299 members in all had signed the final draft and it was set to be implemented on and from 26th Jan,1950. The national emblem of India- which is a variation of the original representation of Lion Capital of Asoka, picked fir adoption in Dec,1947- was chosen in its present form for adoption from 26th Jan ,1950.

It is true that our Founders did not hesitate to borrow from Constitutions, the world over, so much so, ours came to be called as a ‘bag of borrowings’. But, it was not all borrowed. Our native wisdom, training and experience cane in handy. For instance, the Indian Constitution evolved out of the Government of India Act,1935. The principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity enshrined ours was a take off from the French.

We were a ‘Socialist’ democracy even if the expressed got included in the Preamble only in 1975/76 vide the 42nd Amendment during the infamous Internal Emergency years of Madam Indira Gandhi. So, our precept and practice of 5 year plans were borrowed from the then USSR. Now, of course our Planning Commission is history, having been replaced by a NitiAayog. Forget not,thd heavily debated provision relating to proclamation of Internal Emergency and suspension of fundamental rights during such period war from the Weimar Constitution. Of Germany, which brought Adolf Hitler to power.

Interestingly, instead of following the American example of Supreme Court and ‘due process clause’ our framers chose to to Japan and also tweaked to have our ‘procedure established by law’ novelty. The opening lines or expression ‘ We The People’ were a plagiarised take off from the US Constitution, which was put there by their James Wilson, after exploring and experimenting with many other variants.

The amending power of the Parliament was a huge issue at the time of debates. The Constitution was meant to survive many a vicissitude. The Constituent Assembly got dissolved after the final draft of the Constitution was adopted on 26th Nov, 1949. The Constitution cannot be an immutable or immanent object. It needed to change and ‘evolve’ as time passed. We the People then thought and put provisions they perceived as fit and proper. But, they cannot enact forever.

The US Constitution has stayed out for over 200 years. But the Founders did provide for an amending power- though made it a difficult task- requiring 2/3rds of both House of Representatives and Senate of the US Congress to approve and then requiring ratification by 3/4 of the 50 States. Similarly, we have ours under Art.368 requiring a 2/3rds majority. But the use of the expression ‘amend’ itself presupposed the existence of a shell or a frame or a foundation. Obviously, Parliament has to face limits to its remit to power to ‘amend’. That was a fierce debate which commenced in Golaknath and possibly ended in Kesavanand Bharati, is one helluva tale with stories and stories about the actors and the screenplay on the Essential Feature or Basic Structure of the Constitution.

What our framers thought and what our Parliamentarians wanted and what Nan iPalkhivala decided boy ought to be, is one mouth watering story of its own, offering alluring ammunition for more of these Musings. (possibly to the dismay and disgust of any/many. But, you have the most powerful remote or delete in your hand to use to ward of the evil and unsolicited invasion of these missives). Watch this space.

(Author is practising advocate in the Madras High Court)