Musings on the Constitution-XXX Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan
Musings on the Constitution-XXX
Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan
“World over it is now being realised that a balanced gender representation in the legislative bodies may save the world from complex socio-economic problems effectively. Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent struggle for our independence for the first time created space for women to become equal partners in public life. As early as in 1930s, he famously stated that he would boycott the future legislature of India if it did not have enough women in it. Our freedom movement brought women to the centre stage of political and public life and produced a critical mass of women leaders at all the levels — local, provincial and national levels. These enlightened women joined the provincial legislative bodies under British India. Some of them became the Members of the Constituent Assembly, which has been described by Prof. Granville Austin as the most important event after Philadelphia Convention of the US in 1787.”
15 woman members of the Constituent Assembly
DR. V.K. AGNIHOTRI, April, 2012 Secretary-General Rajya Sabha.
Ammu Swaminathan or Ammukutty Swaminathan (22 April 1894 – 4 July 1978) was an Indian social worker and political activist during the Indian independence movement and a member of the Constituent Assembly of India. Ammukutty Swaminadhan was born into the Vadakkath family of Anakkara in Palghat district, Kerala. Her father, Govinda Menon, was a minor local official. Both of Ammu’s parents belonged to the Nair caste, and she was the youngest of their thirteen children, which included nine daughters. Ammu never went to school and received only a rudimentary education at home, which consisted of minimal reading and writing in Malayalam, cooking and keeping house, to prepare her for married life. She lost her father at a very young age, and her mother struggled to raise her children and arrange marriages for her many daughters. Resultantly, when Ammu was 13, her mother arranged an alliance for her which conformed to the Sambandam system which was well accepted in Kerala society at that time. Her spouse was Subbarama Swaminathan, a Brahmin who was more than twenty years older than Ammu.
Ammu’s life was transformed and blossomed under the tutelage of her husband. Subbarama Swaminathan both indulged and nurtured his much younger wife and encouraged her talents. He appointed tutors to teach her English and other subjects at home, and thus rectify to the extent possible the fact that she was uneducated. She soon became fluent in English, and the confidence which her husband’s support gave her meant that she also developed a forceful and wilful personality. Indeed she later came to dominate her husband thoroughly, because she was much younger and better-looking than him, and because she had a forceful personality. It was under her husband’s influence that Ammu became a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and took part in India’s struggle for independence. After independence, she served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India. It is definitely true that her main qualifications for this honour were her English language skills and the fact that she was a woman with a forceful, outspoken personality, at a time when few Indian women had even remote engagement with politics, but she did read out a few formal speeches and even intervened in some debates. In 1952, Ammu Swaminadhan was elected a member of the Rajya Sabha from Madras State. She was associated with several cultural and social organizations.
On 24th Nov, 1949, Ammu Swaminathan proudly got up as a member of the Constituent Assembly and said,
“Sir, the passing of this Constitution for an Independent India can be called without exaggeration the realisation of a great dream of four hundred million people. For so many years the people of this country had been working for this realisation and today we have actually got what we had been working for. The first picture which really comes into my mind when I stand here this afternoon is the picture of the great man, Mahatma Gandhi, who by years and years of untiring work made it possible for us today to be an independent country. I think if we are to deserve this Constitution we have to make up our minds to work it, into something alive and something that will be of benefit to every citizen of this country. I know that the Constitution gives us in the Fundamental Rights, equal status, adult franchise and has also provided for the removal of untouchability and things of that kind for which India had been fighting all these years. But all these things appearing on paper is not enough if we are to make this country happy and prosperous. We have to see that these ideas and ideals which are on paper in the Constitution are implemented by the people of this country…….
I feel that the Constitution actually rests on two pillars – Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy. The fundamental rights of the people of India are guaranteed in such matters as freedom of speech, association and worship. The last is a very vital question to the people of this country. The Hindus have always been known to be tolerant towards all religions and we have put that down in our Constitution so that there will be no mistake about it and nobody can say that our Constitution did not include freedom of worship to every citizen of this country. Now it is for us to see that this Constitution is worked properly so as to bring about the democratic State in India for which we had been working and hoping for and when we bring this about we must see that not only the rights are assured to every citizen but that he knows his duties and responsibilities towards the State. His freedom should be so used as to be of benefit to this country. Freedom is not to be used for doing anything that anyone likes. As it is so often said, freedom does not mean license……. A great many Members of this House have been praising this Constitution and there has been a certain amount of criticism also. There is one criticism which I would like to make and that is that this Constitution is to my mind a very long and a very bulky volume. I always imagined a constitution and still believe, to be a small volume which one could carry in one’s purse or pocket and not a huge big volume. There was no necessity to go into so many details as has been done here. All the details, I think, should have been left to the Government and the legislatures.
…….as it is I do think that it is a great piece of work and I would like to say that it has been a great joy and happiness to me to have been here as a Member of this Assembly when framing the Constitution of India and I hope that some of us will live to see that the Constitution becomes a real stronghold for human rights and it will be worked towards establishing a real democracy, so that there will be happiness and prosperity for everyone in India.
Equal right is a great thing and it is only fitting that it has been included in the Constitution. People outside have been saying that India did not give……..
(Author is practising advocate in the Madras High Court)
