Understanding Constitution-Why We Need It-An Indian Perspective

History

In ancient times, when humans were living in the dynasties of different sizes, backgrounds, cultures, races and beliefs and when there was no organised country like structures then the moral codes of behaviour among the citizens of communities were imparted verbally in local congregations.

The religious clerics of that particular community often passed such ethical values through their discourses. These set of laws, values and ethics helped to overcome inter as well as intra-community conflicts. In the Gurukul system of India, moral education was being imparted in a formal education system.

Various dynasties were ruling in different regions of the world. Some dynasties witnessed peaceful relations among them, others saw a range of conflicts too. Some dynasties suffered brutally from foreign invasions. Their cultural traditions and social structures suffered a great loss. Many of them made agreements to fight together for their interests. This sense of working together for shared beliefs and ideas brought a sense of togetherness among these regional dynasties and communities. As you may have heard the famous Indian Revolt of 1857, was started to kick out colonial rule from India. This shared vision of independence pushed many communities and cultural backgrounds to come together against colonialism.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the Indian national movement had been active in the struggle for independence from British rule for several decades. During the freedom struggle, the nationalists had devoted a great deal of time to imagining and planning what a free India would be like. The long experience of authoritarian rule under the colonial state convinced Indians that free India should be a democracy in which everyone should be treated equally and be allowed to participate in government. What remained to be done then was to work out how a democratic government would be set up in India and the rules that would determine its functioning.

These members of the Constituent Assembly had a huge task before them. The country was made up of several different communities who spoke different languages belonged to different religions and had distinct cultures. Also, when the Constitution was being written, India was going through considerable turmoil. The partition of the country into India and Pakistan was imminent, some of the Princely States remained undecided about their future, and the socio-economic condition of the vast mass of people appeared dismal. All of these issues played on the minds of the members of the Constituent Assembly as they drafted the Constitution.

They rose to the occasion and gave this country a visionary document that reflects a respect for maintaining diversity while preserving national unity. The final document also reflects their concern for eradicating poverty through socio-economic reforms as well as emphasising the crucial role the people can play in choosing their representatives.

Understanding Constitution-

As you know that the rules of any game are fundamental to that particular game and also distinguish it to other games. We also call them the constitutive rules as they are the constituents of that wholeness. Like these games, society also has constitutive rules that make it what it is and differentiate it from other kinds of societies. In large societies in which different communities of people live together, these rules are formulated through consensus, and in modern countries, this consensus is usually available in written form. A written document in which we find such rules is called a Constitution.

Why We Need It–

It lays out certain ideals that form the basis of the kind of country that we as citizens aspire to live in that means it tells us about the fundamental nature of our society.
It constructs the shared vision for the governance of their country, not only the type of government but also an agreement on certain ideals that they all believe the country should uphold.
The other significant reason why we need a Constitution is to save us from ourselves. It does
not allow for the easy overthrow of provisions that guarantee the rights of citizens and protect their freedom.
we need constitutions to check the tyranny of a majoritarian, democratic state.