Architect of India's constitution
- The chairman of the constitution drafting committee
: B. R. Ambedkar
Despite his increasing unpopularity, controversial
views, and intense criticism of Gandhi and the Congress, Ambedkar
was by reputation an exemplary jurist and scholar. Upon India's
independence on August 15, 1947, the new Congress-led government
invited Ambedkar to serve as the nation's first law minister,
which he accepted. On August 29, Ambedkar was appointed chairman
of the Constitution Drafting Committee, charged by the Assembly
to write free India's new Constitution. Ambedkar won great
praise from his colleagues and contemporary observers for
his drafting work. In this task Ambedkar's study of sangha
practice among early Buddhists and his extensive reading in
Buddhist scriptures was to come to his aid. Sangha practice
incorporated voting by ballot, rules of debate and precedence
and the use of agendas, committees and proposals to conduct
business. Sangha practice itself was modelled on the oligarchic
system of governance followed by tribal republics of ancient
India such as the Shakyas and the Lichchavis. Thus, although
Ambedkar used Western models to give his Constitution shape,
its spirit was Indian and, indeed, tribal.
The text prepared by Ambedkar provided constitutional
guarantees and protections for a wide range of civil liberties
for individual citizens, including freedom of religion, the
abolition of untouchability and the outlawing of all forms
of discrimination. Ambedkar argued for extensive economic
and social rights for women, and also won the Assembly's support
for introducing a system of reservations of jobs in the civil
services, schools and colleges for members of scheduled castes
and scheduled tribes, a system akin to affirmative action.
India's lawmakers hoped to eradicate the socio-economic inequalities
and lack of opportunities for India's depressed classes through
this measure, which had been originally envisioned as temporary
on a need basis. The Constitution was adopted on November
26, 1949 by the Constituent Assembly. Speaking after the completion
of his work, Ambedkar said:
I feel that the Constitution is workable;
it is flexible and it is strong enough to hold the country
together both in peace time and in war time. Indeed, if I
may say so, if things go wrong under the new Constitution
the reason will not be that we had a bad Constitution. What
we will have to say is that Man was vile.
Ambedkar resigned from the cabinet in 1951
following the stalling in parliament of his draft of the Hindu
Code Bill, which sought to expound gender equality in the
laws of inheritance, marriage and the economy. Although supported
by Prime Minister Nehru, the cabinet and many other Congress
leaders, it received criticism from a large number of members
of parliament. Ambedkar independently contested an election
in 1952 to the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha but
was defeated. He was appointed to the upper house of parliament,
the Rajya Sabha in March 1952 and would remain a member until
his death.
