Revisiting Our Constitution

day one. This has its own history. Are these questions there because of an ignorance of the constitution? If so, then this book opens the windows and doors of a constitution which has satirically been described a 'paradise for lawyers'. It creates the possibility for vital air. From the experience of the editors can say that even big lawyers are ignorant about the constitution because it is extremely complex. How can it become comprehensible? Anyone desirous of solving this question will find more than sufficient material in this book. The complexity of the constitution is another reason why it could not become a beloved text for the ordinary citizen. The way a citizen believes in his religious book, the constitution should be the religious text of the system of governance. Until this does not happen, deliberations should continue. Any discussion is only germane and successful when it addresses the core question which is how can the fundamental issue regarding the constitution of India be recognised for discussions? The answer to this is extremely simple.India has its own character, its own culture and it also has its own distortions. We can only understand our distortions and character under the torchlight of our culture.It is under this light that we have to create our present times. Our current constitution ascertains the religion of our state. How Indian or un-Indian is this constitution, basically? The process of the formation of this constitution should be put to test on the basis of logic and its past and present should be studied. This is why this book: Revisiting Our Constitution. This book is a collection of well-researched essays that brainstorm about the constitution. Academic endeavours have been made in this book to examine and perceive the constitution from the perspective of 'Ram Rajya'. A single-government system emerges from the constitution. Ram Rajya has been considered the supreme ideal of any government system in India. Mahatma Gandhi had also stated that Ram Rajya was the goal of Independent India. On the sesquicentennial year of Gandhi, noted academic journal Manthan has taken up a responsibility and that is a review of the journey of India's constitution. This effort is not as simple and easy as is believed. In actual fact it is difficult, complex.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ContentsPreface/Intro —Pgs. 71. Constitution of India: The Inside Story —Ram Bahadur Rai —Pgs. 152. Politico-Ideological Foundations of Constitutionalising India —Prof. Bidyut Chakraborty —Pgs. 393. Constitutional Democracy and Basic Structure Doctrine —Ravi Shankar Prasad —Pgs. 494. Indian Constitution and Federalism —Prof. Rekha Saxena —Pgs. 655. Parliamentary Democracy: Our Constitution and its Implementation —Sumitra Mahajan —Pgs. 796. Parliamentary System and Gram Swarajya —Dr. Chandrashekhar Pran —Pgs. 867. Cooperative Constitutional Reform through Institutional Dialogue —Govind Goel —Pgs. 978. Indian Constitution and Social Justice —Dr. O.P. Shukla —Pgs. 1169. Constitution of India and Princely States —Devesh Khandelval —Pgs. 13810. 'Minority' in Indian Constitution —Ashutosh Kumar Jha —Pgs. 14911. History of Struggle for Women's Rights in India —Alisha Dhingra —Pgs. 16012. Indian Constitution and Institution of Family —Prof. Bhagwati Prakash Sharma —Pgs. 17213. Saga of a Struggle: The ised Hindi Text of Our Constitution —Brij Kishore Sharma —Pgs. 18014. Colonial Background of Indian Constitution and Some Immediate Correctives —J.K. Bajaj —Pgs. 19115. Political Parties, the Constitution and the Election Commission —S.Y. Quraishi —Pgs. 21016. The Constitution and Official Language —Brij Kishore Sharma —Pgs. 21917. The First Copy of the Constitution: An Artistic Introduction —Jawaharlal Kaul —Pgs. 22818. Indian Constitution and Mahatma Gandhi —Dr. Ramesh Bharadwaj —Pgs. 23519. Constituent Assembly and Indian Socialists —Dr. Anand Kumar —Pgs. 24620. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Constitution —Some Aspects —Prof. Vijay K. Kayat —Pgs. 25221. Constitution of India and Dr. Rammanohar Lohia —Raghu Thakur —Pgs. 25822. The Making of Indian Constitution and Deendayal Upadhyaya —Dr. Mahesh Chandra Sharma —Pgs. 26423. Elections are Important but not Enough —Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe —Pgs. 271Historic Speeches in the Constituent Assembly24. A Free India can be Nothing but a Republic —Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru —Pgs. 28125. Revolutionary Changes Possible —Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan —Pgs. 29526. No Reference to Our Culture —Dr. Raghu Vira —Pgs. 30427. Constitution Embodies the Views of the Present Generation —Dr. B.R. Ambedkar —Pgs. 31128. A Law-giver Requires Intellectual Equipment —Dr. Rajendra Prasad —Pgs. 326