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Objectives Resolution in Constituent Assembly

When Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution in the Constituent Assembly, he captured the vision of Republic outlined by Gandhi.

In fact, that Objectives Resolution, among others, proclaimed that power would be derived from the people; they would secure justice, equality and all the freedoms be it the freedom of thought, expression, faith, association etc.

It also provided, “adequate safeguards…for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and depressed and other backward classes”.

Ambedkar’s vision of Republic

Ambedkar said in the Constituent Assembly that India would get real independence on 26th January 1950. While Nehru gave the inclusive and progressive contents to the emerging Republic of India, Ambedkar made very sharp and pertinent observations which are of contemporary significance.

He pointed out that there was inadequate representation of Muslims in the Assembly and therefore, raised a substantive point that sovereignty to be derived from people would have no meaning if there remained insufficient representation of Muslims.

While doing so, he pinned faith on the “future evolution and the ultimate shape of the social, political and economic structure of this great country.”

Even while candidly admitting that India was divided politically, socially and economically and accepting that several Members of the Constituent Assembly belonged to a “group of warring camps” and he himself was one of the leaders of such a camp, he was convinced that given time and circumstances, nothing in the world would prevent India from becoming united.

“With all our castes and creeds, I have not the slightest hesitation that we shall in some form be a united people,” he said.

He even claimed, “…notwithstanding the agitation of the Muslim League for the partition of India, someday enough light would dawn upon the Muslims themselves and they too will begin to think that a United India is better even for them”.

However, he referred to the situation prevailing in India in the late 1940s and said, “Our difficulty is how to make the heterogeneous mass that we have today take a decision in common and march on the way which leads us to unity.”