Constitutional Ideas of Gandhi and Ambedkar

02 Oct 2023 5 mins Download PDF

Constitutional Ideas of Gandhi and Ambedkar

Hind Swaraj: Gandhi’s constitutional ideas

1. Mahatma Gandhi presented an indigenous account of what the Constitution would look like in 1908.
2. Without decolonising the Constitution, India may become independent but would not have swaraj. 
3. Ousting British from India can lead to establishment of a new democratic government, but the nature of government would not change resulting in “English rule without the Englishman” and not “Hindustan but Englistan”.
4. A Swaraj constitution:
   1. Ideally based on ancient village republics as opposed to a large government in Delhi. 
   2. India would then remain united not because of constitution promised rights, but because Indians themselves consider it as their duty to forge a nation out of a people.
5. Gandhiji’s ardent follower Agarwal drafted such a constitution to put Hind Swaraj into action.
   1. It was less of a legal text and more a moral code.
   2. The rights to personhood, liberty and equality would be contingent on a duty to be faithful to the state.
   3. The problem lies, for instance, in how would a citizen have to demonstrate loyalty? And if they failed, how will they be punished? 

Handing it over to Ambedkar

1. Due to the problems inherent in the constitution that bore his name, he distanced himself from it.
2. Also, he persuaded Rajendra Prasad to appoint B.R. Ambedkar as the Chairperson of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution in August 1947. 
3. At that time, a progressive post-war constitution push was seen which was based on:
   1. A big state with the authority to ensure law and order
   2. Separation of powers to prevent overreach
   3. Range of fundamental rights to capture the global move towards universal human rights for all.
4. Ambedkar’s idea of the Constitution:
   1. India needed a powerful state machinery to ensure law and order as opposed to Gandhi’s view that a large state would be too distant from the people. 
   2. While Ambedkar believed that state would be duty-bound to manage the economy and control industries for the common good, Gandhi believed self-sustaining villages based on agriculture and cottage industry as the way forward.
   3. Ambedkar thought through fundamental rights for every individual, centuries of feudalism, sectarianism and casteism would be uprooted, but Gandhi thought history could not be undone by a policy document such as a constitution and it required individuals to change themselves.
5. Though Gandhiji held grave disagreement with each of Ambedkar’s visions, he accepted them as it enjoyed a wide consensus across party lines.