History · Ch 12 — Framing the Constitution — The Beginning of a New Era
“We will need much more than this Resolution”
“We will need much more than this Resolution”
The section opens with the Constituent Assembly’s adoption of the Objectives Resolution on 22 January 1947 — a document that laid down the guiding principles for India’s Constitution. Yet, as the chapter notes, this was only the beginning. The very next day, 23 January 1947, K. M. Munshi rose to speak and warned the Assembly that “We will need much more than this Resolution” — meaning that a mere statement of ideals, however noble, was insufficient. Munshi argued that the real challenge lay in translating those abstract p …
Source 5 — "There cannot be any divided loyalty". Govind Ballabh Pant, on the citizen and the State (CAD, Vol. II):
For the success of democracy one must train himself in the art of self-discipline. In democracies one should care less for himself and more for others. There cannot be any divided loyalty. All loyalties must exclusively be centred round the State. If in a democracy, you create rival loyalties, or you create a system in which any individual or group, instead of suppressing his extravagance, cares nought for larger or other interests, then democracy is doomed. …
Source 6 — "The real minorities are the masses of this country". N.G. Ranga, a socialist and peasant leader, welcoming the Objectives Resolution (CAD, Vol. II):
Sir, there is a lot of talk about minorities. Who are the real minorities? Not the Hindus in the so-called Pakistan provinces, not the Sikhs, not even the Muslims. No, the real minorities are the masses of this country. These people are so depressed and oppressed and suppressed till now that they are not able to take advantage of the ordinary civil rights … You go to the tribal areas … our merchants go there, and in the so-called free market they are able to snatch their lands … There goes the money-lender … the landlord himself, the zamindar … who are able to exploit these poor villagers … These are the real minorities that need protection … we will need much more than this Resolution. …