Solution of Chapter 10. The Philosophy of the Constitution (Indian Constitution at Work Book)

The following are certain laws. Are they connected with any value? If yes, then what is the underlying value? Give reasons.

A. Both daughters and sons will have share in the family property.

B. There will be different slabs of sales tax on different consumer items.

C. Religious instructions will not be given in any government school.

D. There shall be no begar or forced labour.

Which of the options given below cannot be used to complete the following statement?

Democratic countries need a constitution to

i. Check the power of the government.

ii. Protect minorities from majority.

iii. Bring independence from colonial rule.

iv. Ensure that a long-term vision is not lost by momentary passions.

v. Bring social change in peaceful manner.

The following are different positions about reading and understanding Constituent Assembly debates.

i. Which of these statements argues that Constituent Assembly debates are relevant even today? Which statement says that they are not relevant?

ii. With which of these positions do you agree and why?

a. Common people are too busy in earning livelihood and meeting different pressures of life. They can’t understand the legal language of these debates.

b. The conditions and challenges today are different from the time when the Constitution was made. To read the ideas of Constitution makers and use them for our new times is trying to bring past in the present

c. Our ways of understanding the world and the present challenges have not changed totally. Constituent Assembly debates can provide us reasons why certain practises are important. In a period when constitutional practises are being challenged, not knowing the reasons can destroy them.

Explain the difference between the Indian Constitution and western ideas in the light of

A. Understanding of secularism.

B. Articles 370 and 371.

C. Affirmative action.

D. Universal adult franchise.

Which of the following principles of secularism are adopted in the Constitution of India?

A. that state will have nothing to do with religion

B. that state will have close relation with religion

C. that state can discriminate among religions

D. that state will recognise rights of religious groups

E. that state will have limited powers to intervene in affairs of religions

Match the following.

This discussion was taking place in a class. Read the various arguments and state which of these do you agree with and why.

Jayesh: I still think that our Constitution is only a borrowed document.

Saba: Do you mean to say that there is nothing Indian in it? But is there such a thing as Indian and western in the case of values and ideas? Take equality between men and women. What is western about it? And even if it is, should we reject it only because it is western?

Jayesh: What I mean is that after fighting for independence from the British, did we not adopt their system of parliamentary government?

Neha: You forget that when we fought the British, we were not against the British as such, we were against the principle of colonialism. That has nothing to do with adopting a system of government that we wanted, wherever it came from.

Why is it said that the making of the Indian Constitution was unrepresentative? Does that make the Constitution unrepresentative? Give reasons for your answer.

One of the limitations of the Constitution of India is that it does not adequately attend to gender justice. What evidence can you give to substantiate this charge? If you were writing the Constitution today, what provisions would you recommend for remedying this limitation?

Do you agree with the statement that “it is not clear why in a poor developing country, certain basic socio-economic rights were relegated to the section on Directive Principles rather than made an integral feature of our Fundamental Rights”? Give reasons for your answer. What do you think are the possible reasons for putting socio-economic rights in the section on Directive Principles?