The Objectives Resolution and the vision of the Constitution

Detail

The setting: an Assembly that had just begun work

• The Constituent Assembly was constituted on 6 December 1946 and held its first sitting on 9 December 1946 in the Constitution Hall, New Delhi — today the Central Hall of Parliament House [4].
• The first meeting was chaired by Dr Sachchidananda Sinha as temporary Chairman. He was picked because he was the oldest member, and the oldest parliamentarian in India — he had sat in the Imperial Legislative Council from 1910 and in the Central Legislative Assembly from 1921 [4].
• Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected the first President of the Constituent Assembly on 11 December 1946 [4]. He later became the first President of India in 1950 [4].
• So the Objectives Resolution came only four days after the Assembly first met. It was the Assembly's opening statement of purpose.

What the Objectives Resolution said (13 December 1946)

• On 13 December 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution [2][3]. It set out the ideals and the frame within which the Constitution would be written.
• Its core promises:
• India would be an "Independent Sovereign Republic".
• Justice, equality and freedom would be guaranteed to all citizens.

• There would be "adequate safeguards … for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and Depressed and Other Backward Classes".

• The Assembly adopted the Resolution unanimously on 22 January 1947 [2][3].

• The Resolution was meant to "lay down the fundamentals of the Constitution" and later became the basis of the Preamble to the Constitution [2].

Learning from other revolutions — but not copying them

• Nehru placed the Indian effort inside a longer world history of struggles for liberty. He named three:
• the American founding,
• the French Constituent Assembly and its Tennis Court Oath,

• the Russian Revolution.

• His point was to learn, not imitate: "We are not going just to copy."

• Test for any system India adopted: it had to "fit in with the temper of our people and be acceptable to them."
• Simple meaning: borrowed ideas are fine, but the final design must suit Indian society, or people will not accept it.

Why the word "democratic" was left out

• Members asked why the Resolution said "Republic" but not "democratic".
• Nehru's answer: "Republic" already contained democracy — a republic has no king and its head is chosen by the people, so the word democracy was built in.
• He added that the Resolution gave "the content of democracy … and the content of economic democracy" — that is, both political rights and a fair share in wealth.
• Nehru personally stood for socialism. He did not force the word into the text, but he wanted the idea inside it.
• The vision in one line: fuse liberal democracy (rights, votes, freedoms) with the socialist idea of economic justice, and re-work both creatively for Indian conditions.

The communist counterpoint — Somnath Lahiri

• Somnath Lahiri (Communist member) attacked the Assembly's very basis. He said he saw British imperialism's dark hand hanging over it.
• His arguments:
• The Assembly was British-made — it worked "under the shadow of British guns".
• This was literally true in winter 1946-47: the British had not yet left, and the Interim Government worked under the Viceroy's direction.

• So he urged the Assembly to declare independence at once, instead of drafting under a foreign power.

• Nehru's reply:

• He conceded the British had a "hand in its birth".
• But: "Governments are, in fact, the expression of the will of the people" — the Assembly's real strength came from the people behind it, not from British permission.
• It would therefore go as far as the people wished it to go.

The longer pre-history of these ideals

• Democracy, equality and justice were not new in 1946. They grew out of nineteenth-century social struggles:
• reformers who fought child marriage and pushed for widow remarriage,
• Vivekananda,
• Jyotirao Phule,

• Communists and Socialists who organised workers and peasants.

• Point for answers: the Resolution put into legal language what social movements had already been demanding for a century.

The colonial Acts — participation without power

• The Acts of 1909, 1919 and 1935 slowly let more Indians into government:
• 1919 — the executive was made partly responsible to provincial legislatures.
• 1935 — the executive was made almost entirely responsible to provincial legislatures.

• 1937 — Congress ministries formed in 8 of the 11 provinces.

• But these were not steps towards self-rule in any full sense:

• They were enacted by the colonial government, not by Indians.
• Even under the 1935 Act the electorate was only 10-15 per cent of adults — the vast majority could not vote.

• Legislatures remained answerable to British-appointed Governors.

• The chapter's key argument — 1946 was a rupture (a clean break), not a next step. For the first time Indians were writing rules for themselves, and the goal was universal adult franchise, not a tiny propertied electorate.

Prelims Hooks

• Objectives Resolution moved by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946; adopted unanimously on 22 January 1947 [2][3].
• The Objectives Resolution later formed the basis of the Preamble of the Constitution [2].
• Constituent Assembly constituted 6 December 1946; first sitting 9 December 1946 in the Constitution Hall, now the Central Hall of Parliament House [4].
• Dr Sachchidananda Sinha — temporary Chairman of the first sitting, chosen as the oldest member; had been in the Imperial Legislative Council from 1910 [4].
• Dr Rajendra Prasad elected President of the Constituent Assembly on 11 December 1946 [4].
• The Resolution described India as an "Independent Sovereign Republic" — the word "democratic" was not used.
• Safeguards were promised for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and Depressed and Other Backward Classes.
• Three revolutions Nehru cited: American founding, French Constituent Assembly (Tennis Court Oath), Russian Revolution.
• Somnath Lahiri (Communist) — said the Assembly worked "under the shadow of British guns".
• Under the Government of India Act 1935, only 10-15 per cent of adults could vote; 1937: Congress ministries in 8 of 11 provinces.

Mains Points

• Continuity vs rupture. One view: the Acts of 1909, 1919 and 1935 trained Indians in parliamentary work and supplied much of the Constitution's machinery. The NCERT view: 1946 was a rupture — colonial Acts were granted from above, covered only 10-15 per cent of adults, and left Governors on top, while the Constituent Assembly drew authority from the people and aimed at universal adult franchise.
• Legitimacy of the Assembly. Lahiri's charge (British-made body, "shadow of British guns", Interim Government under the Viceroy) against Nehru's reply that "governments are the expression of the will of the people". This is the classic question of whether an assembly created under colonial rule can speak for a free nation — useful in answers on constitutional legitimacy and the Assembly's limited indirect election.
• Political democracy plus economic democracy. Nehru argued "Republic" already contained democracy, and that the Resolution carried "the content of economic democracy". This fusion of liberal rights with socialist economic justice is the direct ancestor of the split between justiciable Fundamental Rights and non-justiciable Directive Principles.
• Ideals with a social history. The values in the Resolution came out of nineteenth-century reform (against child marriage, for widow remarriage; Vivekananda, Phule) and worker-peasant organising by Communists and Socialists — so the Constitution's promise of equality codified an existing Indian social struggle rather than importing a Western text.