Ambedkar's Preamble by Aakash Singh Rathore

Author:Aakash Singh Rathore [Rathore, Aakash Singh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Published: 2020-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

5

Dignity: Not Bread but Honour

No past civilizational glories, no future superpower status, nothing redounds more to the true greatness of a nation than the dignity of every individual in it. Dr Ambedkar held this view, and the appearance of the term ‘dignity’ in the Preamble to our Constitution stemmed from this unique conviction.

Dr Ambedkar’s conviction was unique in two different senses. First, as we shall see in the next chapter, it runs counter to most right-leaning ideologues, who regard the corporate body as the quintessential source of dignity—we know this story from the history of fascism—and it also runs counter to a great deal of leftist ideology, which tends to dismiss dignity as a bourgeois ruse, thereby opening the door to a great many occasions of degrading it—we know this story from the history of totalitarianism. Second, the uniqueness of Dr Ambedkar’s conviction can be apprehended simply by the observation that the source documents, all the formal ones and most of the informal ones, are absolutely silent on it.

Neither the CWC Expert Committee ‘declaration’ of July 1946 nor Nehru’s Objectives Resolution, which was based upon it, mentioned the term ‘dignity’. B.N. Rau’s preliminary draft Constitution did not mention it. It was absent from the 1930 Indian National Congress’ ‘Declaration of Purna Swaraj’, as well as its Karachi Resolution in the ensuing year. In the case of the latter, it was quite ironic. For, as is apparent not only from many of the guarantees that it made, but especially from the constellation of events that were unfurling at the very moment that it was being drafted, the Karachi Resolution could have quite fruitfully deployed the concept, setting a proper precedent for the future Preamble:

This Congress is of the opinion that in order to end the exploitation of the masses, political freedom must include real economic freedom of the starving millions. In order therefore, that the masses may appreciate what Swaraj as conceived by the Congress will mean to them, it is desirable to state the position of the Congress in a manner easily understood by them. The Congress therefore declares that any constitution that may be agreed to on its behalf, should include the following items, or should give the ability to the Swaraj Government to provide for them.

1. Fundamental rights of the people such as . . .

iv. No disability to attach to any person of religion, caste or creed . . .

vi. Equal rights to all citizens of access to and use of public roads, public wells and all other places of public resort . . .

3. A living wage for industrial workers, limited hours of labour, healthy conditions of work, protection against the economic consequences of old age, sickness, and unemployment . . .

4. Labour to be freed from serfdom or conditions bordering on serfdom . . .

6. Prohibition against employment of children of school going age in factories . . .1

The unstated reason behind all of these guarantees—why is it that we demand a living wage, free

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