Homo Sapiens

● Revolutionary Activities

* Reasons for emergence

Younger elements not ready to retreat after the decline of open

phase.

Leadership’s failure to tap revolutionary energies of the youth.

Government repression left no peaceful avenues open for protest.

* Ideology

Assassinate unpopular officials, thus strike terror in hearts of

rulers and arouse people to expel the British with force; based

on individual heroic actions on lines of Irish nationalists or

Russian nihilists and not a mass-based countrywide struggle.

● Revolutionary Activities

* Bengal

1902—First revolutionary groups in Midnapore and Calcutta (The

Anushilan Samiti)

1906—Yugantar, the revolutionary weekly started

By 1905-06—Several newspapers started advocating revolutionary

terrorism.

1907—Attempt on life of the former Lt. governor of East Bengal

and Assam.

1908—Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bose attempt to murder

Muzaffarpur Magistrate, Kingsford.

Alipore conspiracy case involving Aurobindo Ghosh, Barindra

Kumar Ghosh and others.

1908—Burrah dacoity by Dacca Anushilan.

1912—Bomb thrown at Viceroy Hardinge by Rashbehari Bose

and Sachin Sanyal.

Sandhya, Yugantar—newspapers advocating revolutionary

activity.

Jatin Das and Yugantar; the German Plot during World War I.

* Maharashtra

1879—Ramosi Peasant Force by Vasudev Balwant Phadke.

1890s—Tilak’s attempts to propagate militancy among the youth

through Shivaji and Ganapati festivals, and his journals Kesari

and Maharatta.

1897—Chapekar brothers kill Rand, the plague commissioner

of Poona and Lt. Ayerst.

1899—Mitra Mela—a secret society organised by Savarkar and

his brother.

1904—Mitra Mela merged with Abhinav Bharat.

1909—District Magistrate of Nasik—Jackson—killed.

* Punjab

Revolutionary activity by Lala Lajpat Rai, Ajit Singh, Aga Haidar

Syed Haidar Raza, Bhai Parmanand, Lalchand ‘Falak’, Sufi

Ambaprasad.

● Revolutionary Activity Abroad

1905—Shyamji Krishnavarma set up Indian Home Rule Society

and India House and brought out journal The Sociologist in

London.

1909—Madan Lal Dhingra murdered Curzon-Wyllie; Madame

Bhikaji Cama operated from Paris and Geneva and brought out

journal Bande Mataram.

Ajit Singh also active.

Berlin Committee for Indian Independence established by

Virendranath Chattopadhyay and others.

Missions sent to Baghdad, Persia, Turkey, Kabul.

* In North America, the Ghadr was organised by Lala Hardayal,

Ramchandra, Bhawan Singh, Kartar Singh Saraba, Barkatullah,

Bhai Parmanand.

The Ghadr Programme

Assassinate officials.

Publish revolutionary literature.

Work among Indian troops abroad and raise funds.

Bring about a simultaneous revolt in all colonies of Britain.

Attempt to bring about an armed revolt in India on February

21, 1915 amidst favourable conditions created by the outbreak

of First World War and the Komagata Maru incident (September

1914). The plan was foiled due to treachery.

Defence of India Act, 1915 passed primarily to deal with the

Ghadrites

● The Swadeshi and Boycott Movement

* Began as a reaction to partition of Bengal which became known in

1903, was formally announced in July 1905 and came into force in October 1905. The motive behind partition was to weaken Bengal which was the nerve centre of Indian nationalist activity; the official reason given for the

partition was that Bengal had become too big to administer—which was true to some extent.

* Moderate-led anti-partition movement (1903-05) was under

Surendranath Banerjea, K.K. Mitra, Prithwishchandra Ray.

Methods included public meetings, petitions, memoranda, propaganda through newspapers and pamphlets.

* The movement under Extremists (1905-08) was led by Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lajpat Rai, Aurobindo Ghosh. Methods included boycott of foreign cloth and other goods, public

meetings and processions, forming corps of volunteers or samitis, use of traditional popular festivals and melas for propaganda, emphasis on selfreliance or atma shakti, launching programme of swadeshi or national education, swadeshi or poetry, pioneering research in science and later calling for boycott of schools, colleges, councils, government service, etc.

* Extremists took over because of the failure of the Moderates to achieve positive results, divisive tactics of governments of both Bengals, severe government repression.

zamindari, labour, some lower middle and middle classes in towns and

cities participated for the first time while the Muslims generally kept away.

* Annulment of Partition mainly to curb the ‘menace’ of revolutionary

terrorism.

* Why Swadeshi Movement fizzled out by 1908

Severe government repression.

Lack of effective organisation and a disciplined focus.

With arrest/deportation of all leaders, the movement left leaderless.

Split in nationalist ranks.

Narrow social base.

* Achievements

“A leap forward” because hitherto untouched sections participated, major trends of later movement emerged; richness of the movement extended to culture, science and literature; people educated in bolder form of politics; colonial hegemony undermined.

● Why Militant Nationalism Grew

1. Realisation that the true nature of British rule was exploitative, and that

the British India government, instead of conceding more, was taking away

even what existed.

2. Growth of self-confidence and self-respect.

3. Impact of growth of education—increase in awareness and

unemployment.

4. International influences and events which demolished the myth of white/European supremacy. These included

— emergence of Japan—an Asian country—as an industrial

power

— Abyssinia’s (Ethiopia) victory over Italy.

— Boer Wars (1899-1902) in which the British faced reverses.

— Japan’s victory over Russia (1905).

5. Reaction to increasing westernisation.

6. Dissatisfaction with the achievements as well as the methods of the Moderates.

7. Reactionary policies of Curzon such as the Calcutta Corporation Act (1899), the Official Secrets Act (1904), the Indian Universities Act (1904) and partition of Bengal (1905).

8. Existence of a militant school of thought.

9. Emergence of a trained leadership.

● The Extremist Ideology

(i) Hatred for foreign rule

(ii) Belief in the capacity of the masses

(iii) Swarajya as goal

(iv) Advocacy of direct political action and self-sacrifice.

Spectrum + Additional info from NCERT + Struggle for India's Independence by Bipin Chandra

Spectrum + Additional info from NCERT + Struggle for India's Independence by Bipin Chandra

Laxmikanth, M.. Indian Polity ;chap 2

Criticism of the Constituent Assembly

The critics have criticised the Constituent Assembly on various grounds. These are as follows: 1. Not a Representative Body: The critics have argued that the Constituent Assembly was not a representative body as its members were not directly elected by the people of India on the basis of universal adult franchise. 2. Not a Sovereign Body: The critics maintained that the Constituent Assembly was not a sovereign body as it was created by the proposals of the British Government. Further, they said that the Assembly held its sessions with the permission of the British Government. 3. Time Consuming: According to the critics, the Constituent Assembly took unduly long time to make the Constitution. They stated that the framers of the American Constitution took only four months to complete their work. In this context, Naziruddin Ahmed, a member of the Constituent Assembly, coined a new name for the Drafting Committee to show his contempt for it. He called it a “Drifting Committee”. 4. Dominated by Congress: The critics charged that the Constituent Assembly was dominated by the Congress party. Granville Austin, a American Constitutional expert, remarked: ‘The Constituent Assembly was a one-party body in an essentially one-party country. The Assembly was the Congress and the Congress was India’9. 5. Lawyer–Politician Domination: It is also maintained by the critics that the Constituent Assembly was dominated by lawyers and politicians. They pointed out that other sections of the society were not sufficiently represented. This, to them, is the main reason for the bulkiness and complicated language of the Constitution. 6. Dominated by Hindus: According to some critics, the Constituent Assembly was a Hindu dominated body. Lord Viscount Simon called it ‘a body of Hindus’. Similarly, Winston Churchill commented that the Constituent Assembly represented ‘only one major community in India’.

Laxmikanth, M.. Indian Polity

Enactment of the Constitution:

 Dr B R Ambedkar introduced the final draft of the Constitution in the Assembly on November 4, 1948 (first reading). The Assembly had a general discussion on it for five days (till November 9, 1948). The second reading (clause by clause consid-eration) started on November 15, 1948 and ended on October 17, 1949. During this stage, as many as 7653 amendments were proposed and 2473 were actually discussed in the Assembly. The third reading of the draft started on November 14, 1949. Dr B R Ambedkar moved a motion—‘the Constitution as settled by the Assembly be passed’. The motion on Draft Constitution was declared as passed on November 26, 1949, and received the signatures of the members and the president. Out of a total 299 members of the Assembly, only 284 were actually present on that day and signed the Constitution. This is also the date mentioned in the Preamble as the date on which the people of India in the Constituent Assembly adopted, enacted and gave to themselves this Constitution. The Constitution as adopted on November 26, 1949, contained a Preamble, 395 Articles and 8 Schedules. The Preamble was enacted after the entire Constitution was already enacted. Dr B R Ambedkar, the then Law Minister, piloted the Draft Constitution in the Assembly. He took a very prominent part in the deliberations of the Assembly. He was known for his logical, forceful and persuasive arguments on the floor of the Assembly. He is recognised as the ‘Father of the Constitution of India’. This brilliant writer, constitutional expert, undisputed leader of the scheduled castes and the ‘chief architect of the Constitution of India’ is also known as a ‘Modern Manu’.

Laxmikanth, M.. Indian Polity; chap 2

Committees of the Constituent Assembly

The Constituent Assembly appointed a number of committees to deal with different tasks of constitution-making. Out of these, eight were major committees and the others were minor committees. The names of these committees and their chairmen are given below: Major Committees 1. Union Powers Committee – Jawaharlal Nehru 2. Union Constitution Committee – Jawaharlal Nehru 3. Provincial Constitution Committee – Sardar Patel 4. Drafting Committee – Dr. B.R. Ambedkar 5. Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas – Sardar Patel. This committee had the following five sub-committees: (a) Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee – J.B. Kripalani (b) Minorities Sub-Committee – H.C. Mukherjee (c) North-East Frontier Tribal Areas and Assam Excluded & Partially Excluded Areas Sub-Committee – Gopinath Bardoloi (d) Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (Other than those in Assam) Sub-Committee – A.V. Thakkar (e) North-West Frontier Tribal Areas Sub-Committee8a 6. Rules of Procedure Committee – Dr. Rajendra Prasad 7. States Committee (Committee for Negotiating with States) – Jawaharlal Nehru 8. Steering Committee – Dr. Rajendra Prasad Minor Committees 1. Finance and Staff Committee – Dr. Rajendra Prasad 2. Credentials Committee – Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar 3. House Committee – B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya 4. Order of Business Committee – Dr. K.M. Munshi 5. Ad-hoc Committee on the National Flag – Dr. Rajendra Prasad 6. Committee on the Functions of the Constituent Assembly – G.V. Mavalankar 7. Ad-hoc Committee on the Supreme Court – S. Varadachari (Not an Assembly Member) 8. Committee on Chief Commissioners’ Provinces – B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya 9. Expert Committee on the Financial Provisions of the Union Constitution – Nalini Ranjan Sarkar (Not an Assembly Member) 10. Linguistic Provinces Commission – S.K. Dar (Not an Assembly Member) 11. Special Committee to Examine the Draft Constitution – Jawaharlal Nehru 12. Press Gallery Committee – Usha Nath Sen 13. Ad-hoc Committee on Citizenship – S. Varadachari Drafting Committee Among all the committees of the Constituent Assembly, the most important committee was the Drafting Committee set up on August 29, 1947. It was this committee that was entrusted with the task of preparing a draft of the new Constitution. It consisted of seven members. They were: 1. Dr B R Ambedkar (Chairman) 2. N Gopalaswamy Ayyangar 3. Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar 4. Dr K M Munshi 5. Syed Mohammad Saadullah 6. N Madhava Rau (He replaced B L Mitter who resigned due to ill-health) 7. T T Krishnamachari (He replaced D P Khaitan who died in 1948) The Drafting Committee, after taking into consideration the proposals of the various committees, prepared the first draft of the Constitution of India, which was published in February 1948. The people of India were given eight months to discuss the draft and propose amendments. In the light of the public comments, criticisms and suggestions, the Drafting Committee prepared a second draft, which was published in October 1948. The Drafting Committee took less than six months to prepare its draft. In all it sat only for 141 days.

Laxmikanth, M.. Indian Polity chap 2

Changes by the Independence Act

The representatives of the princely states, who had stayed away from the Constituent Assembly, gradually joined it. On April 28, 1947, representatives of the six states5 were part of the Assembly. After the acceptance of the Mountbatten Plan of June 3, 1947 for a partition of the country, the representatives of most of the other princely states took their seats in the Assembly. The members of the Muslim League from the Indian Dominion also entered the Assembly. The Indian Independence Act of 1947 made the following three changes in the position of the Assembly:

1. The Assembly was made a fully sovereign body, which could frame any Constitution it pleased. The act empowered the Assembly to abrogate or alter any law made by the British Parliament in relation to India. 2. The Assembly also became a legislative body. In other words, two separate functions were assigned to the Assembly, that is, making of a constitution for free India and enacting of ordinary laws for the country. These two tasks were to be performed on separate days. Thus, the Assembly became the first Parliament of free India (Dominion Legislature). Whenever the Assembly met as the Constituent body it was chaired by Dr. Rajendra Prasad and when it met as the legislative body6, it was chaired by G V Mavlankar. These two functions continued till November 26, 1949, when the task of making the Constitution was over. 3. The Muslim League members (hailing from the areas7 included in the Pakistan) withdrew from the Constituent Assembly for India. Consequently, the total strength of the Assembly came down to 299 as against 389 originally fixed in 1946 under the Cabinet Mission Plan. The strength of the Indian provinces (formerly British Provinces) was reduced from 296 to 229 and those of the princely states from 93 to 70.

other functions:

In addition to the making of the Constitution and enacting of ordinary laws, the Constituent Assembly also performed the following functions: 1. It ratified the India’s membership of the Commonwealth in May 1949. 2. It adopted the national flag on July 22, 1947. 3. It adopted the national anthem on January 24, 1950. 4. It adopted the national song on January 24, 1950. 5. It elected Dr Rajendra Prasad as the first President of India on January 24, 1950. In all, the Constituent Assembly had 11 sessions over two years, 11 months and 18 days. The Constitution-makers had gone through the constitutions of about 60 countries, and the Draft Constitution was considered for 114 days. The total expenditure incurred on making the Constitution amounted to ` 64 lakh. On January 24, 1950, the Constituent Assembly held its final session. It, however, did not end, and continued as the provisional parliament of India from January 26, 1950 till the formation of new Parliament8 after the first general elections in 1951–52.

Laxmikanth, M.. Indian Polity

Objective Resolution

On December 13, 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the historic ‘Objectives Resolution’ in the Assembly. It laid down the fundamentals and philosophy of the constitutional structure. It read: 1. “This Constituent Assembly declares its firm and solemn resolve to proclaim India as an Independent Sovereign Republic and to draw up for her future governance a Constitution: 2. Wherein the territories that now comprise British India, the territories that now form the Indian States, and such other parts of India as are outside India and the States as well as other territories as are willing to be constituted into the independent sovereign India, shall be a Union of them all; and 3. wherein the said territories, whether with their present boundaries or with such others as may be determined by the Constituent Assembly and thereafter according to the law of the Constitution, shall possess and retain the status of autonomous units together with residuary powers and exercise all powers and functions of Government and administration save and except such powers and functions as are vested in or assigned to the Union or as are inherent or implied in the Union or resulting therefrom; and 4. wherein all power and authority of the Sovereign Independent India, its constituent parts and organs of Government are derived from the people; and 5. wherein shall be guaranteed and secured to all the people of India justice, social, economic and political; equality of status of opportunity, and before the law; freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action, subject to law and public morality; and 6. wherein adequate safeguards shall be provided for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and depressed and other backward classes; and 7. whereby shall be maintained the integrity of the territory of the Republic and its sovereign rights on land, sea and air according to justice and the law of civilized nations; and 8. This ancient land attains its rightful and honoured place in the world and makes its full and willing contribution to the promotion of world peace and the welfare of mankind.” This Resolution was unanimously adopted by the Assembly on January 22, 1947. It influenced the eventual shaping of the constitution through all its subsequent stages. Its modified version forms the Preamble of the present Constitution.