Knowing the indian polity. Understanding the Preamble: Soul of the Indian Constitution

^{image created using AI}

Today is a part of the polity that I am interested in. I’m going to write something about the Preamble of the Constitution we have in India. The Preamble is more like a keynote to our Constitution. The idea of it has actually been brought from America, which is the first country to begin with a Preamble. The Preamble refers to the introduction to the Constitution. It actually has the summary of our Constitution in it.

Talking about the historical background of the Preamble, it is actually based on the Objective Resolution that was drafted and moved by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on 13th December 1946, which was actually the third meeting of the Constituent Assembly after it was formed, and that draft resolution was passed on 22nd January 1947.

Now let me first include the text of the Preamble. The Preamble reads like:

^{Source: The Indian constitution}

The words “socialist,” “secular,” and “integrity,” which are included in the Preamble, were added later in 1976 under the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, which is actually called the Mini Constitution as it brought a lot of amendments to the Constitution.

As the Preamble states the ingredients of our Constitution, like justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, these have become the goals of our Constitution and also the guiding path of our nation. Now let us understand the meaning of all these words.

First, we will be talking about sovereign. Sovereign means a country that is completely independent in making decisions, both internal as well as external, without the influence of any other nation. At first, when we got independence in 1947, we were a part of the British Commonwealth, but only till 26th January 1950, when we enacted our Constitution with the word sovereign in the Preamble, which made us fully independent without any external authority. Being sovereign has helped us make our own decisions and gives us the power to either acquire territory or cede our territory.

Socialist: The word “socialist” was included in the Preamble later in 1976 under the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, but we already had some socialistic ideas incorporated in the Constitution during its formation in the 1940s. The Directive Principles had a socialistic tone in them, which in itself made our country inclined towards socialism, and later, by including the word in the Preamble, it was reiterated. Our socialism is quite different from that of the world, as it is more like Gandhian socialism, which is neither purely communistic nor purely capitalistic, but a mixture of both. We have both state-owned as well as private sectors working together for development and to reduce poverty, ignorance and inequality of opportunity.

Secular: India being a secular state does not only mean that it treats every religion equally, but it also gives every individual equal freedom of religion. India demonstrates positive secularism where every religion is treated equally.

Democratic: The democratic setup we have in India is indirect democracy, where we choose representatives who represent us in the legislature and in the government and make decisions on our behalf. It is unlike direct democracy found in countries like Switzerland, where referendum is very commonly used in decision-making. Initiative is another aspect of direct democracy, where a law is initiated by the public and then enacted by the government. Another aspect is recall, where people can recall their representatives if they are not satisfied with their work. One more aspect is plebiscite, where people settle territorial issues through voting. The democracy we enjoy here is both political democracy and economic democracy, which is reflected in the Directive Principles of State Policy.

Republic: We have a head of state who is chosen indirectly by the people, and this post is not hereditary. This makes us different from a monarchy. The post is open to any citizen of the nation, which makes our republic unique. We are not a monarchy, and that makes us politically sovereign as the power lies in the hands of the people.

Justice: Justice included in the Preamble includes social, economic and political justice. Social justice means equal treatment of every individual regardless of caste, religion, sex or place of birth. Economic justice means non-discrimination based on economic factors and includes elimination of inequalities arising out of wealth, income and property. Political justice means every citizen is equal before the law and has an equal voice in governance.

Liberty: Liberty refers to the freedoms we enjoy, which are enshrined in the Fundamental Rights of citizens in Part III of the Constitution. It is essential for the successful functioning of the democratic system, but liberty does not mean absolute freedom; it is subject to reasonable restrictions.

Equality: Equality means treating every citizen equally without discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, sex, income, wealth or place of birth. It also ensures equal opportunities. Equality has three dimensions: civic, political and economic. Civic equality is provided in Fundamental Rights, economic equality in Directive Principles like Article 39, and political equality in Articles 325 and 326, which ensure universal adult franchise.

Fraternity: Fraternity means a sense of brotherhood. India is a diverse country with differences in language, region, caste, etc., but fraternity promotes unity among all citizens. It ensures dignity of the individual and a sense of belonging to one nation. It also includes unity and integrity, which represent both psychological and territorial aspects—unity gives a sense of belonging, while integrity ensures the country remains united without division.