Samvidhaan: Will Contemporary India Respond To Its Constitutional History?

The underbelly of any country can be a subject of debate, but what holds a nation aloft is its constitution. And the Indian Constitution, right from its birth, has stood for social equality across the board. At least, that’s what it aspires to do, as we have learnt over the years. Considered as the Supreme Law of land, the Indian Constitution needs to be revisited and reinvented as the times change and generations need a deeper understanding of their historical and democratic perspectives.

Right now, India is at the crossroads. The old country that only rested on its past glory and celebrated its Independence from the British, a process that tore apart its very soul, has now emerged as one of the top powers in the world. But then, secularism is being questioned now and credentials are put under the scanner by its own people. So the time is quite ripe for revisiting the Indian Constitution.

As we all know, Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is hailed as the prime architect of the Indian Constitution and he headed the Constitution Drafting Committee. This 448-page document is divided into 25 parts, starting with a preamble. This sacrosanct document is the lifeline of India that holds together the country’s diverse cultures and different faiths.

When the time is right to take another look at a document which is as old as Independence itself, it needs a newer perspective and format to reach the people coming from different age-groups. The old and the wise may have an easy understanding of the huge and complex document, but the young people need to be clued in on what governs their life on this land.

Actor Aamir Khan could be touching hearts with his soul-stirring show Satyamev Jayate, which is laying bare today’s realities – both positive and negative – on a private channel.

But what’s actually significant now is the new show on Rajya Sabha Television called Samvidhaan, made by none other than the renowned director Shyam Benegal. In the 80s Benegal had directed Discovery of India (Bharat Ek Khoj), based on a book penned by the first Prime Minister of independent India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The show was a huge hit in those days when Doordarshan was the only TV channel in the country. But the reason behind its success was not the absence of choice for viewers but the impeccable treatment of characters and the intriguing story-telling through every single frame that fascinated the viewers, irrespective of their age-groups.

Benegal, who has created a niche for himself with his supremely well-made movies in the 70s and 80s – mostly categorised as parallel cinema – is experimenting again with his 10-part mini series titled Samvidhaan – The Story of the Making of the Constitution of India. The show, telecast every Sunday at 10 am, a ‘prime’ time slot, targets a pan-India audience with its discourse on the Indian Constitution.

Enough of analyses and interpretations have come up regarding the political situations that existed around the time when the Indian Constitution was drafted. The work of drafting a constitution for India started soon after the country gained its political independence from the ruling Great Britain.

The show, which tells us the story of the Indian Constitution, lays as much emphasis on the incidents that occurred around the period when this all-important document was made. The first draft of Bharat Ka Samvidhan, as it is known in Hindi, was first submitted on November 4, 1947. The Draft Committee had spent considerable time, developing a constitution that was made to suit the specific needs of India – a country which had lived through a turbulent past and was looking forward to continue on its own after remaining under the British rule for two centuries.

Amendments, discussions and debates took place for about two years since the first draft was presented, leading to nearly 2,000 amendments to the original document prepared by the Drafting Committee members, headed by Dr Ambedkar.

The Assembly intermittently held open sessions for the public over these two years before adopting the Constitution, which was approved by its 308 members on January 24, 1950. Two days later, the Constitution, which was federal in nature, became the Supreme Law of the land, and all the States and Union Territories of India came under its jurisdiction.

The exercise during the days of putting together this crucial document was not only political, but also secular and neutral in nature – keeping in mind the welfare of all communities with special focus on the underprivileged. It was a hugely emotional moment for the leaders involved in the process and they made sure that the Constitution was accepted in the Parliament.

With Samvidhaan, the show on television, Shyam Benegal tells an engaging story of a country that wrote its own fate to ensure a better socio-economic and political future, instead of being tossed around and dominated by stronger forces. The show comes at a time when India seems to be on the verge of leadership change and every poll survey shows that the secular and minority-friendly atmosphere of the country is in jeopardy.

Maybe, just maybe, the country’s youth will spare a thought for what dominates their life and will come to respect it more than they respect technology.

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