Constitution and family

Written by Hritam Saha

Law is considered to be understandable for a particular class of professionals namely lawyers, advocates, and judges but not for the common people like you and me despite it being made for everyone. Understanding the meaning of the word 'Constitution' may be easy for the said class but for us, it is not, and if you ask them to make you understand the meaning of the word 'Constitution', they'll do it in a way which only legal professionals understand. Today, I'll endeavour to explain the meaning of the word 'Constitution' for the common people of India.

We nourish and cherish many relationships in our daily life namely parental and marital, and such relationships are sustained by following certain unavoidable rules. Similarly, the Constitution consists of certain rules which sustain the relationships namely between the State and us.

The Preamble introduces the Constitution to us. The word Preamble is derived from the Latin term 'praeambulus' which means 'walking before', and therefore, it walks before the Constitution to us for informing the identity of our State and what kinds of relationships are there in the Constitution, it is like the way when a wife walks before her husband to introduce her husband with her friend and vice versa.

Outside interference in a family is relentlessly resisted by the members of the family and internal decisions are taken by the family that connotes the independence of the family which is true SOVEREIGNTY that we have decided India to be; the decisions in a family are taken for the welfare of the members, which is a SOCIALIST idea; every competent member can give their views and this is called DEMOCRATIC, SECULAR, LIBERTY of thought and expression and EQUALITY of status and opportunity. Many times, the senior-most member of a family does not become the karta of the family but the most competent member of the family becomes the karta because the members want him or her and that is REPUBLIC.

Dependent members in the family get pocket money, however, a 12-year-old child and a 19-year-old adult do not get the same pocket money because the former does not need much, that is ECONOMIC JUSTICE. The youngest member of the family receives the most care from every member thereof that is SOCIAL JUSTICE. After attaining a certain age, any person can become the representative of the family, that is POLITICAL JUSTICE. The mutual respect between the members of the family assures the individual identity of a member, therefore, establishing unity and integrity of the family, that respect is FRATERNITY. A family recognises the different but real reasonable behaviour of a member of the family, that is LIBERTY of belief, faith and worship.

Sometimes, we make a promise by evoking the name of God, however, in the Preamble, we have not promised to make India the way it is by invoking the name of God. Attempts were made to do so, but we have not allowed that to happen because God perhaps could be a single superpower but we wanted India to be the Union of the People because unity has a rich history of flourishing over singularity. A question is asked that is how currently we, the people of India, can be a part of the 'We, the people of India', who were there when the Constitution was made? We have become part of 'We, the people of India', as used in the Preamble by amendments made from time to time after January 26, 1950 (the day of the commencement of the Constitution).

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The Drain Team

The Drain is a news, analysis, opinion and information initiative. We shed light on the overlooked stories which are shaping the contemporary world. We aim to bring out stories which are usually ditched and drained by the mainstream media, but are of utmost importance to the people.