1180 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
free to give effect to their wishes, with a desire to enlarge the bounds of freedom....
*Shri Syamanandan Sahaya (Bihar : General): As I said before, the present is a unique occasion, and it is unique in many respects. It is unique in the annals of history, which depicts the past. If we look back to our history, it will be conceded that although we have had at one time milk and honey, flowing in this country under able rulers, and although we had what we are still striving for, viz., Ram Rajya; but it was all the rule of a benevolent ruler, and not a law given unto ourselves by the representatives of the people. I therefore say, Sir, that this is a unique occasion even if you compare the present with our hoary past. Even the future, I submit, will have nothing to equal it. We may have reforms in this Constitution, and we may have better things in the future, but the originality that this Constitution will claim, would not possibly be available to any other....
... Last, though not the least, this Constitution is unique in another respect. Mahatmaji’s methods once again proved how with goodwill, towards opponents, one could win over and conquer the worst of critics and we now see a practical example of a high ideal translated into action, namely that the achievement of independence would go to the credit of Mahatmaji, and its codification to one of Mahatamaji’s worst critics, viz., the great architect of our great Constitution Dr. Ambedkar. Dr. Ambedkar, Sir, deserves the gratitude not only of this Assembly but of this Nation. He and his colleagues on the Committee have laboured to find out the best things almost all over the world and to suit them to the needs of this country. The masterly way in which they prepared the draft and the masterly way in which Dr. Ambedkar piloted it will ever be remembered not only by us but by the posterity with gratitude. Many a defect has been pointed out in this Constitution. I do not think the framers of this Constitution claim any perfection for it, but it cannot be denied that there has been a sincere and a genuine effort to bring about as large a measure of perfection as it was possible under present conditions....
†Smt. Hansa Mehta (Bombay: General) : ... The goodness or badness of a Constitution depends on how it is going to work. If it works in the
*CAD, Official Report, Vol. X, 22nd November 1949, p. 787.
† Ibid., p. 788.
‡ Ibid., pp. 795-796.