DRAFT CONSTITUTION 1181
interests of the people, it will be a good Constitution; if it works otherwise, it will be a bad Constitution. It is for the future electors to elect the right kind of persons, who will work the Constitution in the interests of the people. The responsibility, therefore, lies with the people. One thing, however, I would like to observe and that is in the circumstances in which we were placed, we could not have produced anything better. With such divergent views in the Assembly, it is indeed a miracle that we have achieved this measure of agreement. At one extreme we had Seth Govind Das, the champion of the cow and at the other extreme we had Professor K. T. Shah, the champion of the underdog, and in-between we had many variations; the last speaker (Shri Rohini Kumar Chawdhari) would supply a good example....
- Shri Lokanath Misra : ...It is my view and so it may be that this, our Constitution Act will go as a great civilised document of the modern world. But I would not like to indulge in any kind of selfpraise, praise either for the Drafting Committee or for the honourable Members or for our honourable President or for anybody else. The reason is, we have only done our duty, as best as we could and it is for the people to judge our labours....
†Shri Jadubans Sahay (Bihar : General) : Sir, much has been said regarding the different aspects of this Constitution....
...The fact is that we are a nation born new and we have to learn the arts of democracy. The lessons of democracy are not taught in any book, but they have got to be developed. It all depends upon the character of a nation, the integrity, the honesty, our love for democratic principles and our zeal to pursue and follow them which can make or mar a constitution. The constitution of a country does not depend upon the cold letters, however beautifully or brilliantly printed in a book. It depends to its growth and development upon the character of a nation. It is the soil— the character of a nation—upon which the seeds of Constitution have got to germinate. If the soil is rocky or barren, then certainly howsoever good the Constitution might be and in howsoever grand language it may be worded, it is sure that the Constitution cannot lead us to our goal. But I have faith, Sir, in the innate genius of our country. I have faith also in the coming generation of tomorrow and we have nothing to despair over what we have done. I think that no amount of guarantees in the Consti *CAD, Official Report, Vol. X, 22nd November 1949, p. 797.
† Ibid., p. 800.