96 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
128 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY, FEB. 26,1948
In preparing the Draft the Drafting Committee was of course expected to follow the decisions taken by the Constituent Assembly or by the various Committees appointed by the Constituent Assembly. This the Drafting Committee has endeavoured to do as far as possible. There were however some matters in respect of which the Drafting Committee felt it necessary to suggest certain changes. All such changes have been indicated in the Draft by underlining or side-lining the relevant portions. Care has also been taken by the Drafting Committee to insert a footnote explaining the reasons for every such change. I however think that, having regard to the importance of the matter, I should draw your attention and the attention of the Constituent Assembly to the most important of these changes.
- Preamble.—The Objectives Resolution adopted by the Constituent Assembly in January, 1947, declares that India is to be a Sovereign Independent Republic. The Drafting Committee has adopted the phrase Sovereign Democratic Republic, because independence is usually implied in the word ”Sovereign”, so that there is hardly anything to be gained by adding the word “Independent”, The question of the relationship between this Democratic Republic and the British Commonwealth of Nations remains to be decided subsequently.
The Committee has added a clause about fraternity in the preamble, although it does not occur in the Objectives Resolution. The Committee felt that the need for fraternal concord and goodwill in India was never greater than now and that this particular aim of the new Constitution should be emphasised by special mention in the preamble.
In other respects the Committee has tried to embody in the preamble the spirit and, as far as possible, the language of the Objectives Resolution.
Article 1 3. Description of India.—In article 1 of the Draft, India has been described as a Union of States. For uniformity the Committee has thought it desirable to describe the Units of the Union in the new Constitution as States, whether they are known at