FOREWORD vii
and Jawaharlal Nehru and embodied in the Constitution that has made Indian democracy not a fragile “palace on a dung heap” but a solid edifice that has stood the stresses and strains of our myriad and massive problems. Dr. Ambedkar’s contribution to this was of seminal importance.
It is interesting to recall that Dr. Ambedkar defined democracy as: “A form or method of government whereby revolutionary changes in the economic and social life of the people are brought about without bloodshed.” While a revolutionary he was also an uncompromising constitutionalist who advocated that changes, however radical should be effected through constitutional methods and within the constitutional framework. He repeatedly emphasized the paramount need for the diffusion of “constitutional morality” in society, which he held “is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated. We must realize that our people have yet to learn it.” In his devotion to the practice of constitutional morality he went to the extent of ruling out even non-violent extra-constitutional methods like “satyagraha” from the politics of post-independent India. He visualized democracy as the “golden mean” the method of the Buddha which in his view was the best and the safest method of action. His vision of India and the future of the oppressed sections and the minorities in the country was in line with this basic philosophy. In one of his important speeches he said : “In this country both the minorities and the majorities have followed a wrong path. It is wrong for the majority to deny the existence of minorities. It is equally wrong for the minorities to perpetuate themselves. A solution must be found which will serve a double purpose. It must recognize the existence of the minorities to start with. It must also be such that it will enable majorities and minorities merge some day into one.” He believed that the Constitution drafted under his Chairmanship will serve this double purpose.