(a) Mahatma Gandhi felt that Hindustani was a language that the common people could easily understand

(b) Hindustani which was a blend of Hindi and Urdu was popular among a large section of the people. Moveover it was a composite language enriched by the interaction of diverse cultures.

(c) Over the years words and terms from many different sources had been incorporated into this language making it easily understood by people from various regions.

(d) According to Mahatma Gandhi Hindustani would be the ideal language of communication between dieverse communities. It would help to unify Hindus and Muslims and the people from the north and south.

(e) From the end of the 19th century onwards language become associated with the politics of religious identities. Hindustani also began to change but Mahatma Gandhi retained his faith in the composite character of Hindustani.

In the Constituent Assembly, the rights of the states were mostly defended by K. Santhanam, a member from Madras. He emphasised the need to strengthen the states.

(i) K. Santhanam was opposed to the centre being vested with more powers. He felt that an over-burdened centre would not be able to fulfil its responsibilities in an effective manner. The centre would become really strong if all the states are made stronger. He advocated that centre should be given less powers and states should be given more powers.

(ii) K. Santhanam was not happy with the proposed allocation of powers between the centre and the states. He felt that such a distribution of power would cripple the states.

The Objectives Resolution was presented in the Constituent Assembly on 13 December, 1946 by Jawaharlal Nehru. It outlined and defined the ideals and objectives of the constitution which are as follows:

(i) India was declared as Independent Sovereign Republic.

(ii) It assured justice, equality, liberty and fraternity to all its citizens.

(iii) It provided adequate safeguards to minorities. It also referred to the well-being of the backward and depressed classes.

(iv) India would combine the liberal ideas of democracy with the socialist idea of economic justice.

(v) India would adopt that form of government which would be acceptable to its people. No imposition from the British would be accepted by the Indian people.

(vi) India would be a federation.

(vii) India would work for world peace and human welfare.

(a) Certain basic values were accepted by all national leaders as a result of the Nehru Report and the Fundamental Rights Resolution passed by the Karachi session of the Indian National Congress.

(b) These included Universal Adult Franchise, Right to freedom and equality and protection of minority rights.

(c) As a result of the 1937 elections, the Congress and other political parties were able to form governments in the provinces. This experience with legislative and political institutions helped in developing an agreement over institutional design.

(d) The Indian Constitution thus adopted many institutional details and procedures from colonial laws like the Government of India Act of 1935.

(e) The founding fathers were also inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution, the working of parliamentary democracy in Britain and the Bill of Rights in the USA. The 1917 Russian Revolution inspired our leaders to establish a government based on social and economic equality.

(f) While addressing the meeting of the Constituent Assembly on 13 December, 1946, Jawaharalal Nehru spoke about the ideals of the new Indian Constitution. He discussed everything in a broad historical perspective. He referred to the historic efforts made in the past to achieve the goals of justice, liberty, equality, fraternity and fundamental rights.

Minority means that a particular community or a group of people is less as compared to the proportion of the total population. However during the preparation of the Indian Constitution, all the members of the Constituent Assembly defined it in their own way.

(i) B. Pocker Bahadur from Madras stated that minorities existed in almost all the countries of the world. So he wanted a political framework in the country which might enable the minorities to live in harmony with others.

(ii) N.G. Ranga stated that the real minorities were the common people of the country. He believed that the common people of the country were so depressed, oppressed and suppressed that they never enjoyed any civil rights. He particularly referred to the tribal people who were considered by the merchants as their bond slaves. Jaipal Singh also supported the views of N.G. Ranga.

(iii) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar considered the people belonging to the depressed castes as minority. However Nagappa pointed out that numerically depressed castes were not a minority as they were 20 to 25% of the total population.