Why Nehru Brought The First Amendment

The debate in parliament on the 75 years of the glorious journey of the Constitution did not live up to its billing. It soon became a slanging match and lost its gravity.

- P D T ACHARY

It possibly could not be avoided because of the form of adversarial politics being practised today.

There used to be scintillating parliamentary debates on issues of national and international importance. Those were times when the country was proud of its parliamentarians. So when it was announced that they would be discussing the Constitution's journey across decades, the old-timers sat up and watched the debate with great interest. But it was a frustrating experience.

Speakers hurled allegations on the damage done to the Constitution by the other side of the aisle. The debate culminated in the prime minister's take on the first of his office, Jawaharlal Nehru, for amending the Constitution several times to take away the rights of citizens, and that too with retrospective effect at times.

The main focus was the first amendment, made in 1951. Hence there is a need to dwell on the nature and context of those changes Nehru introduced through the first amendment.