India's founding document sparked a social revolution

The process of incorporating the aspirations of ordinary people into the Constitution began through social movements spearheaded by Jyotiba Phule and BR Ambedkar

- Anurag Bhaskar

The Constitution of India is an embodiment of the aspirations of its citizens. These aspirations were also reflected in the long and painstaking process through which the Constitution came into being.

This process, however, didn't begin on December 9, 1946, when the first session of the Constituent Assembly was gavelled into existence.

Debates and discussions on what should be incorporated into the Constitution started in the 19th century itself.

Social movements played a crucial role in shaping the constitutional discourse, laying down the foundations of equality, dignity, social justice, and equal opportunity for any future document to govern a yet-to-be-born republic.

The movements, led by Jyotiba Phule and Dr B.R. Ambedkar, respectively, in different periods of history are representative of the direct impact of social movements on the framing of the Constitution.

Phule's constitutional project took inspiration from the 13th Amendment (1865) to the American Constitution, which abolished the slavery of African Americans.

In 1873, Phule wrote a seminal book, titled Gulamgiri (translated as slavery), with a dedication to "the good people of the United States as a token of admiration for their sublime disinterested and self-sacrificing devotion in the cause" of slavery.

Phule also hoped that the oppressor communities in India would follow a similar track in abolishing untouchability and emancipating the oppressed castes.

Gulamgiri was a sharp critique of India's caste system and oppression.

In the same year, Phule also started the Satyashodhak Samaj (the truth seekers' society) movement to unite the oppressed castes, promote their education, and build an alternative vision of an equal society.

He further advocated before the British government for free and compulsory education for all.