Challenges of Nation Building A democratic constitution is necessary but not sufficient for establishing a democracy. The challenge was to develop democratic practices in accordance with the Constitution. The third challenge was to ensure the development and well- being of the entire society and not only of some sections. Here again the Constitution clearly laid down the principle of equality and special protection to socially disadvantaged groups and religious and cultural communities.
The Constitution also set out in the Directive Principles of State Policy the welfare goals that democratic politics must achieve. The real challenge now was to evolve effective policies for economic development and eradication of poverty. How did independent India respond to these challenges? To what extent did India succeed in achieving the various objectives set out by the Constitution?
This entire book is an attempt to respond to these questions. The book tells the story of politics in India since independence so as to equip you to develop your own answers to big questions like these. In the first three chapters we look at how the three challenges mentioned above were faced in the early years after independence. In this chapter, we focus on the first challenge of nation- building that occupied centre-stage in the years immediately after Independence.
We begin by looking at the events that formed the context of Independence. This can help us understand why the issue of national unity and security became a primary challenge at the time of Independence. We shall then see how India chose to shape itself into a nation, united by a shared history and common destiny. This unity had to reflect the aspirations of people across the different regions and deal with the disparities that existed among regions and different sections of people.
In the next two chapters we shall turn to the challenge of establishing a democracy and achieving economic development with equality and justice. I always wanted a time machine, so that I can go back and participate in the celebrations of August . But this looks different from what I thought. These three stamps were issued in to mark the first republic day on January .
What do the images on these stamps tell you about the challenges to the new republic? If you were asked to design these stamps in , which images would you have chosen?