Dr. Ambedkar gave a speech in 1949 outlining three crucial points to maintain India's democracy:
1. Hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving objectives and abandon methods like civil disobedience that undermine democracy.
2. Do not lay your liberty at the feet of or trust unlimited powers to any person, as that can lead to degradation and dictatorship.
3. Democracy must not only be political but also social, recognizing liberty, equality and fraternity as principles of life.
2. Food for Thought
1 The Indian
democracy..
2 Other systems of
Governance. Ie.
Dictatorship…
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3. Introduction.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
Dr. Bhimji Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956)
A jurist, politician, economist,and a social
reformer for the rights of Dalits.
First law and Justice minister of
Independent India. Chairman of the
Constitution Drafting Committee.
Ph D from Columbia as well as London
School of Commerce.
Bharat Ratna 1990.
Maintaining Democracy
An Extract from Dr. Ambedkar’s last speech in
the constituent assembly on the event of
adoption of the constitution, delivered on 25th
November, 1949.
Three crucial points to maintain political and
social democracy of the country.
A.Liberty
B.Equality
C.Fraternity
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5. “
“What does social democracy
means? It means a way of life which
recognises liberty, equality and
fraternity as the principles of life.”
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6. To Maintain our Democracy:-
1. Hold fast to constitutional methods of
achieving our social and economic
objectives.
- ‘It means we must abandon the method of civil
disobedience, non-coperation, and Satyagraha’.
(P.12).
- These methods are nothing but the Grammar of
Anarchy.
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7. To Maintain our Democracy:-
2. Not to lay your liberty at the feet of even a
great man, or to trust him with powers which enable
him to subvert their institutions.
In politics, Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to
degradation and to eventual dictatorship. (P.13)
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8. To Maintain our Democracy:-
3. We must not be content with mere political
democracy.
We must make our political democracy a social
democracy as well.
“What does social democracy means? It means a
way of life which recognises liberty, equality and
fraternity as the principles of life.”
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9. To Maintain our Democracy:-
◆ The principles of liberty, equality and
fraternity are not to be treated as a separate
items in a trinity.
◆ They form a union of trinity in the same sense
that to divorce on from the other is to defeat the
very purpose of democracy.
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