Andalib Akhter / New Delhi
The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind today said that the people of India are the ultimate custodians of the Constitution. “ It is in them that sovereignty vests and it is in their name that the Constitution was adopted. The Constitution empowers the citizen, but the citizen too empowers the Constitution – by following it, by adhering to it, by protecting it, and by persevering to make it more meaningful with words and deeds. The Constitution is nobody’s preserve – and it is everybody’s preserve”, said president while inaugurating the Constitution Day celebrations, organised by the Supreme Court, to mark the anniversary of the adoption of our Constitution on November 26, 1949, today.
President said that the Constitution is the modern scripture of independent India. It is our suprema lex. However, it is more than just a collection of articles and clauses. For us Indians it is an inspirational and living document, an ideal of the society we are and the even better society we are striving to be.
The President said that Dr B. R. Ambedkar and his colleagues in the Constituent Assembly were remarkably large-hearted and generous in their approach. They allowed for flexibility in amending the Constitution and were accommodative of various streams of thought. Above all, they trusted the wisdom of future generations to expand the frontiers of freedom and liberty, justice and fraternity, fairness and equality.
They trusted future generations to not just amend the Constitution’s text, but to constructively re-imagine and re-interpret it for changing times. If we continue to be true to this spirit, the Constitution can serve India for all times to come.
In his address, Chief Justice of India Justice Ranjan Gogoi said, the Indian constitutionisvoice of marginalised and prudence of majority and its wisdom continues to guide in the moments of crisis. He said, it is a matter of pride that the constitution has lived with great vigour in the last 7 decades.
Addressing the gathering, Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, ordinary Indian’s inherent trust in Indian democratic process, regardless of his religion, caste, community, economic status or literacy is the most defining moment of India’s constitutional governance. Raising the issue of Constitutional morality, Mr Prasad said, it should be defined with clarity and should not differ from judge to judge.