" On the 26th of January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. In politics we will be recognising the principle of one man one vote and one vote one value.
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In our social and economic life, we shall, by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of one man one value. How long shall we continue to live this life of contradictions?
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How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life? If we continue to deny it for long, we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril.
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We must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible moment or else those who suffer from inequality will blow up the structure of political democracy which is Assembly has to laboriously built up."~Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, 26 November, 1949.
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1950 January 26, Thursday; FIRST DAY OF THE REPUBLIC
After several days of bone-chilling weather, brilliant sunshine greeted New Delhi on January 26, 1950. The mood in the capital was electric.
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People were exchanging greetings for the new era that had just dawned under the new Constitution.
For Rajendra Prasad, it was a hectic day. He started with a visit to Rajghat to pay homage to the Mahatma.
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Immediately after returning, he was swo-rn in as the country’s first president at around 9 am by the governor general of India, C Rajagopalachari at the Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
We believe that it is the inalienable right of the Indian people, as of any other people, to have freedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil and have the necessities of life, so that they may have full opportunities of growth.
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We believe also that if any government deprives a people of these rights and oppresses them the people have a further right to alter it or to abolish it.
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The British Government in India has not only deprived the Indian people of their freedom but has based itself on the exploitation of the masses, and has ruined India economically, politically, culturally, and spiritually.
" I am inclined, however, to think that in proportion to their numbers, and considering India as a whole, the Muslims have never ceased to play an important role in the public life
of the country, whether before or under British rule
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-—and that the distinction between Hindu and Muslim of which we hear so much nowadays is largely an artificial creation,
a kind of Catholic—Protestant controversy in Ireland, in which our present-day rulers have had a hand.
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History will bear me out when I say that it is a misnomer to talk of Muslim rule when describing the political order in India prior to the advent of the British.
"Some people ask me why I am now praising Subhas Bose when I had opposed him while he was in India. I want to give a frank reply to this question. Subhas Bose and I were co-workers in the struggle for freedom for 25 years. He was younger to me by two or four years.
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Our relations with each other were marked by great affection. I used to treat him as my younger brother. It is an open secret that at times there were differences between us on political questions.
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But I never for a moment doubted that he was a brave soldier in the struggle for freedom.I do not expect that there would be unanimity on every issue when we have achieved freedom. There will be always differences in the outlook of the people who belong to a healthy race.
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"I have many things to say today. I shall try to deal with as many as I can. Today is Subhas Babu’s birthday. I have told you I cannot remember anyone’s Birthday or death anniversary. Someone reminded me of Subhas Babu’s birthday.
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Subhas Babu was a votary of violence while I am a devotee of ahimsa. But what does it matter? Iknow that the most important thing is that we should learn from other people’s virtues. As Tulsidas says:
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The Lord has created this world full of lifeless and living things and virtues and vices. The wise like the swan take the milk of virtue and leave out the waste of water.
" Before 1918, the Congress had two groups — the Extremists (or Nationalists) and
the Moderates (or Liberals). In 1907 the Extremists were driven out of the Congress, but in 1916 at the Lucknow Congress, a rapprochement was effected.
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In 1918, the Moderates being outnumbered by the Extremists, seceded from the Congress and started the All-India Liberal Federation. The present leaders of the
Liberal Party are Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru of Allahabad, Sir Chimanlal Setalvad and
Sir Pheroze Sethna of Bombay,
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the Right Hon. V. Srinivasa Sastri and Sir
Sivaswami Iyer of Madras, Mr. Chintamani of Allahabad, and Mr. J. N. Basu of Calcutta.