The spirit of the discussion in the Constituent Assembly on the national flag continues to be of contemporary relevance.
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THE Har Ghar Tiranga campaign provided an opportunity for We the People of Bharat, that is India, to relive the association of the tricolor with the glorious history of our anti-colonial struggle. The compassionate discussion in the Constituent Assembly on the national flag is testimony to the importance that the leading lights of the freedom movement gave to the tricolor.
How the national flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly
On July 22, 1947, the day of adoption of national flag of India by the Constituent Assembly, the members of the august body expressed their feelings, thoughts, and aspirations in the most unambiguous manner. A sense of unity and pride prevailed all over the Assembly while unanimously adopting the resolution on national flag.
It was an ad-hoc committee set-up by the Constituent Assembly under the chairpersonship of Dr. Rajendra Prasad that had finalized the design of the flag and recommended its adoption. The inclusion of Maulana Azad, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, K.M. Munshi, C. Rajagopalachari, and Sarojini Naidu as members of the committee showed the high sensitivity attached to the issue.
Out of these stalwarts, only Naidu spoke at the end of the discussion due to insistence from many members of the Assembly, who referred to her as “the old mother” and “Bul-bule Hind”. She poignantly pointed out the void in the nationhood due to the absence of the national flag, recalling the international occasions wherein she represented India but without its flag.
The most telling story was the historic Asian Relations Conference of March and April of 1947 in New Delhi, which was convened by the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. While all the participating countries – Iran, Afghanistan, and Siam, among others – proudly displayed their national flag, India had no flag of its own. It was, therefore, befitting for Nehru to introduce the resolution and express his views on the national flag.
The Assembly was so impressed by Nehru’s profound perspectives that H.V. Kamath and Dr. P.S. Deshmukh humbly withdrew their respective amendments to the resolution. While Kamath wanted to inscribe a Swastika within the Ashoka Chakra, Dr. Deshmukh was against replacing Gandhi’s Charkha from the flag.
Also read: Honouring the national flag: Learning from the Constituent Assembly Debates
What some of the Assembly members said about the tricolour
The members also prevailed upon the Chair not to put the resolution to the vote without giving them a chance to speak. Dr. Prasad willingly relented! As the members opened up their minds and hearts, the Constituent Assembly experienced its finest moments.
Seth Govind Das, representing the Central Provinces and Berar, revealed before the Assembly:
“Today. I am reminded of the day when in 1922, Pandit Motilal Nehru came to Jubbulpore for the first time. I am a resident of Jubbulpore. That was the first time when this flag was displayed in India. At that time, it had three colours-red, white and green. It was a tricolour no doubt. At that time, this flag was hoisted over the Town Hall of Jubbulpore for the first time in India. Who is not reminded of Pandit Motilal on seeing Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru? At that time a question was raised in the House of Commons as to how this flag was hoisted over a public hall and the Prime Minister of Great Britain assured the house that no event of the sort would be repeated in India in future. But I am pleased to find today that the flag which was hoisted for the first time twenty-five years ago in Jubbulpore, my home town, will now be unfurled over every public building there.”
“…this Flag would represent the combined sentiments of the Union of India, irrespective of what places of worship we go to, irrespective of the difference in our names and nomenclatures; we are all Indians and this is our Flag.”: Dr. Mohan Sinha Mehta
Each speaker pledged support to the flag on behalf of the community and the province they represented in the Assembly. The representatives of the Princely States, Dr. Mohan Sinha Mehta of Udaipur and Mohomed Sheriff of Mysore, were at the forefront to accept the supremacy of the tricolour, notwithstanding the age-old traditions of their kingdoms. As Dr. Mehta unhesitatingly put it, “…this Flag whether it is flying over a building in India or on the high seas in foreign waters, this Flag would represent the combined sentiments of the Union of India, irrespective of what places of worship we go to, irrespective of the difference in our names and nomenclatures; we are all Indians and this is our Flag.”
The discussion also reflected upon the agony of Partition and the communal discord in society. Mohammed Saadulla of Assam pointed towards a discourse in a section of the press for debarring Muslim members from participating in the proceedings of India’s Constituent Assembly. Pledging support to the flag, Saadulla said, “It the injunction of Islam, emphasized by instructions from League High Command and leaders, that wherever we be we must be good and loyal to the government which functions there. Acting on the principle I salute the Flag.”
Dr. H.C. Mookherjee was at pains to clarify the misconceptions about Indian Christians for maintaining contacts with foreign missions. He counted the names of Christians who were instrumental in fomenting Indian nationalism, such as Kaka Baptist of Bombay, K.C. Bannerjee of Bengal, Bishop Chidambaram of the United Provinces, and Dr. S.K. Dutta of Punjab.
Jaipal Singh, speaking for the 30 million tribal of India, proclaimed freedom for them under tricolour. He said, “This National Flag will give a new message to the Adibasis of India that their struggle for freedom for the last six thousand years is at last over, that they will now be as free as any other in this country. I have great pleasure, Sir, in accepting and acknowledging on behalf of the Adibasis of India the Flag that has been presented to us by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.”
Lakshminarayan Sahu of Odisha spelled the meagre expectations of the depressed classes from the national flag in simple words, but in an incisive manner. He said, “There is the temple of Jagnnath in Orissa over which for over a thousand years the Eternal Wheel called the Neela Chakra has been standing; and with it is associated the Flag called “Patita Pavan Vana”, that is, the flag which represents the poor people, the untouchables. I wish that on this occasion all our leaders would make an effort to throw open the temple of Jagannath to the so-called untouchables who are denied admission into it today.”
Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafar from Punjab reassured the nation that his people would be at the forefront to defend freedom as they were the torchbearers of the struggle against the British Raj. In his own words, “We have reached the position today that we can install our flag wherever we like. Now, it is equally incumbent upon us to maintain the dignity of this fluttering Flag. Perhaps at times we may have to make the same sacrifices to keep it aloft as we have had to achieve it. Therefore, I promise on behalf of my Sikh community that they shall continue to make sacrifices for upholding the honour and dignity of the flag with the same vigour, daring and fearlessness, as they have shown in the cause of the country’s freedom.”
Also read: Breaking down the law governing usage of India’s National Flag
The philosopher and statesman, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan concluded his speech with the appeal, “We must build our Paradise here on this green earth. If we are to succeed in this enterprise, we must be guided. by truth (white), practise virtue (wheel), adopt the method of self-control and renunciation (saffron). This Flag tells us ‘Be ever alert, be ever on the move, go forward, work for a free, flexible compassionate, decent, democratic, society in which Christians, Sikhs, Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists will all find a safe shelter.”
“…in every case of fratricidal warfare, of strife among ourselves, when injustice is done, when tempers rise, when communal peace is broken up, may the sight of this Flag help to soften the harsh and discordant voices, and help us to stand together, as we have gathered today in unanimity, in happiness in brotherly feeling to salute this, our National Flag.”: Rev. Jerome D’Souza
As Indian citizens hoist the national flag to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, let the spirit of discussion in the Constituent Assembly be imbibed by them. Our national flag is a symbol of freedom, inclusiveness, and openness of our minds.
Naidu emphatically mentioned in the concluding speech, “Have not all the cultures of the world contributed to the ocean of her (India’s) culture? Has Islam not brought to India the ideals of democratic brotherhood, the Zorostrian his steadfast courage, who fled from lran with a blazing log from their fire temple, whose flame has not perished these thousand years? Have not the Christians brought to us the lesson of service to the humblest of the land? Has not the immemorial Hindu creed taught us universal love of mankind and has it not taught us that we shall not judge merely by our own narrow standard but that we should judge by the universal standard of humanity?”
Let us not forget these words of the nightingale as we confidently move towards the centenary of our freedom. If the circumstances of narrow interests overshadow our vision, the sight of the tricolour will help us not to deviate from our path.
As Rev. Jerome D’Souza, representing the Madras province, had profoundly said, “Above all, in every case of fratricidal warfare, of strife among ourselves, when injustice is done, when tempers rise, when communal peace is broken up, may the sight of this Flag help to soften the harsh and discordant voices, and help us to stand together, as we have gathered today in unanimity, in happiness in brotherly feeling to salute this, our National Flag.”
