Ambedkar wanted to burn the constitution.. And he should have !

It should be evident to anyone following politics that our constitution, although well-intentioned, severely lacked in prudence and an even more severely lacked  foresight. If the parliamentarians today lack any concern for propriety or sense of justice then our founding fathers and those who framed the constitution are equally to blame for it.  Starting with Nehru right down to Rajiv Gandhi our constitution has been manipulated very frequently. Over 100 amendments in about 60 years. In contrast the US Constitution in over 200 years has undergone around 27 amendments.

In the episode from a Rajya Sabha discussion of 1953 it is clear Ambedkar wanted more powers to Governors. If he were alive today he would have burnt those "words" as well as the constitution of which he is supposedly the architect.


I am quoting below some excerpts from an article by Arun Shourie (The Manu of our times - 
http://shourie.bhara​tvani.org/articles/a​mbedkar.htm)
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From Rajya Sabha September 2, 1953

"Now, Sir," the member said, "we have inherited a tradition. People always keep saying to me : 'Oh, you are the maker of the Constitution.' "My answer is I was a hack. What I was asked to do, I did much against my will."

He ridiculed the "notions of democracy" the country had acquired because of its hatred of the British, like the notion that to leave any discretionary powers with the Governor is undemocratic. "We have inherited the idea that the Governor must have no power at all, that he must be a rubber-stamp," the member explained. "If a minister, however scoundrelly he may be, if he puts up a proposal before the Governor, he has to ditto it. That is the kind of conception about democracy which we have developed in this country," he continued.

"But you defended it," interjected a member from Rajasthan.
"We lawyers defend many things....," said the member. Several members were on their feet protesting.

He proceeded to ask the Home Minister : were our Constitution to give discretionary powers to Governors on the lines of the Canadian Constitution, how would it become undemocratic ? The Home Minister said his answer was that the member had been responsible for drafting the Constitution. The member shot back, "You want to accuse me of your blemishes?"

He returned to the point a little later in his speech : "Sir," he said, "my friends tell me that I have made the Constitution. But I am quite prepared to say that I shall be the first person to burn it out. I do not want it. It does not suit anybody...."

The member ? B.R. Ambedkar, of course!
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If the conduct of H.R. Bharadwaj in the recent Karnataka assembly incidents and many such governors is any indication Ambedkar would have had to eat his words all over again. I am convinced Ambedkar would have indeed burnt this present constitution of ours and sought a complete rewrite all over again.