Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer: whom Ambedkar called ‘better’ than himself
Bhimrao Ambedkar, the creator and father of India’s constitution, is very clearly known by the people that he was the creator of the country’s constitution. In almost every statue of Ambedkar, he is shown with a thick book in his hand, which shows that he is actually the father of the Indian Constitution.
By Shashank Dubey.
But perhaps very few people know that he was strongly supported by Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, a lawyer from Madras (now Chennai), whom Ambedkar himself believed was the ultimate guide to constitutions around the world and the Indian Constitution. There was knowledge. Today we will try to know about him that what kind of knowledge did he have because of which even Ambedkar considered him better than himself?
Rise for the Constituent Assembly Utho Iyer was born on May 14, 1883, in a poor family in Pudur village – which was in pre-independence Madras and is now a part of Andhra Pradesh. A small and slight man, Aiyar’s presence in the courtroom and in the Constituent Assembly was nothing more than his own physical stature. Former Vice President of Sahiya Academy K.R. When he spoke, Srinivas says, it was with such articulateness and authority that “spread his influence across the High Court buildings and cast a distinct shadow on the horizon of law”.
His rise as a distinguished lawyer, who later became the Attorney General of Madras with a long tenure of 18 years, led Jawaharlal Nehru to personally introduce Aiyar to the Constituent Assembly in 1946 – (long before Ambedkar did). prompted to invite.
In 1926, he was awarded the Kedar-e-Hind award for philanthropy. In 1930, he was given the title of Diwan Bahadur for his contribution to the country. And in the year 1932, he was given the title of Knight. Describing his father, his grandson Krishnaswamy Alladi says that his grandfather was “unparalleled in the power and logic of his arguments, and in his knowledge of case law and constitutional law”. Drafting Committee Aiyar was a member of nine House committees, among which was the Drafting Committee and a separate sub-committee on fundamental rights.
His contribution to the Constitution had to do with some of the most fundamental parts of India’s existence as a nation-state, namely citizenship and adult franchise. Aiyar defended the fifth article of the Constitution, which still defines Indian citizenship, declaring that “with citizenship come rights as well as responsibilities.” “We cannot differentiate between one type of persons and another, or one sect of persons and another sect of persons, on any racial or religious or other grounds in relation to our commitments and the formulation of our policy on many occasions.”
Aiyar was also adamant about the powers of a President in times of emergency. He agreed that all the fundamental rights of the constitution should not be taken away, adding that “freedom of speech, right of assembly and other rights should be protected in time of peace, But if only the state exists and the security of the state is guaranteed, then there is no use for all these rights to exist. As the last days of the Constituent Assembly drew near, Ambedkar in his concluding speech in 1949 Paying tribute to Aiyar, he said: “I came to the Constituent Assembly with no greater aspiration than to protect the interests of the Scheduled Castes.
Little did I know that I would be called upon to undertake more responsible assignments. Therefore, I was very surprised when the Sabha selected me for the Drafting Committee. I was more surprised than surprised when the drafting committee chose me as its chairman. The Drafting Committee had men older, better and more capable than me like my friend Sir Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer. ‘Acceptance of the Constitution’ Iyer believed that the true test of the value of the Constitution lies in the hands of the common people of India.
In his first speech after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, he was overjoyed to note that voters had turned out in droves across the country. “The recent elections based on universal suffrage have been attended by the majority of India’s adult population, men and women, literate and illiterate, property and non-property, with enthusiasm and unmatched orderliness – a circumstance that has won praise from foreign observers and The critics have demonstrated, if any proof were needed, the acceptance of the Constitution by the people of India as a whole,” he said.
Iyer’s participation in the Constituent Assembly was a break in his profession as a lawyer, which he returned to after the assembly was dissolved. In spite of his considerable fame, he constantly declined the opportunities that would have summoned him as a judge. He died in Chennai on October 3, 1953, leaving behind the Ekram Niwas, a house he built in 1919, where generations after him lived.
Courtesy: Nedrick News
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