RBSE Class 9 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 2 Constitutional Design

RBSE Class 9 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 2 Constitutional Design

RBSE Class 9 Social Science 2 Constitutional Design InText Questions and Answers

Page No. 20

Question  1.
What would have happened in South Africa if the black majority had decided to take’revenge on the whites for all their oppression and exploitation?
Answer:
Fortune was in favour of whites because blacks did not devided to take revenge on them. But if the black majority had done this, then it would have been difficult for the whites to exist. They would have been completely suppressed forever.

Page No. 21

Question  2.
The image captures the spirit of Africa today. South Africans call themselves a ‘rainbow nation’. Can you guess why?
Answer:
South Africans call themselves a ‘rainbow nation’ because the whites and blacks, coloured people and Indians have separate skin colours but are living and working together as one people, unified like the colours of a rainbow. They have forgotten the bitter experiences of their past.

Check Your Progress

Question  3.
Does the story of South African struggle for freedom remind you of the Indian national movement? Make a list of similarities and dissimilarities between the two on the following points :
(i) Nature of colonialism.
(ii) Relationship between different communities.
(iii) Leadership: Gandhi/ Mandela.
(iv) Party that led the struggle: African National Congress/ Indian National Congress.
(v) Method of struggle.
Answer:
Yes, the story of South African struggle for freedom reminds me of the Indian national movement.

(i) Nature of colonialism.
Similarities:
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the trading companies from Europe occupied South Africa forcibly in the same way that they had occupied India.

Dissimilarities:
Unlike India, a large number of whites had settled in South Africa and became the local rulers.

(ii) Relationship between different communities.
Similarities:
The white riders treated all non whites as inferiors in both the countries. The whites regarded Indian and Africans inferior people.

Dissimilar arities:
The relationship between different religions and regional communities in India was cordial. They all believed themselves to be IndiAnswer: But in South Africa, different communities like the whites, blacks, coloured people and Indians did not have cordial relations and respect for each other.

(iii) Leadership: Gandhi/ Mandela.
Similarities:
Both were apostles of truth and non-violence

Dissimilarities:
Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment, though Gandhi ji was also put behind the bars several times, but he was not sentenced to life imprisonment

(iv) Party that led the struggle : African National Congress/Indian National Congress.
Similarities:
Both the African National Congress (ANC) and Indian National Congress (INC) were umbrella organisations working on national level.

Dissimilarities:
The purpose of both the parties were different. ANC was fighting against apartheid and the segregation policies of the racial African government, whereas the INC was fighting against the British rule in India.

(v) Method of struggle
Similarities:
Method of struggle in both the countries was usually same. It was non-violent.

Dissimilarities:
But, in South Africa, there was only one Xwhereas in India besides the moderates, there were also the extremists, who used violent methods to attain their goal of freedom.

Question  4.
This is not fair! What was the point in having a Constituent Assembly in India if all the basics were already decided?
Answer:
The basic values that were accepted by all the leaders much before the Constituent Assembly met to deliberate on the Constitution were – Universal Adult Franchise, Right to Freedom and Equality and Protecting the Rights of Minorities in the Constitution of Independent India. Apart from these basic values, there were many more things that needed to be discussed in order to run the country peacefully and smoothly such as how to bring economic development in the country, how to remove poverty, etc. The Constituent Assembly in India wanted to make a Constitution that could satisfy all the sections of the people. Hence, it was essential to discuss on all important points. The basic values were already in existence. They didn’t need any further discussion.

Check Your Progress

Question  5.
Read the information about all the makers of the Indian Constitution given in the side columns here. You don’t need to memorise this information. Just give examples from these to support the following statements:
(i) The Assembly had many members who were not with the Congress.
(ii) The Assembly represented members from different social groups.
(iii) Members of the Assembly believed in different ideologies.
Answer:
(i) Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (1875-1950), Jaipal Singh (1903-1970), Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956), Shayama Prasad Mukherjee (1901-1953).

(ii) Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel: Leader of Peasants Satyagraha.
Abul Kalam Azad: Theologian, Scholar of Arabic.
Jaipal Singh:President of Adivasi Mahasabha.
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar : Social revolutionary thinker and agitator against caste divisions and caste-based inequalities.
Shayama Prasad Mukherjee : Active in the Hindu Mahasabha.

(iii) Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963), H.C.Mookherjee (1887-1956), G.Durgabai Desmukh (1909-1981), Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949).

Check Your Progress
Read the three quotations carefully (Refer Pg. No. 26, 27 of Textbook).

Question 6.
Can you identify one idea that is common to all these three?
Answer:
The one idea that is common to all these three quotations is the ending of inequality in India.

Question 7.
What are the differences in their ways of expressing that common idea?
Answer:
In the first quotation, Gandhi ji strives for India in which there should be no higher or lower class of people and all communities should live in perfect harmony. In the second quotation, B.R.Ambedkar said, “We are going to enter a life of contradictions. In politics, we will have equality but in social and economic life, we will have inequality.In the third quotation, Jawaharlal Nehru said about the ending of inequality, “the service of India means the ending of poverty, ignorance, disease and inequality of opportunity.Compare the Preambles to the constitutions of the United States of America India and South Africa.

Question 8.
Make a list of ideas that are common to all these three.
Answer:
(i) Each of these Preambles starts with We the people  It means the source of all authority to govern these countries are the people of these countries.
(ii) In all these three, the idea of justice is embodied.

Question 9.
Note down at least one of the major difference among these.
Answer:
In the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States, there is a statement for the formation of Union, which is not there in the Preambles to the Indian and South African Constitutions.

Question 10.
Which of the three makes a reference to the past?
Answer:
The Preamble to the Constitution of South Africa makes a reference to the past.

Question 11.
Which of these does not invoke God?
Answer:
The Preambles to the Constitutions of the United States and India do not invoke God. Both the preamble suggests that citizens have complete freedom to follow any religion^ There is no official religion.

RBSE Class 9 Social Science Constitutional Design Textbook Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Here are some false statements. Identify the mistake in each case and rewrite these correctly based on what you have read in this chapter.
(a) Leaders of the freedom movement had an open mind about whether the country should be democratic or not after independence.
(b) Members of the Constituent Assembly of India held the same views on all provisions of the Constitution.
(c) A country that has a constitution must be a democracy.
(d) Constitution cannot be amended because it is the supreme law of a country.
Answer:
(a) Leaders of the freedom movement had a consensus that the country should be a democratic nation after independence.
(b) Members of the Constituent Assembly of India held the same views on
the basic principles of the constitution.
(c) A country that is a democracy must have a constitution.
(d) A constitution can be amended to keep it updated.

Question 2.
Which of these was the most salient underlying conflict in the making of a democratic constitution in South Africa?
(a) Between South Africa and its neighbours
(b) Between men and women
(c) Between the white majority and the black minority
(d) Between the coloured minority and the black majority
Answer:
The most salient underlying conflict in the making of a democratic constitution in South Africa was between the coloured minority and the black majority.

Question 3.
Which of these is a provision that a democratic constitution does not have?
(a) Powers of the head of the state
(b) Name of the head, of the state
(c) Powers of the legislature
(d) Name of the country
Answer:
(b) Name of the head of the state

Question 4.
Match the following leaders with their roles in the making of the Constitution:

Answer:

Question 5.
Read again the extracts from Nehru’s speech “Tryst with Destiny” and Answer: the following:
(a) Why did Nehru use the expression “not wholly or in full measure” in the first sentence?
(b) What pledge did he want the makers of the Indian Constitution to
(c) The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye”. Who was he referring to?
Answer:
(a) Nehru used the term ‘not wholly or in full measure’ because according to him the task they had undertaken was not complete.
(b) The pledge that he wanted the makers of the Indian Constitution to take was to dedicate their lives to the service of India, the Indian people and the humanity at large.
(c) Mahatma Gandhi.

Question 6.
Here are some of the guiding values of the Constitution and their meaning.
Rewrite them by matching them correctly.

Answer:

Question 7.
A few days ago a friend from Nepal wrote to you about the political situation there. Many political parties were opposing the king’s rule there. Some of them suggested that the elected representatives can he given more rights by amending the existing constitution given by the king. Other parties were demanding the formation of a new Constituent Assembly to form a new democratic constitution. Write a letter to your friend stating your opinion about this subject.
Answer:
Two ideas have been put before us in this regard. According to the first idea, the elected public representatives should be given more power so that the entire system can be made more democratic, and the second group is talking about the abolition of the monarchy and the creation of a new democratic constitution in its place. Three things emerge from this-
(a) Demand for amendment in constitution to give more powers to elected representatives,
(b) New Constituent Assembly to write republican constitution and
(c) Opposition to the king’s rule. All these three facts show that people want democratic government and want to overthrow monarchical rule. In such a situation it would be in Nepal’s interest to form a new Constituent Assembly and form a new democratic constitution.

Question 8.
Here are different opinions about what made India a democracy. How much importance would you give to each of these factors?
(a) Democracy in India is a gift of the British rulers. We received training to work with representative legislative institutions under the British rule.

(b) Freedom struggle challenged the colonial exploitation and denial of different freedoms to IndiAnswer: Free India could not be anything but democratic.

(c) We were lucky to have leaders who had democratic convictions. The denial of democracy in several other newly independent countries shows the important role of these leaders.
Answer:
(a) People of India struggled a lot to get freedom from British rule. It is not a gift of the British rulers. However we used the experience obtained through British institution in our own democratic set up.

(b) Freedom struggle against colonial exploitation contributed a lot in making India a democracy.

(c) It is true, we were lucky to have such great leaders because the absence of this type of leaders made many newly independent countries undemocratic.

​​​​​​​Question 9.
Read the following extract from a conduct book for ‘married women’, published in 1912.

‘God hais made the female species delicate and fragile both physically and emotionally, pitiably incapable of self-defence. They are destined thus by God to remain in male protection of father, husband and son, all their lives. Women should, therefore, not despair, but feel obliged that they can dedicate themselves to the service of men’. Do you think the values expressed in this para reflected the values underlying our constitution? Or does this go against the constitutional values?
Answer:
No, the value expressed in the above paragraph does not reflect the values underlying our constitution. It goes against the constitutional values. In given paragraph women are shown as delicate and fragile both physically and emotionally and they should dedicate themselves to the service of men. Where as the constitution provides equality for men and women. As per constitution nobody can be discriminate on the grounds of caste, religion and gender.

Question 10.
Read the following statements about a constitution. Give reasons why each of these is true or not true.
(i) The authority of the rules of the constitution is the same as that of any other law.
(ii) Constitution lays down how different organs of the government will he formed.
(iii) Rights of citizens and limits on the power of the government are laid down in the constitution.
(iv) A constitution is about institutions, not about values.
Answer:
(i) The given statement is not true because constitution is supreme law of a country and at the same time it is not easy to amend and clasue of constitution. If amendment is necessary then there is procedure which has to be adopted. Where as an ordinary law is passed by parliament and it can be change any time.

(ii) It is true that constitution lays down how different organs of the government will be formed. Constitution lays down the framework for the formation of government. It also describe in detail about the structure, power and function of three organs of government, i.e. executive, legislative and judiciary.

(iii) Given statement is true because constitution guarantees fundamental rights to the citizens. It defines the power of government. Three organs of government keep a check on each other and thus there are limits on the power of government.

(iv) It is not true that a constitution is about institutions, not about values because constitution is not merely a statement of values and philosophy. The constitution is guided by values which are found form of preamble.