During a school visit to a museum in New Delhi, Class 12 student Aarti stood before a large display of the signed Constitution of India. The guide explained that the document took about three years to prepare and that its drafts were discussed clause by clause by a body of Indian representatives. Aarti asked when the document began to govern the country, what its makers wanted it to change in Indian society, how the drafting work was organised, and what the mood in the country was in the years just before the drafting began. The guide asked her to answer each point from what she had studied in class.
The makers wanted the document Aarti saw to nurture democratic institutions in a society that had long been marked by which kind of culture?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → A culture of hierarchy and deference
Option (1) A culture of caste and community conflict — Incorrect. Divisions of caste and community were real. The Constitution met them with a separate aim: bringing people together in a shared political experiment.
Option (2) A culture of princely rule and patronage — Incorrect. Princely rule was part of the colonial map. The old culture the makers wanted to change was one of hierarchy and deference.
Option (3) A culture of hierarchy and deference — Correct. The Constitution sought to nurture democratic institutions in what had long been a culture of hierarchy and deference, where people looked up to those above them instead of acting as equal citizens.
Option (4) A culture of regional rivalry and dissent — Incorrect. India was large and diverse. Regional rivalry is a different problem from the old habit of looking up to those above.
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