Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Modern India: Framing the Constitution

Question:

Read the passage and answer the five questions that follow.

The Constituent Assembly deliberated upon the Indian Constitution, which came into effect on 26 January, 1950. It has the dubious distinction of being the longest in the world. But its length and complexity are perhaps understandable when one considers the country's size and diversity. At Independence, India was not merely large and diverse, but also deeply divided. A Constitution designed to keep the country together, and to take it forward had necessarily to be an elaborate, carefully-worked-out, and painstakingly drafted document. For one thing, it sought to heal wounds of the past and the present, to make Indians of different classes, castes and communities come together in a shared political experiment. For another, it sought to nurture democratic institutions.

The nature of the Constitution imbibed the right to _________.

1- Cultural Rights
2- Educational Rights
3- Equality
4- Religion

Options:

1 only

1 and 2 only

2 and 3 only

1, 2, 3 and 4.

Correct Answer:

1, 2, 3 and 4.

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option 4 - 1, 2, 3 and 4.

1- Cultural Rights
2- Educational Rights
3- Equality
4- Religion

A second important feature of the Constitution was its emphasis on secularism. There was no ringing pronouncement of secularism in the Preamble, but operationally, its key features as understood in Indian contexts were spelled out in an exemplary manner. This was done through the carefully drafted series of Fundamental Rights to “freedom of religion” (Articles 25-28), “cultural and educational rights” (Articles 29, 30), and “rights to equality” (Articles 14, 16, 17). All religions were guaranteed equal treatment by the State and given the right to maintain charitable institutions. The State also sought to distance itself from religious communities, banning compulsory religious instructions in State-run schools and colleges, and declaring religious discrimination in employment to be illegal. However, a certain legal space was created for social reform within communities, a space that was used to ban untouchability and introduce changes in personal and family laws. In the Indian variant of political secularism, then, there has been no absolute separation of State from religion, but a kind of judicious distance between the two.

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