Mr. President, Sir, the present is a unique occasion in many respects; but above all, it is an occasion for prayerful thanks-giving to the Creator of us all, for the fulfilment of the ambitions and aspirations of our leaders who fought valiantly, now for over half a century, and never considered any sacrifice too great for the achievement of the objectives the fruits of which we are here now to enjoy. How much we wish we had some of them amongst us today to bless us and to guide us in our onward march. I wish also that some spiritual background would have found place as an important feature of this Constitution. This would not have made this Constitution any the different from others, because we find such references in other Constitution also. In our case, however, this matter assumes greater importance because for once in the history of religion and politics, it was the great Mahatma who brought them together, and not only showed the place of religion in politics, but also laid truthful but also the means employed to achieve the end if the end is to be of any permanent good. Some of us, Sir, feel that it is not right to mix up politics with spiritualism. That in my opinion, is not the need of the hour. While speaking here, or even in other countries, do not our leaders express the importance of the spiritual background of this country? And would it do, I ask, any credit to us, if we do not give expression to this background in the very first act of this Nation? However, even if this does not find a place in the written constitution of this country, I trust that in carrying out the purpose of this Constitution, our countrymen and our leaders will keep God in front of them, and in their hearts, and then alone the Constitution will be really successfully worked.
