The Modern Review/Volume 38/Number 2/A Serious Defect of the Reform Scheme
A Serious Defect of the Reform Scheme
One of the serious defects of the Reform Scheme inaugurated in India by the British Government in 1919 is that it contains no Bill of Rights, no constitutional guarantee of any sort securing the people of India against injustice and tyranny on the part of those constituting the Government. There is such a guarantee in the constitution of the United States of America, which declares:
“Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and petition the Government for redress of grievances.
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.
“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines, imposed nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
“No State or province within the nation shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its Jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
The constitution framed for and given to the Filipinos by America contains similar provisions, which were quoted by us in a previous volume of this Review. In an English translation of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, published in the March issue of Political Science Quarterly, New York, we find the following articles:—
Article 68: All citizens of Turkey are endowed at birth with liberty and full right to the enjoyment thereof. Liberty consists in the right to live and enjoy life without offense or injury to others. The only limitations on liberty—which is one of the natural rights of all—are those imposed in the interest of the rights and liberties of others. Such limitations on personal liberty shall be defined only in strict accordance with the law.
Article 69: All Turks are equal before the law [Article 85 lays down that “The name Turk, as a political term, shall be understood to include all citizens of the Turkish Republic, without distinction of, or reference to, race or religion.”] All privileges of whatever description claimed by groups, classes, families and individuals are abolished and forbidden.
Article 70: Inviolability of person; freedom of conscience, of thought, of speech, of press; freedom of travel and of contract; freedom of labour; freedom of private property, of assembly, of association; freedom of incorporation, are among the natural rights of Turks.
Article 71: The life, the property, the honor, and the home of each and all are inviolable.
Article 72: Personal liberty shall not be restricted or interfered with except as provided by law.
Article 73: Torture, corporal punishment, confiscation and extortion are prohibited.
There are other similar provisions, but they would be too long to quote.
It is one of the merits of The Commonwealth of India Bill drafted by Mrs. Annie Besant and her co-workers that it contains the following Declaration of Rights:
“The following Fundamental Rights will be guaranteed to every person:
(a) Inviolability of the liberty of the person and of his dwelling and property.
(b) Freedom of conscience and the free practice of religion, subject to the public order or morality.
(c) Free expression of opinion and the right of assembly peaceably and without arms, and of forming Associations or Unions, subject to public order or morality.
(d) Free Elementary Education as soon as practicable.
(e) The use of roads, places dedicated to the public, courts of justice, and the like.
(f) Equality before the Law, irrespective of considerations of Nationality, and
(g) Equality of sexes.”