Sovereign Sovereign means the independent authority of a statethat it has the power to legislate on any subject; and that it is not subject to the control of any other state or external power. According to the preamble, the constitution of India has been pursuance of the solemn resolution of the people of India to constitute India into a 'Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic', and to secure well-defined objects set forth in the preamble. Sovereignty denotes supreme and ultimate power. It may be real or normal, legal or political, individual or pluralistic. Sovereignty, in short, means the independent authority of a state. It has two aspects- external and internal. External sovereignty means the independence of a state of the will of other states, in her conduct with other states in the committee of nations. The external sovereignty of India means that it can acquire foreign territory and also cede any part of the Indian territory, subject to limitations (if any) imposed by the constitution. On the other hand, internal sovereignty refers to the relationship between the states and the individuals within its territory. Internal sovereignty relates to internal and domestic affairs, and is divided into four organs, namely, the executive, the legislature, the judiciary and the administrative.
Socialist Before the term was added by the
42nd Amendment in 1976, the Constitution had socialist content in the form of certain
Directive Principles of State Policy. The term socialist used here refers to
social democracy, i.e. achievement of socialist goals through democratic, evolutionary and non-violent means. Essentially, it means that (since wealth is generated socially) wealth should be shared equally by society through
distributive justice, not concentrated in the hands of few, and that the government should regulate the ownership of land and industry to reduce socio-economic inequalities.
Secular Secular means that the relationship between the government and religious groups are determined according to constitution and law. It separates the power of the state and religion. By the 42nd Amendment on 18 December 1976, the term "Secular" was also incorporated in the Preamble. There is no difference of religion
i.e. Hinduism,
Buddhism,
Jainism,
Sikhism,
Christianity and
Islam are equally respected and moreover, there is no
state religion. All the citizens of India are allowed to profess, practice and propagate their religions. Explaining the meaning of secularism as adopted by India, Alexander Owics has written, "Secularism is a part of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution and it means equal freedom and respect for all religions stated."
Democratic The people of India elect their governments by a system of universal adult franchise, popularly known as "one person one vote". This representative form of government is suitable for governing the country because of its huge and diverse population. Every citizen of India 18 years of age or older and not otherwise debarred by law is entitled to vote. In the case of Mohan Lal Tripathi vs District Magistrate, the term "Democracy" was discussed and it was held that:"Democracy is a concept of political philosophy, an ideal which is practiced by many nations that are culturally advanced and politically mature via resorting to governance by representative of people directly or indirectly."The word
democratic refers not only to political democracy but also to social and economic democracy. The main reason to incorporate democracy is to provide freedom to the people to choose their own representative and to save them from tyrant rulers.
Republic In a
republican form of government, the head of state is elected and not a hereditary monarch. Thus, this word denotes a government where no one holds public power as a proprietary right. As opposed to a monarchy, in which the head of state is appointed on a hereditary basis for life or until abdication, a democratic republic is an entity in which the head of state is elected, directly or indirectly, for a fixed tenure. Thus, India has a president who is indirectly elected and has a fixed term of office. There is an absence of a privileged class and all public offices are open to every citizen without discrimination.
Justice Justice stands for
rule of law, absence of arbitrariness and a system of equal rights, freedom and opportunities for all in a society. India seeks social, economic and political
justice to ensure equality to its citizens.
(i) Social Justice: Social Justice means the absence of socially privileged classes in the society and no discrimination against any citizen on grounds of caste, creed, color, religion, gender or place of birth. India stands for eliminating all forms of exploitations from the society.
(ii) Economic Justice: Economic Justice means no discrimination between man and woman on the basis of income, wealth and economic status. It stands for equitable distribution of wealth, economic equalities, the end of monopolistic control over means of production and distribution, decentralization of economic resources, and the securing of adequate opportunities to all for earning their living.
(iii) Political Justice: Political justice means equal, free and fair opportunities to the people for participation in the political process. It stands for the grant of equal political rights to all the people without discrimination. The Constitution of India provides for a liberal democracy in which all the people have the right and freedom to participate.
Liberty The idea of
Liberty refers to the freedom on the activities of Indian nationals. This establishes that there are no unreasonable restrictions on Indian citizens in term of what they think, their manner of expressions and the way they wish to follow up their thoughts in action. However, liberty does not mean freedom to do anything, and it must be exercised within the constitutional limits.
Equality The term 'equality' means the absence of special privilege to any section of society, and the provision of adequate opportunity of all the individuals without any discrimination.
Fraternity This refers to feeling of oneness and a sense of belonging with the country among its people. The word "Fraternity" is derived from French word which declares that it has to assure two things—the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation. The word 'integrity' has been added to the Preamble by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment (1976). ==References==