NCERT 9th Class (CBSE) Social Science: Constitutional Design

Question: Define the term Apartheid. What are its features?

Answer:

1. Apartheid was the name of a system of racial discrimination unique to South Africa. The white European imposed this system on the majority blacks in South Africa.
2. The system of apartheid divided the people and labeled them on the basis of their skin color. The native people of South Africa are black in color. They made up about three-fourths of the population and were called the ‘blacks’.
3. Besides these two groups, there were people of mixed races who were called ‘colored’ and people who migrated from India. The white rulers treated all nonwhites as inferiors. The non-whites did not have voting rights.
4. The system of apartheid was particularly oppressive for the blacks. They were forbidden from living in white areas. They could work in white areas only if they had a permit. Trains, buses, taxis, hotels, hospitals, schools and colleges, libraries, cinema halls, theaters, beaches, swimming pools, public toilets, were all separate for the whites and blacks. This was called segregation. They could not even visit the churches where the whites worshiped. Blacks could not form associations or protest against the terrible treatment.

Question: Who was Nelson Mandela?

Answer: Nelson Mandela was the President of South Africa. He fought against the racial discriminatory policy known as apartheid under the banner of African National Congress (ANC). He was imprisoned by the White minority Government for 28 years. After his release and the election followed he became the President.

Question: Why is the South African constitution considered a noble constitution?

Answer:

1. The South African constitution is built on equality of all races and man and women, on democratic values, social justice and human rights.
2. The party that ruled through oppression and brutal killings and the party that led the freedom struggle sat together to draw up a common constitution.
3. This constitution gave to its citizens the most extensive rights available in the country. Together, they decided that in the search for a solution to the problems, nobody should be excluded; no one should be treated as a demon.
4. They agreed that everybody should become a part of the solution, whatever they might have done or represented in the past.

Question: Define the term ‘constitution’.

Answer: The constitution of a country is a set of written rules that are accepted by all people living together in a country. Constitution is the supreme law that determines the relationship among people living in a territory (called citizens) and also the relationship between the people and the government.

Question: Why did the people of South Africa require a Constitution?

Answer:

1. The people of South Africa agreed to accept some basic rights for the poor and the workers. The blacks agreed that majority rule would not be absolute. They agreed that the majority would not take away the property of the white minority. This compromise was not easy.
2. Even if they managed to trust each other, what was the guarantee that this trust will not be broken in future? The only way to build and maintain trust in such a (unpleasant) experience for the people of India and Pakistan. At least ten lakh people were killed on both sides of the border in partition related violence.
3. The British had left it to the rulers of the princely states to decide whether they wanted to merge with India or with Pakistan or remain independent.
4. The merger of these princely states was a difficult and uncertain task. When the constitution was being written, the future of the country did not look as secure as it does today. The makers of the constitution had anxieties about the present and the future of the country.