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ROLE OF LAW TO REFORM SOCIETY : A Speech of Dr. Ambedkar
The responsibility for this decay lay in the failure of ancient societies to take upon themselves the task of removing the defects in their structure. Instead of removing the defects they submitted to be governed by the law laid down by the law-makers like Manu. The True function of law consists in repairing the faults in society. Civilisation had never been a continuous process. There were states and societies which had at one time been civilized. In course of time something happened which made these societies stangnat and decayed. This could be illustrated by India's history itself. There could be no doubt that one of the countries whichy could boast of a great ancient civilization was India. When inhabitants of Europe were living under almost barbaric and nomadic conditions this country had reached the highest peak of civilization. It had parliamentary institutions when people of Europe were mere nomads. It looked to the laymen as if our parliamentary institutions today had borrowed all parliamentary procedure from European Countries, particularly from Braitain, but I think anyone who refers for instance, to the pages of the Vinaypitaka will find that there is no ground for such a view, Some of the rules which are laid down in May's parliamentary practrice were known to the people of India at students of Vinay Pitaka. People seemed to think that the procedure that there could be no debate in parliament unless there was a motion and no vote could be taken unless a motion was put, was something new. But I think this was a popular fallacy. In Vinay Pitaka which regulated meetings of the Bhikkhus sangh, there was the well-known rule that no debate could take place except on 'Neti' motion. We doday think that secret ballot is something which was invented by the British people. That again is a mistake. In Vinay Pitaka there is a difinite provision for tellers to count votes. They were called 'Salapatraka Grahaks', Sal-patraka (bark of tree) was used as ballot paper. There was also a system of secret ballot where the Bhikkhu himself could drop his 'Sal-patrika' in the ballot box. I am refering to politica matters because it has been said by many historians that wherever advancement they made in other branches of life the Indian people were politically very backward. I deny that proposition. I admit that we somehow, lost that politica genius. We lost all parliamentary institutions and we became subject to the autocratic king. It marked the decline of civilisation and the Indian society has been declining from time to time as all other societies have done. What is it that in modern times societies seem to progress continuously without many difficulties except those which wars give rist to? Why was it not so in the ancient society? The difference between ancient society and modern society lies in the fact that in ancient societies law-making was not the function of the people. Law was made by God or by the law-given. The function of the Society was merely to obey law that was made either by the divine power or the law maker. This was the fundamental reason for ancient societies not having nay continuous civilisation. The true function of law consists in repairing the faults of the society. Unfortunately ancient societies never dared to assume the funtion of repairing their own defects; consequently they decayed. One of the reasons for the decay of Hindu society is that it was governed by law which had either been made by Manu or Yajanvalkya. Law that has been laid down by these law-makers is divine law. The result was that Hindu society was never able to repair itself. I n Europe after a course of time, jurisdiction of eccesiastical law was challenged by secular law with the result that today the law in the West was purely secular and the jurisdiction of the Church was confined merely to the priest. Unfortunately many writers who have carried on research into India's past, including the great scholar Prof. Max Muller, have given currency to the motion that Indian law has not changed at all. This is in conformity with what the orthodox pundits maintain. But from such study as I have made I can say that it is a complete fallacy. There is not country in the world which has undergone so many revolutions as this country. This country has been the conflict between ecclesiastical law and secular law long before the Europeans sought to challenge the authority of the Pope. Kautilya's Arthshastra lays down the foundation of secular law. In India unfortunately ecclesiastical law triumphed over secular law. Why did it happen? In my opinion it was one of the greatest disasters, in this country. The unprograssive character of Hindu society was due to the notion that law cannot be changed. (Speech Dilivered in the Law College, Delhi University, Delhi on the 10th April 1948)