ABSTRACT
In the shaping of India’s constitutional identity, the nationalist inputs were no less significant. It is too obvious to derecognize the critical importance of the context which influenced the nationalists, to a significant extent. Those who shaped India’s constitutional past were the ones who received British education in either India or Britain. Given the fact that they were nurtured in a milieu in which British liberal values were privileged, it is fair to argue that they imbibed those context-driven values. There is another side of the argument, namely in view of a well-entrenched tradition of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is family), liberal ideas gained precedence in an atmosphere where they were naturally accepted. For the nationalists, liberal constitutionalism was a source of empowerment, and, as India’s freedom struggle progressed, it also became a source of embarrassment for the rulers.
