On 9th November 1948 at the Constituent Assembly, Shri Vishwambhar Dayal Tripathi [United Provinces, General] spoke as follows;
“Before I point out these glaring defects and serious omission, I would like to draw your attention to certain observations made by the Mover of the Draft Constitution. I would not go into unnecessary details because those points have been effectively dealt with by a number of previous Speakers. But I cannot refrain from making certain observations. The one thing – and to me it appears very objectionable – which I wish to reply to is, Dr. Ambedkar’s remark, that the Indian soil is not suited to Democracy. I do not know how my Friend has read History of India. I am myself a Student of History and also Politics and I can say with definiteness the Democracy flourished in India much before Greece or any other country. Entire Western World has taken democratic ideas from Greece and it is generally regarded that Greece was the Country where Democracy first of all flourished. That I say and I can prove it to the hilt, the Democracy flourished in India much earlier than the Greece. I shall not go into the facts and figures yet I would draw his attention to two or three points with regard to this matter. He might remember as I know he had read history and he is also a scholar of Sanskrit that even during the time of Buddha, Democracy flourished in India. It is an oft quoted phrase which I want to repeat here and it is this; that certain traders went from Northern India to the South. The King of Southern India asked them as who was the ruler of North India they replied [in Hindi] that some of the countries in the North are governed as Republic while there are others which are governed by Kings then coming down to the period of Alexander we find that Historians of Alexander have praised very much city-states of Northern India which were governed democratic line as Republic. There is no doubt that later on, on the course of political development was arrested for some time on account of invasions from outside. Yet we find that the same Democracy continued to function in our Villages under the name of Village Republic. This, the Mover himself has admitted in his address. It is very unfortunate that we shall made such remarks as are not worn out by the facts of History.“
Lack of knowledge of history as perhaps reflected in the formation of The Constitution.