Question

Three essentials elements of Indian national life are_
A)Democracy, sovereignty and social justice
B)Sovereignty, secularism and socialism
C)Socialism, secularism and federalism
D)Democracy, secularism and social justice

Answer 1

Hint: The Indian constitution and national life reflects the values which were held dear by our leaders during our national movement. Unlike the other countries which crumbled soon after attaining independence from colonizers, India has sustained itself as an autonomous and democratic state for more than 70 years because of these essential elements and values that it has upheld.

Complete answer: The preamble of our constitution summarizes the nature of Indian constitution and its political life. The preamble states that India is a sovereign, socialist , secular, democratic ,republic and it promises to secure to all its citizens justice( social, economic and political), liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship and equality.Though all the options in the question have stated all the important features of our national life, we have to approach the question by elimination method i.e by eliminating the options that are not correct.
Option (C ) mentions federalism as an important feature. Federalism means division of power amongst the center and the constituting units of the state. India however has been called quasi federal by scholars like K.C. Wheare. This means that India has both federal features and unitary features. Therefore option (C ) can be ruled out.
Option (B) mentions sovereignty ,secularism and socialism but doesn’t mention democracy. Sovereignty means complete independence of the governing body over the affairs of the state. Sovereignty means no influence of external powers over the affairs of the country. However, India is not just sovereign but a democracy too. The people of the country make major decisions. Hence option (B) can be ruled out too.
-This leaves us with option (A) and (D). Both of them mention democracy and social justice which are indeed essential elements of Indian national life.
India is a country where all the adult citizens elect their representatives who then take important decisions on their behalf. Also democracy was the cause which drove the national movement. India , therefore, is a democracy.

India also ensures social justice for all. Apart from the preamble promising to secure social, political and economic justice to all, the constitution also guarantees its citizens fundamental rights of freedom of speech, personali liberty etc. The constitution also ensures social justice through the directive principles of state policy. These directives ensure that the government pursues welfare policies. Therefore, social justice is an essential element of national life too.
-The only difference between option (A ) and (D ) is (A) mentions sovereignty while (D) mentions secularism.
Secularism means that there is separation between state and religion. It means that the state doesn’t have a religion of its own and neither does it promote a specific religion.
India is a secular country as there is no official religion and the state maintains principled distance from all religions. Freedom to practice any religion is one of the fundamental rights.
Also, the fact that Indian national leaders rejected the two nation theory ,on the basis of which Pakistan was formed, shows us that even Indian nationalism was secular.
Therefore, secularism is an essential element of Indian national life.

Thus the correct answer is option (D)- democracy, secularism and social justice.

Note: To attempt this question, one has to understand the difference between sovereignty and democracy.Sovereignty means complete autonomy over the affairs of the state while democracy means that the people of the country either choose their representatives or directly make decisions regarding affairs of the state. We have to understand that just because a country is sovereign doesn’t mean it's democratic. For example, Oman is a sovereign nation recognised by the United Nation but it has a monarchical system.