Sixteen Stormy Days

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Sixteen Stormy Days narrates the gripping story of the First Amendment to the Constitution of India, a pivotal moment in the nation’s political and constitutional history. Passed in June 1951 amid fierce opposition, this amendment significantly curtailed freedom of speech, enabled caste-based reservations, restricted property rights, and validated the abolition of the zamindari system. It also created a special schedule of unconstitutional laws that were immune to judicial review. Enacted just months before India’s first election, it marked profound changes to the Constitution. Confronted with a liberal Constitution hindering major socio-economic plans, a judiciary upholding civil liberties, and a press resisting control, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru reasserted executive power, laying the groundwork for repression. What led Nehru—who initially championed the Constitution in 1950—to radically amend it after just sixteen days of debate? Drawing on parliamentary debates, press reports, judicial rulings, official correspondence, and existing scholarship, this work challenges conventional views on key figures like Nehru, B.R. Ambedkar, and others, revealing the stark contrast between the liberal ideals of India's Constitution and the authoritarian tendencies of its first government.