NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI, June 28: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday said the words inserted in the Preamble of the Constitution through an amendment during the Emergency era were a ‘festering wound”, lending weight to the call by a top RSS leader for a review of the added terms ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’.
Wading into the political row sparked by RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale’s call for a national debate on whether the terms ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ to define India’s foundational values should remain in the Preamble, Dhankhar said the Preamble is sacrosanct and “not changeable”. He further said the added words were a “sacrilege to the spirit of Sanatan.”
Echoing Dhankhar’s views, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also joined two union ministers–Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Jitendra Singh–to support the idea mooted by Hosabale.
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Sarma claimed that ‘socialism’ and ‘secularism’ are Western concepts, and said these words should be struck off the Constitution. These words have no place in Indian civilisation, he said at a book launch event in Guwahati.
While Chouhan said “there is no need for socialism in India” and that “secularism is not the core of our culture”, Singh said any right-thinking citizen will endorse the call for a review because everybody knows that these words were not part of the original Constitution written by Dr B R Ambedkar. The two ministers made the comments on Friday.
The Congress and other opposition parties have slammed the call made by the second senior-most functionary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) on Thursday, terming it “political opportunism” and a “deliberate assault” on the soul of the Constitution.
Dhankhar said the words inserted in the Preamble in 1976 during the period of Emergency, were a “nasoor” (festering wound) and could cause upheaval. The changes signalled a betrayal of the “wisdom” of the framers of the Constitution, he added.
“It is nothing but belittling the civilisational wealth and knowledge of this country for thousands of years,” the vice president said at a book launch event in Delhi.
Dhankhar described the Preamble as a “seed” on which a Constitution grows. He also underlined that the preamble of no other Constitution has undergone a change except that of India.
“The Preamble of a Constitution is not changeable. But this Preamble was changed by the 42nd Constitution (Amendment) Act of 1976,” he said, noting that the words “socialist”, “secular”, and “integrity” were added.
He said it was a travesty of justice that something that cannot be changed was altered “casually, farcically, and with no sense of propriety” and that too during Emergency when several opposition leaders were in jail.
“And in the process, if you deeply reflect, we are giving wings to existential challenges. These words have been added as nasoor (festering wound). These words will create upheaval,” Dhankhar cautioned.
“We must reflect,” he said, adding that B R Ambedkar did painstaking work on the Constitution and he must have “surely focused on it.
The BJP cited the then prime minister Indira Gandhi’s comments questioning the usefulness of the Indian Constitution and her assertion of changing it to hit back at the Congress.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the Congress should not divert from the Emergency-era excesses on people and tender an apology. As the country observed the 50th anniversary of Emergency, it is imperative to discuss the sufferings the then government inflicted on people so that it is never repeated, he told reporters.
He cited media reports of that period which quoted Indira Gandhi from her press conference and address to convey her critical take on the Constitution.
She once spoke in favour of making basic changes in the Constitution and asked, at another occasion, if it serves democracy.
Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta also questioned the inclusion of the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in the Preamble, saying such changes should be made through national consensus, not under the “cover of authoritarianism.”
Former Union Cabinet Minister Satyanarayan Jatiya said the Preamble reflects the core values of the Constitution, and its sanctity must be preserved.
“No single leader can alter its structure based on personal ambition,” he said, accusing the then government of acting in a manner similar to the colonial regime.
Gupta and Jatiya were speaking at a symposium held at the Delhi Legislative Assembly to mark 50 years of the imposition of Emergency.
On the other end of the political spectrum, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah slammed Hosabale for seeking the review of the Preamble.
“The RSS believes in Manusmriti. They have no respect for the Indian Constitution and no faith in democracy,” the Congress leader told reporters in Bengaluru, responding to a question on Hosabale’s call.
“They have a mindset of changing the Constitution and imposing Manusmriti in the country. What else can they say apart from it?” the CM said.
According to him, the B R Ambedkar-headed panel drafted the Indian Constitution, which was later accepted by the Constituent Assembly after a detailed discussion.
Regarding the call to remove the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’, Siddaramaiah said, “The words were inserted in the Constitution after a discussion in the Parliament. Amendment to the Constitution cannot be done as per Hosabale’s wish.”
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati accused the ruling BJP-led NDA government and the earlier Congress regime of carrying out unnecessary changes in the Constitution.
“The basic spirit and objectives of the Constitution, whatever has been written or shown in the Preamble, there should not be any tampering with it,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, responding to a question by reporters in Lucknow on demands to remove the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ from the Preamble. (PTI)
