CPM too opposed changes to Preamble during Emergency, now blaming RSS: Sangh-linked magazine
The magazine has also published a sharply worded editorial accusing the Congress and the Left of distorting the legacy of the Emergency and turning the RSS into a political scapegoat.
While critics, particularly from the Left and the Congress, labelled Hosabale's remarks an ideological attack on the Constitution, Organiser's cover story by Ganesh Radhakrishnan in its latest issue sought to highlight what it called the CPI(M)'s 'original position' on the matter, one that it claimed closely mirrored the RSS's stand.
Citing a 1976 pamphlet the CPI(M) published during the Emergency, the article said the party had explicitly criticised the addition of 'socialist' and 'secular', viewing them as a political manoeuvre by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to centralise power. The pamphlet, later republished in Malayalam by Chintha Publishers in 2005, warned that the amendment was part of a broader strategy to turn the Constitution into an instrument of one-party rule under Gandhi.
The CPI(M)'s alternative proposal of 26 amendments at the time made no mention of 'socialist' or 'secular' either, the Organiser article claimed.
According to the article, in a preface to the republished volume, senior CPI(M) leader P Govinda Pillai had opposed the amendments tooth and nail. 'Indira Gandhi wanted to portray that the declaration of Emergency and the constitutional amendments were not an expression of fascist tendencies, but rather, an effort to defeat fascist forces and implement democracy and socialism … These changes were not based on democratic consensus but on political expediency,' Pillai is quoted as saying.
The article said Hosabale's recent statements had 'not deviated from its original position even today'. 'The onus now falls upon the CPM to clarify whether its stance has changed,' Radhakrishnan wrote.
It also quoted CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby's remarks following Hosabale's statement to make its point. 'RSS's demand to remove socialism and secularism from the Constitution's Preamble is a direct assault on India's core values. RSS always pushed Manusmriti over our Constitution,' Baby said.
Building on this, Organiser editor Prafulla Ketkar, in his editorial, accused the Congress and Left of historical revisionism. 'This year marks the fifty years of the dark days of the Emergency… Instead of recognising the personal dictatorial ambitions of Ms Indira Gandhi as the root cause of the Emergency, an attempt is being made to divert the blame to a selfless leader like JP (Jayaprakash Narayan) and a nationalist organisation like RSS,' Ketkar wrote.
'When RSS Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale spoke about how 'secularism' and 'socialism' were inserted into the Constitution during the Emergency, he was exposing this hypocrisy. Dr Ambedkar was unmistakable when he called out Communists as the enemies of the Constitution while dedicating the final draft to the nation in 1949. Various outfits with allegiance to communism have openly called the Constitution 'bourgeoisie', and most of them vowed to overthrow it someday,' he added.
Ketkar accused the Congress of repeatedly trying to undermine constitutional democracy, citing Nehru's First Amendment and the UPA's proposed Communal Violence Bill, and dismissed the CPI(M)'s claims of ideological consistency.
While the CPI(M) has yet to officially respond to the Organiser article, the party has maintained in the past that it opposed the Emergency and the way the constitutional changes were carried out, but supports the substantive values of socialism and secularism. The Congress has also repeatedly defended the incorporation of these principles as essential to India's democratic and plural ethos.
In his address at a recent event in Delhi at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre, Hosabale said: 'During the Emergency, two words, 'secular' and 'socialist', were added to the Constitution, which were not part of the original Preamble. There was no Parliament, no rights, no judiciary functioning, and yet these words were added. That is why this matter must be discussed.'
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