Latest news with #42ndConstitutionalAmendmentActof1976
News18
29-06-2025
- Politics
- News18
Emergency-Era Changes In Constitution's Preamble A 'Festering Wound': VP Dhankhar
His comments come against the backdrop of a recent call from sections of the RSS and BJP for a review of the terms 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Preamble Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Saturday that the preamble of any constitution is its soul, and it is not changeable. Except for India, he said, no other constitution's preamble has undergone change. He was speaking at an event marking the presentation of a book titled Ambedkar's Messages. The Vice President was referring to the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976, enacted during the Emergency declared on June 25, 1975. This amendment controversially added the words 'Socialist", 'Secular", and 'Integrity" to the Preamble, which originally described India as a 'Sovereign Democratic Republic". Dhankhar questioned the legitimacy of these changes, particularly their timing. He highlighted that the amendments were pushed through during the 'darkest period of Indian democracy", when fundamental rights were suspended and countless citizens, including prominent leaders, were imprisoned. He said, 'When We the People were bleeding—in heart, in soul—they were in darkness," making the alteration a 'travesty of justice." Dhankhar's remarks also touched upon the judicial understanding of the Preamble. He recalled the Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala case of 1973, where a 13-judge bench of the Supreme Court had deeply reflected on the Preamble, with Justice HR Khanna famously stating that it serves as a guide to interpreting the Constitution and indicates its authority derives from 'We the People of India". His comments come against the backdrop of a recent call from sections of the RSS and BJP for a review of the terms 'socialist" and 'secular" in the Preamble, arguing they were forcibly added and were not part of BR Ambedkar's original draft. The Vice President argued that changing something considered unalterable, something that emanates from the people, at a time when the people were 'virtually enslaved", was a grave 'sacrilege to the spirit of Sanatana" and a belittling of India's civilisational heritage. He further termed the added words a 'nasoor" (festering wound) that could 'create upheaval", signalling a 'betrayal of the mindset of the framers of the Constitution". (With agency inputs) About the Author News Desk First Published: June 29, 2025, 05:25 IST
Indian Express
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘Sacrilege to spirit of Sanatan': V-P Jagdeep Dhankhar questions addition of ‘socialist', ‘secular' to Preamble
Terming it a travesty of justice, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday said changing the Preamble to the Constitution by adding the words 'socialist', 'secular' and 'integrity' during the Emergency was 'sacrilege to spirit of Sanatan'. Speaking at an event in Delhi, Dhankhar said the Preamble was the soul of any Constitution, and apart from India, no other country had changed it. 'Preamble is not changeable. Preamble is not alterable. Preamble is the basis on which the Constitution has grown. Preamble is the seed of the Constitution. It is soul of the Constitution but this Preamble for Bharat was changed by 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976, adding words socialist, secular and integrity,' he said. We are changing the soul of the Constitution by this flash of words, added during the period of Emergency — the darkest period for the Constitution of the country. These words have been added as नासूर. These words will create upheaval. Addition of these words in the Preamble… — Vice-President of India (@VPIndia) June 28, 2025 His comments come two days after RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabele said there should be a discussion on whether the words 'socialist' and 'secular' should remain in the Preamble. A day later, Union ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Jitendra Singh had thrown their weight behind the idea even as Congress leaders and other Opposition parties criticised the remark. Vice-President Dhankhar was speaking at an event at his official residence where he was presented the first copy of the book, Ambedkar's Messages, compiled by author and former Karnataka MLC D S Veeraiah. 'We must reflect. Dr [B R] Ambedkar did painstaking work. He would have surely focused on it. The founding fathers thought it befittingly wise to give us that Preamble…what a travesty of justice. First, we change something which is not changeable, alterable – something that emanates from 'We the People' – and then, you change it during Emergency. When 'We the People' were bleeding in heart, in soul, they were in darkness,' he said. Calling the Emergency imposed by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975 as the 'darkest period for the Constitution of the country', Dhankhar said, '…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. Addition of these words in the Preamble during the Emergency signal betrayal of the mindset of the framers of the Constitution. It is nothing but belittling the civilisational wealth and knowledge of this country for thousands of years. It is sacrilege to the spirit of Sanatan.'
