3 days ago
Term ‘Secular' misused for vote bank politics
Kakinada: Senior BJP leader and Citizens Initiative secretary Duvvuri Subrahmanyam has backed RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale's recent call for a debate on removing the word 'Secular' from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. He said the term, inserted during the 42nd Constitutional Amendment on December 18, 1976, without proper debate, has now become a burden to the nation.
Speaking at party meeting, Subrahmanyam alleged that the word is being misused by certain political leaders to mislead voters. He claimed that its removal is now essential.
He recalled that the term was added during the Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to divert attention from the Allahabad High Court's ruling against her and the growing anti-corruption movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan. With opposition leaders jailed, there was no parliamentary debate before including the term 'Secular' in the Preamble, he said.
He said that India was already a tolerant nation and questioned the need for the term after Partition created Pakistan as a separate nation for minorities.
Quoting Dr BR Ambedkar, he said that inserting such terms imposes restrictions on future generations. He also cited Constituent Assembly members like Krishna Iyer and Loknath Mishra, who opposed the inclusion of the word 'Secular' at the time.
