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Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Organiser: Go back to original Preamble sans 'socialist' and 'secular'
File photo: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat (PTI) NEW DELHI: Close on the heels of RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale's call for a review on the continuation of "socialist" and "secular" in the Constitution's Preamble - words added during the Emergency, Sangh-inspired weekly 'Organiser' dubbed the terms "ideological landmines" designed to "subvert dharmic values" and "serve political appeasement", stressing it's time to "undo" them and reclaim the original Constitution. Terming the insertion of the two words into the Preamble an "act of constitutional fraud", an article in the magazine's latest edition said these terms were not mere "cosmetic additions" but "ideological imposition" that contradicts the very spirit of "Bharat's civilisational identity and constitutional democracy". "Let us be clear: No Constituent Assembly ever approved these words. The 42nd Amendment was passed during Emergency when Parliament functioned under duress, with opposition leaders in jail and the media gagged," Dr Niranjan B Poojar said in the opinion piece, titled 'Revisiting Socialist and Secular in the Preamble: Reclaiming India's Constitutional Integrity'. It was an "act of constitutional fraud", akin to forging someone's will when they are unconscious, it said. "Bharat must revert to the original Preamble, as envisioned by the founding fathers... Let us undo Emergency's constitutional sin and reclaim the Preamble for the people of Bharat," the article said. Noting that a "constitutional clean up" is due, the article said removing 'socialist' and 'secular' is not about ideology but restoring "constitutional honesty, reclaiming national dignity and ending political hypocrisy". "We are not a socialist country. We are not a secular-atheist state. We are a dharmic civilization rooted in pluralism, swaraj and spiritual autonomy. Let us have the courage to say so in our Constitution," it said. The article said after insertion of the term 'secular' into the Preamble, the "Indian version" of secularism lost neutrality and it became a "smokescreen for state-sponsored discrimination against Hindus in the name of minority rights".
New Indian Express
23-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Three lessons for today from Emergency 1975
Come June 25, India will be observing the 50th anniversary of a murderous attack on its democracy. Announcing the cabinet decision last July, Home Minister Amit Shah had said that, as a reminder of how Indira Gandhi had thrown lakhs of people behind bars for no fault of their own and the way media's voice was muzzled, the government had decided to observe every June 25 as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas'. He further stated, 'This day will commemorate the massive contributions of all those who endured the inhuman pains of the 1975 Emergency.' On March 21, 1977, India Gandhi decided to withdraw the Emergency after the results of that year's Lok Sabha elections were announced. While the electoral verdict was the last nail on the coffin, many other factors hugely contributed to compel Mrs Gandhi to backtrack. One of them was the satyagraha movement started mainly by the RSS and Sangh-inspired organisations. The RSS's role in mobilising the satyagraha movement was appreciated by many, including by some who were diehard opponents of RSS ideology. Achyutrao Patwardhan, a noted socialist leader, is on record saying, 'I am pleased to learn that the volunteers of the RSS, as well as any other group of political resistance, were willing to openly collaborate and support those who opposed Emergency and are able to work with enthusiasm and integrity, against the diabolical regime that resorts to blatant repression and lies.'
