The political upheaval caused by
an Information and Broadcasting Ministry advertisement that presented the
preamble of the Constitution of India without
the words 'secular' and 'socialist' doesn't seem to calm down as the
ruling party BJP's allay Shiv Sena has
demanded the permanent deletion of the words for the Constitution.
A new controversy came to the
fore yesterday when an I&B ministry advertisement carried the picture of
the Preamble of the Constitution as kit used to be before the 42nd amendment,
without the words 'secular' and 'socialist'.
"We welcome the exclusion of
the ('secular' and 'socialist') words from the Republic Day advertisement.
Though it might have been done inadvertently, it is like honoring the feelings
of the people of India. If these words were deleted by mistake this time, they
should be deleted from the Constitution permanently," Shiv Sena MP Sanjay
Raut demanded.
"From the time they (the
words) were included in the Constitution, it is being said that this country
can never be secular. Balasaheb Thackeray and before him Veer Savarkar had been
saying that India was divided on the lines of religion. Pakistan was created
for Muslims, thus, what remains is a Hindu Rashtra," Raut said. Raut was
of the opinion that the minority communities are created only for scoring
political points, whereas the Hindus of the country are being 'continuously
disrespected'.
The government finds itself in a
difficult situation as it is facing criticism from all quarters. "This is
a secular country and not a Hindu country. The word secular cannot be removed
arbitrarily on its own. This is an attempt to undermine the Constitution of the
country," Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyer accused.
The Ministry was quick to refute
the accusation, the Minister of State for I&B Rajyavardhan Rathore said
that the preamble was only used in its original form that was before the 42nd
amendment to honor the first preamble. Rathore also mentioned that the same
image was used last year when Congress was ruling the country and Manish Tiwari
was the I&B minister.
The Preamble of the Constitution
of India is as follows: WE, THE PEOPLE
OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN
SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and
political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY
of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity
of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation; IN OUR CONSTITUENT
ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND
GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.
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