Kumar Bahukhandi
Organiser, a weekly magazine associated with RSS – Photo Credit- X @eOrganiser
The demand to remove the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ from the preamble of the constitution has started gaining momentum. First the demand was made by RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, then the RSS-affiliated magazine Panchjanya and now an article has been written about it in Organiser
Nagpur: An article published in RSS-affiliated weekly magazine Organiser has described the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ added to the Preamble of the Constitution as ideological landmines. The article claims that these words were inserted to weaken India’s religious values and promote political appeasement. The article states that these words were added through the 42nd Amendment during the Emergency in 1976, when democracy was under pressure and opposition leaders were in jails.
Key points of the article
The article states that adding these two words to the Preamble was constitutional fraud. This change happened when Parliament was under pressure and censorship was imposed on the media. The Constituent Assembly had never approved these words.
What is the argument of the article?
The author Dr. Niranjan B. Poojaar says that India is a Dharmnitha (religious values) country, not an atheistic socialist state. The words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ do not match the spirit of Indian culture and democracy. These words gave the government an excuse to interfere in Hindu temples, control religious education and discriminate against Hindus in areas such as education.
Article’s objection to secularism
According to the article, secularism in India no longer means distance from religion, but it has become a political weapon. In this, minorities are given special rights, while the majority (especially Hindus) do not get equality. The article alleges that this word was used to defame Hindutva.
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Article’s opinion on socialism
The article called socialism a ‘failed and outdated ideology’. The article stated that socialism increased government control, suppressed individual entrepreneurship, and created economic obstacles. The country achieved real economic progress only when the license-quota raj ended in the 1990s.
Demand of RSS General Secretary too
A few days ago, RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale had also demanded a national debate on these two words. He said that these words were not in the Constitution from the beginning, and their actual need should now be reconsidered. Panchjanya editor Hitesh Shankar wrote in an editorial on July 5 that if the Congress itself considers the Emergency a mistake, then the constitutional amendments made at that time are also wrong. He said, ‘If Rahul Gandhi really considers the Emergency a mistake, then he should take the initiative to remove this amendment in Parliament.’
