The General Secretary of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Dattatreya Hosabale, has said that addition of the words 'Secular' and 'Socialist' to the Preamble of the Constitution of India during the Emergency period needs to be reconsidered.

Dattatreya Hosabale was speaking yesterday at an event organised by Hindusthan Samachar on the occasion of 50 years since the declaration of Emergency. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari also spoke at that event.

Dattatreya Hosabale said, "During this emergency, two words were added to the preamble of the Constitution of India, 'Secularism' and 'Socialism'. Those words were not there in the preamble earlier. Preamble is eternal. Is the ideology of socialism eternal for India? The word 'Secularism' was absent in the Constitution. It was added. The concept was always, it was present in all government policies, that is a different matter. These two words were added to the Preamble. There was no attempt to remove them thereafter. There were discussions. There were arguments on both sides. Should they be retained in the Preamble? This should be thought of."

He highlighted that the said two words were absent in the Preamble authored by Baba Saheb Ambedkar. He said that we should ponder what the intention behind adding those words could be. "It was added when fundamental rights were suspended, the legislature was absent, judiciary was not independent. This is a matter that should be reviewed", he said.

He said that he was jailed during the emergency period in Karnatala under the controversial Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1971 (MISA). He was first in a jail in Bangalore and then in a jail in Bellari.

In an obvious reference to the Congress Party and Rahul Gandhi, Hosabale said that those who imposed the Emergency are, today, walking around with a copy of the Constitution of India in their hands.

"They have to be told that you have, till date, not apologised to the people of India for the Emergency. They will have to apologise. You imprisoned more than 1 lakh people, kept more than 250 journalists behind bars, took away their fundamental rights, and seven lakh people were sterilised. You curtailed the independence of the judiciary. The people who have done all these- have they apologised to the nation? Your ancestors did it, apologise in the name of your ancestors", the General Secretary of the RSS said.

Last year, the Supreme Court dismissed a batch of petitions challenging the inclusion of the words 'Socialist' and 'Secular' in the Preamble of the Constitution. The Court said in its Judgment that while the Constituent Assembly did not include the words 'Socialist' and 'Secular' in the Preamble, the Constitution being a living document gives the Parliament the power to amend it in terms of Article 368 of the Constitution.

While reserving its Judgment in the matters, the Supreme Court had orally observed that the word 'Socialist' in the preamble only means Welfare State in the Indian context and the existence of the said word in the preamble has not harmed the private sector in the country.

The Court emphasized that the word ‘socialism’ reflects the goal of economic and social upliftment and does not restrict private entrepreneurship and the right to business and trade, a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g).

On the occasion of Vijayadashami last year, the RSS chief (Sarasanghachalak) Dr. Mohan Bhagwat had spoken about the commitment to the Constitution of India.

RSS

Verdictum News Desk