Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale has recently demanded a review of the removal of the words socialist and secular from the Preamble of the Constitution. RSS-inspired weekly magazine Organiser has termed these words as an ideologically motivated landmine. The magazine says that these words were aimed at weakening religious values and promoting political appeasement. An article has advocated their removal and restoration of the original preamble.
The article is written by Dr. Niranjan B. Pujari. It is titled, ‘Rethinking socialist and secularism in the Preamble: Reclaiming India’s constitutional integrity’. The article says, “Adding these words to the preamble was not just an aesthetic change but an attempt to impose an ideology that is contrary to India’s civilizational identity and the spirit of constitutional democracy.”
According to the article, these words were added through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment during the Emergency (1975-77). Parliament was acting under pressure at that time. Opposition leaders were in jail and media censorship was in place. The article said, “It was a constitutional fraud. As if a person was under hypnosis and his will was being manipulated.”
The article said that the definition of secularism in India had deviated from its original spirit. According to the article, secularism was no longer a symbol of neutrality but a cover for state-sponsored discrimination against Hindus in the name of minority rights. The article emphasised that India at its core was never a ‘socialist country’ or an ‘atheistic secular’ country.
The Organiser article said that the removal of these words was not an ideological insistence but a restoration of constitutional integrity, national dignity and an end to political hypocrisy. The article said, “India must return to the Preamble of its Constitution as adopted by the Constituent Assembly and not to the amended Preamble, which could be construed as a law imposed by force.”