Certain scars caused by Emergency still haunt India: RSS

Seeking to trigger a debate on addition of words socialist and secular to the Constitution during Emergency, RSS mouthpiece's today said "scars" brought by it "may require operations at the conceptual, psychological and if necessary, constitutional level".

Ahead of the 40th anniversary of Emergency, the editorial in the 'Organiser' termed them as "terminological scars" that have turned into political misuse and attacked parties like Janata Parivar preaching them for infusing "animosity" in society with their vote-bank politics.

It said that certain scars caused by Emergency still haunt Indian democracy.In the editorial, "The scars of Emergency", the mouthpiece has attacked those parties who preach 'secular' and 'socialist' politics and said that propagators of these terms have also promoted casteism and caste based regionalism while negating another insertion to the Preamble "Unity and Integrity of the nation".

"Certain scars of Emergency are still haunting the Indian democracy, which needs to be addressed... Besides these terminological scars turning into political misuse, institutionalised corruption and criminalisation is a legacy of Emergency which is a challenge to democratic system.

"While deliberating on the aftermath of Emergency, while ensuring protection of civil liberties, we also need to take care of these scars on our democratic culture. They cannot go away by mere dressing or cosmetic posturing, but curing these scars may require major operations at the conceptual, psychological and if necessary, constitutional level," it said.

The mouthpiece said that the 42nd amendment through which the words "Secular" and "Socialist" were inserted in the Preamble to the Constitution were not because of some democratic demand or contemporary need but as a "political ploy" of an "authoritarian leader".

Hitting out at those preaching such politics, it said, "These leaders blatantly use caste identities to further their political ends and use another insincere term 'social justice'. Instead of strengthening the values of fraternity, faction feud Janata Pariwar experiments, always infuse animosity among social groupings with their vote-bank politics."

It also said that debate on Anti-Conversion bill is an example where political forces vouching in the name of secularism are not ready to support the bill banning religious conversions either by force or allurement.