Any right-thinking citizen will review 'socialist', 'secular' in Preamble: Jitendra Singh

Jammu: In an indirect support to the RSS' call to review the words "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble of the Constitution, Union minister Jitendra Singh on Friday said any right-thinking citizen will endorse it because everybody knows that these words were not part of the original Constitution written by Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar.

The RSS on Thursday called for reviewing the words 'socialist' and 'secular' in the preamble of the Constitution, saying they were included during the Emergency and were never part of the Constitution drafted by B R Ambedkar.

Addressing an event organised at New Delhi on 50 years of the Emergency, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said, "The preamble of the Constitution Baba Saheb Ambedkar made never had these words. During the Emergency, when fundamental rights were suspended, Parliament did not work, the judiciary became lame, then these words were added."

Talking to reporters, Singh said, "I think any right-thinking citizen will endorse it because everybody knows that it was not part of the original Constitution written by Dr Ambedkar and the team." Singh was replying to a question on whether the BJP endorses the removal of the words "secular" and "socialist" from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.

"Who doesn't want that? Even you may want it.

"It is not a question of the BJP versus the non-BJP. It is a question of preserving democratic and constitutional values," Singh said, adding that those who are raising the Constitution book are the biggest violators of it.

Replying to another question on whether the BJP is going to bring a bill in Parliament regarding this, he said, "I did not say that. I am not accredited to say that." He further said just yesterday, Dattatreya ji raised a demand for the removal of these words. "These were not part of Dr Ambedkar's original Constitution. These words are not the legacy of Dr Ambedkar.

"Ambedkar gave us the best Constitution in the world. If these terms were not his idea, then whose ideology was it that inserted them?" Taking a dig at the Congress, he said the term of the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was extended under these clauses from five to six years during the Emergency.

"This provision was misused in Jammu and Kashmir as well. Sheikh Abdullah extended the term of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly to six years.

"When Morarji Desai became prime minister after three years, he reversed this provision at the national level. However, using Article 370, this change was never implemented in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

The Union minister further said while all other assemblies in the country reverted to a five-year term, the J-K Assembly continued with a six-year term until August 5, 2019, when abrogation took place.

"The Jammu and Kashmir government not only misused the Emergency provisions, they misused them twice by invoking Article 370," he said.

Hosabale said discussions were held on this issue later, but no effort was made to remove them from the Preamble. So whether they should remain in the Preamble should be considered, he added.

The suggestion from the RSS' second senior-most functionary to consider removing the two terms came as he hit out at the Congress for its Emergency-era excesses and demanded an apology from the party.

Lambasting the Congress for showcasing itself as the champion of Independence, he said, "I can say this with full confidence that no matter how many times the Congress beats the drum about the Constitution or how loudly it calls itself the party of freedom fighters, the truth is that the Congress never demanded independence. I am saying this with all the confidence at my command." He further said until 1930, there was no document or record in which the Congress had demanded that India be given independence or had raised the slogan of complete independence.

"Even post-1930, the Congress was only demanding home state, home rule or dominion status. When Bhagat Singh was demanding complete independence, the Congress was still only talking about home rule. It was only in 1931, at the Lahore session of the Congress, after the hanging of Bhagat Singh, that the first resolution was passed demanding complete independence," he said.

It was also done in the wake of high emotions running among youth after the hanging of Bhagat Singh, he said.

Singh said the resolution included the demand for independence, which means Congress only truly demanded freedom 17 years before it was achieved. "So, if we go by that, Congress fought for India's independence only for 17 years," he said.

Lashing out at the Congress for the imposition of the Emergency, he said Indira Gandhi, in the darkness of night, woke up then president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed from sleep to impose the Emergency. "A specific 38th constitutional provision was used at that time so that no one could approach the court." He said subsequently, a series of amendments were passed, among which the most notorious were the 42nd and 43rd Amendments.

"It was under these amendments that the words 'secular' and 'socialist' were inserted into the Constitution," he said, adding that just on Thursday, Hosabale raised a demand for the removal of these words.