Preamble 'not changeable', but was 'changed' in 1976 during Emergency, says Dhankhar

New Delhi: Amid RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale's call for a national debate on inclusion of 'secular' and 'socialist' in Constitution's Preamble triggering a controversy, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday claimed that the addition of words in Preamble signalled a "betrayal" of the framers of the Constitution, as it was "not changeable".

Addressing the launch event of a book 'Ambedkar’s Messages' compiled by former Karnataka MLC DS Veeraiah, he said the Preamble of a Constitution is the "seed" on which the document has grown and Preamble of no other constitution has undergone change except that of India.

Emphasising that the Preamble was changed during Emergency by 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976 adding words 'socialist', 'secular' and 'integrity', he said a "very serious work which cannot be altered, has been casually, farcically, and with no sense of propriety, changed."

He said the soul of the Constitution was changed by this "flash of words added during the darkest period of Emergency", which was the darkest period for the Constitution.

"These words have been added as 'nasoor' (festering wound). These words will create upheaval. Addition of these words in the Preamble during the Emergency signal betrayal of the mindset of the framers of the Constitution. It is nothing but belittling the civilizational wealth and knowledge of this country for thousands of years. It is sacrilege to the spirit of Sanatana”, he said.

"The grand and noble vision was tempered. So was Dr BR Ambedkar's spirit. Thus, unhesitatingly, the Preamble -- crafted by the genius of Dr Ambedkar and approved by the Constituent Assembly...should have been respected rather than tweaked, altered, and decimated. The change also militates against our civilizational ethos of thousands of years, where Sanatan philosophy -- its spirit and essence -- dominated the discourse," he said.

Dhankhar said Ambedkar did painstaking work and the founding fathers "thought it befittingly wise" to give the Preamble.

"No country's Preamble has undergone change -- except India's. But devastatingly, this change was effected for India at a time when people were virtually enslaved. We the people, the ultimate fountain of power -- the best of them were languishing in jails. They were denied access to the judicial system,” he said.

“So, what a travesty of justice. First, we change something which is not changeable, alterable -- something that emanates from We the People -- and then, you change it during the Emergency. When We the People were bleeding -- in heart, in soul -- they were in darkness”, he added.