Headlines
Preamble photo puts Modi-government in a fix
New Delhi/Mumbai, Jan 28
An uproar erupted
Wednesday over a Republic Day government advertisement featuring the
preamble of the Constitution sans the words "secular" and "socialist".
But Shiv Sena suggested the words be removed permanently.
While
the opposition Congress party asked the government to apologies, the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government defended itself, saying the
picture of the original preamble in the advertisement was as it came
into force Jan 26, 1950, two months after being adopted by the
Constituent Assembly Nov 26, 1949.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut,
however, welcomed the exclusion of the two words from the 66th Republic
Day advertisement issued by the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting.
"We welcome this. Though it may have occurred
inadvertently, it was like honouring the feelings of the people of
India. If the terms were mistakenly deleted this time, we want them to
be removed permanently from the Constitution," Raut told media persons.
The
BJP, however, dismissed it as the Shiv Sena's view and refused to
comment over the issue. "That is their (Shiv Sena's) view, I cannot
comment on other party's views," BJP spokesperson G.V.L. Narasimha Rao
told IANS.
The Congress party, meanwhile, said the government
should apologise and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should clarify the
government's stance on the two words.
"The advertisement issued
by Narendra Modi-led BJP government reflects an affront to the
Constitution and sacrilegious insult to its (the constitution's) ethos,"
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Wednesday.
"...we
demand an immediate apology from the government of India on the issue...
We also call upon the prime minister to clarify his stand on his
definition and understanding of the words secularism and socialism," he
added.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, however, clarified that the original
preamble of the Constitution did not have the words "socialist" and
"secular".
The minister said a picture of the original preamble was used for the advertisement to "honour" it.
He
also tweeted pictures of the original preamble and after the 42nd
Amendment, which added the words "secular" and "socialist" to it.
"This is the original preamble. The words 'Socialist' and 'Secular' were added in 1976," he added.
"Let
me assure you, we are celebrating the 66th Republic Day, that is, we
are celebrating an anniversary of the preamble that was made way back
then," Rathore told reporters.
"The photograph that we have put is of the first preamble that our great leaders had made at that point of time," Rathore said.
Sudheendra
Kulkarni, who was a part of former prime minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee's office, meanwhile, said that removing the words will be
insulting Vajpayee's legacy.
"BJP founder-president Bharat Ratna
Vajpayee wanted secularism and socialism to be in the party's
constitution. Their removal means disowning ABV (Atal Bihari Vajpayee),"
he tweeted.
"Why are BJP supporters so ignorant? Party's own
Constitution (last amended Sep 2012) says it's committed to 'secularism'
and 'socialism'," he said in another tweet.
"With RSS leaders
talking about making India a 'Hindu Rashtra', PM Modi must reassure
nation that he remains committed to secularism," Kulkarni added.
The
advertisements, published in newspapers across the country to
commemorate the 66th Republic Day celebrations, quotes the Preamble as:
"We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India
into a SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC."
The preamble as it stands
at present says: "WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to
constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
and to secure all its citizens."