CM Urges Removal Of Secularism & Socialism From The Constitution

way2barak June 29 : As the nation commemorates the 50 years of emergency, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has called for the abolition of the words “Secular” and “Socialist” from the Preamble to the Indian Constitution. Talking to reporters after the launch of a book titled ‘The Emergency Diary’, a book which records resistance to the 1975 Emergency, Sarma said these words were inserted during the regime of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and were never included in the original Constitution.

“Those two words—’Socialism’ and ‘Secularism’—were not originally in the Constitution. They were added under Emergency by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. I urge the Government of India to delete them from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution,” Sarma stated.

He contended that “secularism” is against India’s fundamental belief of Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava—respect for all religions in equal measure—and “socialism” was never an original Indian economic idea. Rather, he stated, India has always adopted the principles of Sarvodaya (good of all) and Antyodaya (benefit of the lowest).

This is the time to eradicate all legacies of the Emergency,” he stated, making a call for an ideological break from what he characterised as the “colonial and Emergency-era mentality.”