RSS leader pitches for removal of words 'socialist', 'secular' from Preamble

RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale strongly pitched whether the words 'secular' and 'socialist' - added by the Congress government to the Preamble of Constitution during Emergency - should remain.

In Short

• Dattatreya Hosabale demands Congress's apology for imposing Emergency
• Highlights curbs on judiciary and media during Emergency from 1975 to 1977
• Remarks came after BJP observed Emergency as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas'

RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Thursday pitched for the removal of the terms 'socialist' and 'secular' from the Preamble of the Constitution, while lashing out at the Congress for imposing the Emergency 50 years ago.

The Emergency was declared on June 25, 1975, by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi-led Congress government. The 21-month period - lasting until March 21, 1977 - saw civil liberties being suspended, and a brutal crackdown on Opposition leaders and the freedom of the press.

Addressing an event in Delhi, Hosabele made a strong pitch to consider whether the words socialist and secular, which were added to the Preamble by the Congress government during the Emergency, should remain.

Demanding an apology from Congress for imposing the Emergency, he said, "Those who did such things are today moving around with the Constitution's copy. They have still not apologised. Your ancestors did it. You must apologise for this to the country," he said in his remarks aimed at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Recalling the days of the Emergency, the RSS leader said while thousands of people were put in jail and tortured during that period, freedom of the judiciary and media was also curtailed.

"The days of the Emergency also witnessed large-scale forced sterlisation," Hosabele added.

Hosabele's remarks came after the BJP-led central government on Wednesday observed June 25 as the 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas', marking the 50th anniversary of the imposition of the Emergency.

The government marked the occasion to commemorate the "massive contributions" of those who endured "inhuman pain" for nearly two years, from 1975 to 1977.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the imposition of the Emergency as one of the darkest chapters in India's democratic history, saying the Congress not only violated the spirit of the Constitution but placed "democracy under arrest".

In a series of posts on X on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, PM Modi said no Indian would ever forget how the voice of Parliament was muzzled and attempts were made to control the courts during the period.

The Congress reacted sharply to the remarks, with party leader Jairam Ramesh accusing the RSS of a long-standing disregard for India's founding document. In a post on X, Ramesh said, “The RSS has NEVER accepted the Constitution of India,” recalling how the organisation had opposed its framers, including Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru, as early as November 30, 1949.

He pointed out that the RSS had openly criticised the Constitution for not being based on the Manusmriti. “The RSS and the BJP have repeatedly given the call for a new Constitution. This was Mr. Modi's campaign cry during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The people of India decisively rejected this cry. Yet the demands for changing the basic structure of the Constitution continues to be made by the RSS ecosystem,” the Congress leader’s post read.

“The Chief Justice of India himself delivered a judgment on November 25, 2024 on the issue now being raised by a leading RSS functionary. Would it be asking too much to request him to take the trouble to read it?,” he added.

- Ends
(with inputs from PTI)