On the day that US President Barack Obama reminded India about its constitutional commitment towards freedom of religion in his parting note, the Internet exploded on the issue of ‘secularism’, as an advertisement by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) splashed in national dailies used a watermark image of the Preamble to the Constitution — without the words “secular” and “socialist”.

In the mandatory advertisement published on Republic Day, the image of the original preamble was used instead of the existing one that includes the words “socialist, secular”, which were added following an amendment in 1976.

Sources in the I&B Ministry said the image used in the advertisement as a background was the original Preamble of the Constitution, which was done as a tribute to the founding fathers. An online petition by India Resists came up in the early hours of Tuesday, condemning the advertisement and seeking an apology from the I&B Ministry. At last count, the petition had received over 600 online signatures and the number was rising.

As the issue picked pace in social media, former I&B Minister and Congress leader Manish Tewari tweeted: “Sovereign secular socialist democratic republic. Govt Ad deletes secular and socialist prelude to substitution with communal and corporate.”

Strong reactions

The advertisement evoked strong reactions as it came in the backdrop of recent comments from, and actions by, right-wing organisations, such as the VHP and RSS, including the massive Ghar Wapsi programme and love jihad campaign targeting religious conversion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not publicly condemned any of these.

Recently, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had called India a “Hindu rashtra” (Hindu nation). Adhering to the tenets of secularism, India does not, constitutionally, have any State religion.

Twitter user Rohan summed up: “What we should really have is a parade of people carrying a page each of the Constitution, to remind our leaders why they're there.”

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