With the spectre of “intolerance” looming over the Winter session of Parliament even as key reform Bills are still pending, the Government turned the heat on Congress on Thursday for inserting the word “secularism” in the Preamble to the Constitution in 1976. Congress president Sonia Gandhi hit back, saying the “ideals of the Constitution were under attack”, setting the tone for what promises to be a ‘stormy’ session.
Initiating a discussion on “Commitment to India’s Constitution” as part of the 125th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar in the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said had Ambedkar wanted to include the word “secular”, he would have done so then, adding that it was the “most misused word in India’s politics today.”
“Ambedkar probably did not find it necessary to insert the word along with ‘socialist’ in the Preamble because he felt it was already the basic nature of the people of India,” said Singh, giving rise to an uproar in the Opposition benches.
In what was seen as a jibe at actor Aamir Khan without naming him, Singh said “Despite facing insult and discrimination, Ambedkar never thought of leaving India for any other country,” leading to protests from the Congress and Left.
The Hindi film actor had gone public recently, saying that his wife did not feel safe for their child and had toyed with the idea of leaving the country. Khan later issued a statement, making it clear that neither he nor his family would ever leave India.
The Home Minister said Parsis and Yehudis (Jews) have said they have got maximum respect in India, adding that Muslims had 72 firqas (sects), but the “only country in which all firqas are respected is India”.
Singh objected to the use of Hindi word ‘Dharma Nirpekshta’, saying the literal translation of the secularism should be ‘Panth Nirpekshta’.
“Secularism is the most misused word in the country. Its misuse should come to an end,” he added.
Later, Sonia Gandhi, while paying tribute to Ambedkar, said the making of the Constitution was preceded by decades of struggle for freedom. Taking a dig at BJP, she quoted Ambedkar, saying, "No matter how good the Constitution is, if the people who implement it are bad, then the Constitution will also turn out bad. And no matter how bad the Constitution is, if the people who implement it are good, it will turn out to be good."
She also paid tribute to Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Rajendra Prasad and Maulana Azad as key architects of the Constitution, adding "The history of the Constitution is very old and is linked to our freedom struggle and that it why it is interlinked with the Congress party," inviting jeers from the Treasury benches.
An un-nerved Congress president smiled, and took another jibe: "The people who don't have faith in the Constitution, the people who didn't play any role in framing the Constitution, are swearing by the Constitution. What can be a bigger joke than that?", she said.
Both Houses of Parliament are holding a special sitting for two days on the anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly on November 26 in 1949.