Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday stated "there is no need for socialism in India", and "secularism is not the core of our culture".
Chouhan's observations gain importance with the RSS on Thursday demanding that the terms 'socialist' and 'secular' in the preamble to the Constitution be removed, alleging they were inserted during the Emergency and were never a part of the Constitution made by B R Ambedkar.
Referring to a function held at New Delhi on 50 years of the Emergency, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale asserted, "The preamble of the Constitution Baba Saheb Ambedkar made never contained these words. Parliament did not function during the Emergency when fundamental rights were suspended, the judiciary was crippled, then these words were inserted."
Addressing a programme at Varanasi marking 50 years of the Emergency, Chouhan remarked, "'Bharat mein samajwad kee zaroorat nahi hai. Dharmanirapeksh hamaaree sanskrti ka mool nahin hai aur issliye is par zaroor vichaar hona chaahiye' (There is no need for socialism in India. 'Secular' is not the core of our culture and hence, this must be deliberated upon)," he said.
In indirect support of the RSS' appeal to reconsider the terms "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble to the Constitution, Union minister Jitendra Singh on Friday stated that any sane citizen will support it since everyone is aware that these terms were not originally in the Constitution drafted by Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar.
Reminding one of the Emergency days, Chouhan stated that to retain her power, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared Emergency in the nation.
"There was no threat to external security and there was no threat to internal security. The only threat was to the chair of the prime minister, therefore, on the night of 25 June, 1975, the Emergency was imposed in the nation without convening a cabinet meeting," stated the Union minister.
Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Rajendra Chaudhary criticized the BJP and the RSS for proposing that the terms 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Preamble of the Constitution could be removed.
"Such remarks only indicate that the RSS and the BJP do not have a belief in democracy and are trying to undermine the Constitution," said Chaudhary in an interview to PTI.
UP Congress president Ajay Rai said to PTI, "Such remarks indeed prove what we have been explaining long enough that the RSS and BJP have no belief in the Constitution. This nation is for all. The Congress will guard the Constitution at all costs."
Chouhan mentioned that he was just 16 when Emergency was issued and he was also detained and arrested under Defence of India Rules.
"Even now, I shiver at the thought of those gloomy days. In the Emergency, if there was a hurry to raze houses in Turkman Gate, citizens were trampled by bulldozers. If anyone opposed it, they were gunned down. It was not firing on the public, it was killing the Constitution," Chouhan recollected.
The Union minister explained that there was no appeal, no "vakeel" (lawyer), no "daleel" (argument) and accused it of being murder of the Constitution.
"It was a suspension of all civil rights. Placing a lock on the freedom of the press is murder of the Constitution, diluting the court's rights, rendering it ineffective -- it was murder of the Constitution.".
"Making the whole nation a prison -- this was the killing of the Constitution. All opposition parties and even students were jailed. Congress is the assassin of the Constitution," he stated.
The veteran BJP leader made a dig at Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and without mentioning his name accused the Congress of not deserving to hold a copy of the Constitution.
"Those dark days are still remembered. Dictatorship is in the DNA of the Congress. Those who walk around with a copy of the Constitution in their hand will have to account for it," he said.
Chouhan added that if the Congress wishes to learn democracy, they can learn from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party is a big fan of the spirit of democracy but for whatever Congress has done, I am saying once again that they must rub their nose and apologize to the nation that they have committed this blunder of history," he stated.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very much a believer in democracy and hence the task of celebrating Constitution Day in independent India was accomplished by Prime Minister Modi. Democracy runs in the blood of the Bharatiya Janata Party," Chouhan asserted.
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