‘Secular’ most misused word: Rajnath

Opposition today raked up the “intolerance” issue in Lok Sabha during an animated debate on the Constitution which saw the government claiming that the word “secularism” was “rampantly misused” and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi taunting the ruling party for holding the debate.

BJP members ridiculed her for highlighting the Congress’s role but she smiled and said: “This is history, do you have any objection?” The Congress, in turn, has also stated that the party supports the GST but has a few “genuine” concerns. The cow is considered holy by Hindus. The parliament opened yesterday for a month-long winter session that promises to be stormy.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu also insisted that the term “secular” will remain part of the Preamble of the Constitution. The Constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, and came into effect on 26 January 1950. Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment notified on November 23, 2015 that November 26 will be celebrated as the Constitution Day in India every year starting from November 26, 2015.

Singh used the opportunity to further irritate the Congress when he said that Ambedkar did not think the inclusion of words like “secular” and “socialist” to the Preamble during the reign of former prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1976 was needed as “these are values core to the Indian ethos”.

He ruled out any review of the Constitution in his speech, which was filled with praise for BR Ambedkar, widely acknowledged as the chief architect of the Constitution and to whom the special sitting paid tribute. We can never say that past government has done nothing.

However, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said there was nothing objectionable in the comment. Singh said Ambedkar was the “binding force” for the country while the country’s first home minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was the “unifying force”.

He said this day was in honour of all the great people who worked tirelessly towards making the Constitution.

Referring to discrimination and oppression faced by Ambedkar during his own life, Modi said, “It was Ambedkar’s greatness that he faced oppression, but did not seek to be vindictive when he drafted the Constitution”. If the constitution makers had felt their need, they would have included them in the preamble.

He said Indian society has an “auto-pilot arrangement” and reformers were born from time to time to rid society of its evils. He had said, “Secularism is the most misused word in the country”.

He pointed out that “all our official parliament bills that are translated in Hindi use the term dharm nirpeksh”.

“Having violated the oath of office blatantly, Singh has no right to remain in his post”.

“Dharma-nirpeksha” ki jagah “Panth-nirpeksha” ka istemaal ho: HM Rajnath Singh speaking in Lok Sabha.