‘Socialist’ and ‘secular’ removed from Constitution
Two crucial words have been removed from the copy of the Constitution of India given to all MPs by the government on the first day of the new Parliament yesterday. This is nothing but a sinister attempt by the BJP to change the Constitution, feel many MPs and political observers.
The words are ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’, which are there in the Preamble to the Constitution. Yes, they were not there in the original version that was adopted by the Constituent Assembly, being inserted by the 42nd Amendment in 1976. But many feel that their removal in this subversive manner is a matter of concern, as it is an attempt to change the very character of the Constitution of India.
As the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Congress’s Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said in an interview with the news agency ANI, “We know that the words were added after an amendment in 1976 but if someone gives us the Constitution today and it doesn’t have those words, it is a matter of concern. Their intention is suspicious. It has been done cleverly.”
