Assault on Constitution's soul: Opposition slams RSS' view on Preamble

Business Standard

3 hours ago

Several opposition parties on Friday denounced RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale's call to review the words 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Preamble, terming it a "deliberate assault" on the soul of the Constitution.
The attack came a day after the RSS proposed reviewing the two words, saying they were included during the Emergency and were never part of the Constitution drafted by B R Ambedkar.
While the Congress saw it as a "deliberate assault" on the soul of the Constitution and claimed the RSS-BJP had never accepted Ambedkar's Constitution, the CPI(M) said the demand exposes the RSS' long-standing objective of subverting it.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the mask of the RSS has come off again as they want 'Manusmriti'. "The Constitution irks them because it speaks of equality, secularism, and justice," he said in a post in Hindi on X.
"The RSS-BJP doesn't want the Constitution; they want 'Manusmriti'. They aim to strip the marginalized and the poor of their rights and enslave them again. Snatching a powerful weapon like the Constitution from them is their real agenda," he alleged.
"The RSS should stop dreaming... we will never let them succeed. Every patriotic Indian will defend the Constitution until their last breath," the former Congress chief asserted.
CPI(M) leader and Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Hosabale's call is a "brazen attempt to dismantle the core ideals of our Republic".
"Invoking the Emergency to discredit these principles is a deceitful move, especially when the RSS colluded with the Indira Gandhi government during that time for its own survival. To use that period now to undermine the Constitution reflects sheer hypocrisy and political opportunism.
"Secularism and socialism are not additions; they define India. Every citizen who believes in democracy must raise their voice against this communal agenda," Vijayan said on X.
The Left parties and RJD alleged that Hosabale's proposal was part of a conspiracy to change the Constitution.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the BJP/RSS attacked Ambedkar, Nehru, and others involved in the framing of the Constitution from November 30, 1949, onwards. "In the RSS' own words, the Constitution was not inspired by Manusmriti," he said in a post on X.
"The RSS and the BJP have repeatedly given the call for a new Constitution. This was Mr (Narendra) Modi's campaign cry during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The people of India decisively rejected this cry. Yet the demands for changing the basic structure of the Constitution continue to be made by the RSS ecosystem," Ramesh said.
Sharing the Supreme Court's November 25, 2024, judgment on the issue, he said, "Would it be asking too much to request him to take the trouble to read it?" In a post on X from its official handle, the Congress alleged the RSS-BJP's ideology stands in direct opposition to the Indian Constitution.
"RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale has openly called for the removal of the words 'socialist' and 'secular' from the Preamble. This is not just a suggestion -- it is a deliberate assault on the soul of our Constitution," it said.
"It is part of a long-standing conspiracy to dismantle Babasaheb Ambedkar's vision for a just, inclusive and democratic India -- something the RSS-BJP has always been plotting. Let us not forget: when the Constitution was adopted, the RSS rejected it. They didn't just oppose it, they burnt it." The Congress said the people saw through their agenda and gave them a resounding answer.
"Now, they have returned to their old playbook. But let it be known: The Congress will stand as an unbreakable wall against any attempt to undermine the Constitution. Jai Samvidhan," it asserted.
The party's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari said, "Once again, the truth slipped out. The hidden agenda of the BJP and RSS is now out in the open. They want to remove the core values of secularism and socialism from the Constitution." RJD president Lalu Prasad, who claimed that social justice and communal harmony are his guiding principles, voiced his anguish on X by terming the RSS a "casteist" outfit.
The RJD supremo also said, "They do not have the guts to cast an evil eye on the Constitution and reservations provided therein. Why are people with an unjust character so full of hatred for democracy and Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution?" Party MP Manoj Kumar Jha said, "Perhaps he (Hosabale) hasn't read it; I would advise him to seriously read the Constituent Assembly debates. Socialism and secularism were integral parts of our Constitution." In a statement, the CPI(M) Politburo said the inclusion of 'socialism' and 'secularism' in the Preamble is not an arbitrary addition and reflects the core values for which freedom fighters sacrificed their lives.
"The Communist Party of India (Marxist) strongly denounces the proposal made by the RSS general secretary to remove the words 'socialist' and 'secular' from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. This proposal exposes the RSS's long-standing objective of subverting the Constitution and its intent to transform India into a Hindu Rashtra, in pursuit of its Hindutva project." "It is the height of hypocrisy for the RSS, which played no role in the freedom movement, to now advocate for the removal of these foundational principles. That it cannot tolerate the values cherished by our martyrs betrays its reactionary, anti-people, and divisive ideology," the Left party said.
It "firmly" opposed "any attempt to alter the core values enshrined in our Constitution. We appeal to the people to remain vigilant and resolutely resist all such efforts by the RSS and its protege BJP." CPI General Secretary D Raja said everyone knows what RSS wants. "Everyone knows it is opposed to constitution/why they spoke of '400-paar' and that is why defending constitution became the central issue for opposition parties." Hosabale, while addressing an event on the Emergency, said on Thursday that "the preamble of the Constitution Baba Saheb Ambedkar made never had these words." "During the Emergency, when fundamental rights were suspended, Parliament did not work, and judiciary became lame, then these words were added." The RSS leader said discussions were held on this issue later but no effort was made to remove them from the Preamble. "So whether they should remain in the Preamble should be considered," he had added.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh, however, sought to defend Hosabale's call, saying any right-thinking citizen would endorse it because everybody knows that these words were not part of the original Constitution written by Ambedkar.