A Threat to Secular India

The government’s mischievous Republic day advertisement has created a raging controversy nationwide when people noticed that the two important “S” words, “Secular” and “Socialist”, were missing from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.

The controversial I&B Ministry ad was released for the 66th Republic Day

Major political parties and other organizations have condemned this move of the BJP government and have seen it as a part of the attack on minorities and secular values in the country. One organization, indiaresists.com has started a signature campaign dismissing the government claim that it was the original Preamble adopted in 1950, stating, “The advertisement didn’t have a “retro” theme, but had a contemporary photograph of five women and three men in the foreground, beneath Narendra Modi’s prominently displayed quote about the government of India having “only one holy book” and “that is the Constitution”.” It continued, “The constitution is emphatically not a “holy book”; it’s a secular document. Six of the eight human figures displayed in ceremonial costumes are seemingly Hindu; the remaining two appear to be Northeastern tribals… No Muslim, Sikh or Christian finds a representation in this majoritarian advertisement. This reflects the pro-communal change in perception and attitude driven by the Modi regime with its ideological allegiance to Hindu Rashtra.”

“Several commentators have noted that even this year’s Republic Day parade showcased a much Hinduised picture of many states, and floats of the states ruled by opposition parties were excluded”. The government wants to keep the issue alive as the latest calendar published by Rajya Sabha also carries the picture of the Preamble without the key words "secular" and "socialist".

The Minister of Communications and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad has been appealing to hold a debate on the words socialist and secular added to the Preamble in 1976. It substantiates that this was indeed an attack on the Preamble as it stands today and not an attempt to print the original Preamble as claimed by I&B Ministry officials. If the intent was to hold a debate, this should not have been through an advertisement for the Republic Day released by the Government in which these two words are deleted but calling for such a debate.

It is clear that the BJP does not want a secular India. It might pay lip service to a secular ideal of the nation, but its true character comes out when its key figures openly stoke communal fires and its affiliates are seen to attack. “Secularism has been pivotal to the post-independent India, binding all communities together as equal citizens. Similarly, the word socialist was added to emphasize the social commitments of the state in a country like India. These two values are non-negotiable and any attempt to dilute them would face strong resistance”, India Resists. What so ever be the intention of using the original document as watermark of the government’s Republic day’s advertisement, if it is an attempt to attack the secular and socialist commitments of the constitution it should be highly condemned by the nation as a whole.