Rajnath counters ‘intolerance’, says Cong misused secularism

Jaswinder Singh Baidwan

Akhran da mureed
Staff member
Political bickering and one-upmanship dominated the debate on “Commitment to the Constitution” in the Lok Sabha today. The government blamed the current fears around intolerance on the alleged misuse of the term “secular” and the opposition attacking the ruling BJP for “jeopardising” the fundamentals of the Constitution.
Moments after Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated a willingness to discuss anything, the government and the Congress had a face-off in the House, which debated the contribution of Dr BR Ambedkar to mark the day the Constituent Assembly in 1949 adopted the Constitution he chiefly drafted.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, speaking for the government, accused the opposition of “abusing the word secularism and called for a moratorium on its use”.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi raked the issue of intolerance to say past instances (return of awards by scholars and lynching of a Muslim in Dadri) had “betrayed the ideals of the Constitution”. She even jibed the BJP saying “it’s the biggest mockery that those who have no faith in the Constitution and have had no role in its drafting are now championing its cause”.
The Congress leader firmly laid a claim to Ambedkar’s legacy saying it was her party that trusted the late leader to head the Constitution drafting committee. She then invoked Ambedkar to say the Congress had a right over the Constitution, which was linked to its history.
Earlier, the Prime Minister said Parliament was the best place for a dialogue. “I hope all MPs live up to the expectations of people,” he said.
Initiating the two-day debate in the Lok Sabha as part of the government’s 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Ambedkar, Rajnath questioned the inclusion of words “socialist and secular” in the Preamble of the Constitution saying the founding fathers were against such alterations.
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s government had brought the 42nd amendment to insert these words. “Today secularism is the most abused word. This abuse should stop as it abets communal tension. We should instead use the term to mean ‘class neutral’ instead of ‘religion neutral’. Even the Constitution framers didn’t include the word secular in the Preamble because they knew our religion was intrinsically secular and didn't consider a separate mention essential. Though the Constitution makers were against changes to the Preamble, the 42nd amendment was brought and “secular and socialist” inserted. That’s not to say we are against these ideals. We only want their abuse to stop,” said Rajnath, sparking fiery protests on the Opposition benches with CPM’s Mohd Salim, Trinamool’s Kalyan Banerjee and Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge objecting to his statement.
Amid the Prime Minister’s presence (he sat throughout the daylong debate), the Home Minister clarified the government's stand on quota after the furore created by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s “review the reservation” remark.
“Some people are politicising the issue of reservation. There is no room for discussion on this. The reservation was provided as a socio-political necessity and there’s no question of diluting it,” said Rajnath.
The Minister took swipes at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for his anti-Swachh Bharat tirade in Bengaluru yesterday and actor Aamir Khan for publicly sharing his wife’s “let’s leave India” statement. To counter Aamir, he invoked Ambedkar: “Dr Ambedkar suffered a lot of harassment during his life but never spoke of leaving India and settling in some country. He absorbed insult and advanced the image of India.”
The statements triggered angry response from Kharge: “We and Ambedkar are original inhabitants of India. You and Aryans are outsiders.” As the BJP members cried insult, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who earlier introduced today's topic of debate comprehensively, promised the House to review "Aryans are not Indians" comment.
Later in the day, accusations of intolerance were heaped on the government by Kharge, Trinamool’s Sudeep Bandopadhyay, NCP's Tariq Anwar, BJD's Tathagat Satpaty and RJD's Jaiprakash Yadav, with all the leaders seeking the Prime Minister's message that intolerance won't be tolerated. The PM will respond to the debate tomorrow.
Rajnath remembers Nehru, Sonia, Patel
While Rajnath Singh on Thursday remembered Jawaharlal Nehru for strengthening the Indian democracy, Sonia Gandhi saluted Ambedkar, Sardar Patel, Rajendra Prasad and Maulana Azad for gifting India the Constitution.
Clearing air on quota
Rajnath Singh said some people were “politicising” the issue of reservation. “There is no room for discussion on this. The reservation was provided as a socio-political necessity and there’s no question of diluting it,” he said.
Face-off in Lok Sabha
Swipe at Aamir Khan
Home Minister Rajnath Singh said “Dr Ambedkar suffered a lot of harassment during his life but never spoke of leaving India and settling in some country. He absorbed insult and advanced the image of India”.
Kharge courts row
Responding to Rajnath’s swipe at Aamir, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said: “We and Ambedkar are original inhabitants of India. You and Aryans are outsiders.” As the BJP members cried insult, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan promised the House to review "Aryans are not Indians" comment.
Ambedkar’s legacy
Sonia firmly laid a claim to Ambedkar’s legacy saying it was her party that trusted the late leader to head the Constitution drafting committee. She then invoked Ambedkar to say the Congress had a right over the Constitution, which was linked to its history.
Constitution ‘betrayed’
Past instances (return of awards and Dadri lynching) had betrayed the ideals of the Constitution… It’s the biggest mockery that those who have no faith in the Constitution and have had no role in its drafting are now championing its cause. —Sonia Gandhi, Congress president
Govt’s take
Today secularism is the most abused word. This abuse should stop as it abets communal tension. Even the Constitution framers didn’t include the word… the 42nd amendment was brought (by Indira Gandhi) and “secular and socialist” inserted. —Rajnath Singh, home minister
 
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