Preamble ‘Not Changeable’, But Was ‘Changed’ In 1976 During Emergency, Says Dhankhar

New Delhi, Jun 28: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday asserted that the Preamble of a constitution is “not changeable” as it is the “seed” on which the document grows.
He said the preamble of no other constitution has undergone change except that of India.
“But this Preamble was changed by the 42nd Constitution (Amendment) Act of 1976,” he said noting that the words “socialist”, “secular”, and “integrity” were added.
“We must reflect,” he said adding that B R Ambedkar did painstaking work on the Constitution and he must have “surely focussed on it”.
His remarks at a book launch event here came after the RSS on Thursday called for reviewing the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in the Preamble of the Constitution, saying they were included during the Emergency and were never part of the Constitution drafted by Ambedkar.
The Congress and other opposition parties have slammed RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale’s call for a national debate on whether the terms ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ should remain in the Preamble, terming it “political opportunism” and a “deliberate assault” on the soul of the Constitution.
As Hosabale’s strong pitch for a review of the two words inserted in the Preamble of the Constitution during the Emergency days (1975-77) kicked up a political row, an article published in an RSS-linked magazine Organiser said it is not about dismantling the Constitution but about restoring its “original spirit”, free from the “distortions” of the Congress’ Emergency-era policies.
Union minister Jitendra Singh and senior BJP leader sought to defend the call by the second senior most functionary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS), saying any right-thinking citizen will endorse it because everybody knows that these words were not part of the original Constitution written by Dr B R Ambedkar. (Agencies)

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