Plea for deletion of words 'Secular' & 'Socialist' from Indian Constitution's Preamble- The Righteous or Unwelcome Initiative?

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court that sought the deletion and re-motion of two terms namely 'Secular' and 'Socialist' from the Preamble of our Indian Constitution. This plea has been filed by two Advocates namely Balram Singh and Karunesh Kumar Shukla and one social worker Pravesh Kumar.

Before discussing the various aspects of the petition and analyzing the same, several questions have been aroused that needs attention. Whether socialist and secular are just political thoughts? Whether being secular is in contradiction with the republican nature of the Indian Constitution? Whether secular is a mark of modernity? Whether being secular refused the recognition of religious sentiments of people? Whether the socialistic and democratic state of India is antithetical to Republic Bharat?

Recently, the petition filed in Supreme Court challenged the inclusion of two terms in the Indian Constitution which were inserted by way of 42nd Constitutional Amendment in 1976

Why the petition was filed?

All three petitioners intended to launch a political party and to register the same with the Election Commission of India (ECI), following the principles of secularism and socialism is a compulsion. This was added by way of an amendment in 1989 to Section 29 A (5) of the Representation of People Act, 1951. The petitioners challenged the validity of this law and urged ECI and Central Government to respond to the same as these principles are against the democratic setup of the country.

.The petition includes the following contentions-

The amendment of 1976 is antithetical to the cultural and historical theme of India having a clear concept of Dharma different from that of Religion

It violates the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1) (a) and right to freedom of religion under Article 25

The communist theory of the state is inapplicable in the Indian context

The amendment of 1976 is contradictory to the cultural theme of the Republic Bharat the oldest civilization of the world.

Section 29 A(5) of the Representation of People Act has also been challenged that mandates the political parties applying for registration before ECI, to make a specific provision in its memorandum that the association shall bear true faith to the Indian Constitution, to principles of Secularism and Socialism and would uphold the integrity of India.

The original Constitution makers deliberately chose to keep these concepts out of the Preamble

Secular and Socialist are political thoughts which are of little relevance for the country.

The example has been cited relating to the aid to minority religious institutions granted by the state, laws enacted for pilgrimages outside the country, power under Article 25(2) to make any law preserving the economic, financial, and political secular activity connected with religious practice.

the petition also stated that states having the power to indulge in religious matters is limited and can grant aid to religious minorities but the state as a political entity cannot be a secular republic in the strict sense.

The petition sought the Union of India to declare the concept of Secular and Socialism referred to the nature of the Republic and was does not apply to citizens, political parties, and social organizations. Further, the petition sought to examine the roots of secularism and socialism.

Well, can the state force its citizens to be secular along with given freedom and right to practice and propagate any religion? Despite the clear inclusion of 'secularism' into the Indian Constitution, is there no wall of separation between religion and state? Whether the rationale behind the incorporation of 'secularism' was to treat all the religious persuasion equally? Whether the new wave of modernism/secularism paved the path for political considerations?

SECULARISM, SOCIALISM & REPUBLIC INDIA (Author Perspective)

The constitutional makers were almost opposed to including the term Secular in Preamble considering the religious pasts of Indian nationalism. Being secular means that no one is bound by any religious rule, rather, a person is free to follow and practice any religion and the government has no religious connection and nothing to do with the beliefs and rituals of people.

But the irony is that to follow the ideals of democracy, secularism was considered essential.

I accept the concept of secularism in the sense that our country will remain unconcerned with the religion but our life cannot be fully categorized.

The petition to remove the secular concept from the Indian constitution is to some extent a rightful move as although it is a mark of modernity but at the same time, it refused to recognize the religious sentiments of people.

Whether religion can be divorced or separated from life? If yes, then all the rights relating to religion including Article 25 shall be deleted.

Secularism depicts the separation of religion from the state but is India truly a secular state? If yes, then despite being governed by a single set of laws, why people of different religious beliefs are governed by different laws? Why Muslims are covered by Muslim Personal Laws and Christians are covered by their laws?

Do you even know that temples are under the statutory control of the government but why not churches and mosques? Why there are different laws for minority and majority schools? If India is a secular country then why it does not subsidize any pilgrimage period? Why there is a concept of state funding of pilgrimage using taxpayer money?

Coming to the Socialism aspect, if India is socialistic then why it embraced capitalism? The socialistic approach aims at social and economic equality and to avoid discrimination based on caste, gender, religion, sex, and whatnot. Socialism is all about public services and utilities and subsidies. The petition has been filed to remove the term 'socialistic' but why the petitioners are not looking into the improvement of public services such as education and health?

Despite being a socialistic country, why there is the existence of unemployment, poverty, poor health, deficient sanitation, corruption, and such more problems? Why the dominant socialistic policies are not being considered with a view to change them?

The petition however filed should be given positive effect thereby removing both the concepts of secularism and socialism because both the term even being included in the preamble does not form its effect in true sense. Also, India is not truly a secular country and not even a socialist country but rather these are expressions for political consideration. These fault lines are never acknowledged and the debate on the same would continue for an indefinite period. The petition is a rightful step taken to put an end to preferential treatment and India should not discriminate between its citizens but rather should become a model state for the entire world.

GURNEET KAUR

BBA LLB (H)

ICFAI UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN

Disclaimer: This article is the personal opinion of the author. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any Indian Government or any other Government of the world.