Assam Chief Minister Himanta Sarma on Saturday claimed that 'socialism' and 'secularism' are Western concepts and that these words should be struck off the constitution. According to news agency PTI, Sarma said that these words were included in the Preamble of the Constitution by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when the country was under emergency rule, and these have no place in Indian civilisation.
"How can I be secular? I am a hardcore Hindu. A Muslim person is a hardcore Muslim person. How can he be secular?" Sarma said as quoted by news agency PTI.
Sarma was speaking after launching a book titled 'The Emergency Diaries: Years That Forged a Leader' in Assam, which is based on first-person anecdotes from associates who worked with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then a young RSS pracharak, and used other archival material. The book chronicles the 1975-77 Emergency era and Prime Minister Modi's role in the 'resistance movement'.
Sarma said that the words 'socialism' and 'secularism' were not part of the original Preamble and were inserted through the 42nd amendment to the Constitution during the Emergency period under former PM Indira Gandhi.
"It changed the way people perceived our Constitution and damaged our national life," he claimed.
He maintained that the word 'secularism' was not put in the original Constitution, as Article 14 ensures that the state shall not discriminate on any basis.
The Assam CM maintained that the Indian concept of secularism is not about being neutral, but it is about being 'positively aligned'.
"We are a spiritual nation. If people are told that they can have good roads but cannot visit temples or 'namghars' (Vaishnavite places of worship), our people will choose going to temples. We are not like countries like China, which have an authoritarian rule," he said.
The BJP leader further said that the Western countries have to be "neutral" as they have their own history of conflict between monarchy and church, which is not applicable for a nation like India with its 5,000-year-old civilisational history.
"After taking oath, we all finally first go to Kamakhya temple and Bordowa (Vaishnavite saint Sankardeva's birthplace), Muslims go to Mecca. We cannot be neutral but we are inclusive," he asserted.
Sarma also claimed that the Western concept of socialism was also imposed by Gandhi, while the Indian economic principle was based on "trusteeship" and helping the marginalised. He said that socialism is from countries like Russia and China and is a concept based on 'conflict', with Left supporters many times making its "positive comparison with communism".
"These concepts were never for India. Our economic principle is of sharing the riches... This socialism made us lose our competitiveness and capabilities, and we were left behind in the global race," Sarma said.
"The BJP didn't have to even demolish this concept of socialism. P V Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh demolished it and brought liberalisation," he added.
(With inputs from agencies)