Does RSS Truly Accept Indian Constitution?: CPI MP Asks Bhagwat Amid Row Over Preamble Remarks

Hosabale, the general secretary of RSS, the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP, had called for a review of the words "secular" and "socialist" inserted in the Preamble by way of the 42nd Amendment.

CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar on Sunday wrote to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, questioning if the organisation "truly accepts the Indian Constitution".

Source : PTI

New Delhi, Jun 29 (PTI) Amid the row over RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale's remarks on the Constitution's Preamble, CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar on Sunday wrote to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, questioning if the organisation "truly accepts the Indian Constitution".

Hosabale, the general secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP, on Thursday called for a review of the words "secular" and "socialist" inserted into the Preamble by way of the 42nd Amendment.

He said the words were added during the Emergency and were not part of the original text drafted by B R Ambedkar.

In a letter addressed to the RSS Sarsanghchalak Bhagwat, the CPI MP said it is time the RSS stop inflaming these debates for the sake of polarisation. He also said the terms were not "arbitrary insertions" but "foundational ideals".

"I write to you in the wake of recent statements made by senior RSS functionaries casting aspersions on the place of secularism and socialism in the Preamble of our Constitution," Kumar said in his letter to the RSS chief.

"These principles are not arbitrary insertions, but foundational ideals that emerged from the lived experiences of India's oppressed and the visionary imagination of leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. B R Ambedkar, and many others who sought to create a just, pluralistic Republic," Kumar said.

The Communist Party of India leader said in a diverse country like India, secularism ensures unity in diversity, while socialism promises justice and dignity to each of our citizens.

"To ridicule or reject these values is to negate the promise made to the people of India at the moment of our nation's liberation from colonial rule," he said.

Kumar claimed that while revolutionaries, peasants, workers, students and patriotic forces -- several of them owing allegiance to the CPI -- faced the British with courage and sacrifice, the RSS watched from the sidelines.

"We played an active role in the anti-colonial movement, participated in mass upsurges, and later, wholeheartedly supported the framing of our Constitution. The RSS, in contrast, mocked these struggles, opposed the national flag, and undermined every progressive policy meant to democratise Indian society," he said.

He said the 'parivar' -- a term used for organisations linked to the RSS -- has worked "systematically to communalise the polity, erode public institutions, and advance a pro-corporate agenda masked in hyper-nationalism." "In this light, I wish to ask you plainly: does the RSS truly accept the Indian Constitution and its fundamental values? Or does it draw inspiration from the writings of M S Golwalkar, who referred to democracy and equality as alien to Indian culture and held Nazi Germany as a model?" Kumar questioned why the RSS has never formally passed a resolution accepting the Constitution as it stands and why its members repeatedly undermine the Constitution, provoke communal sentiments, and promote historical distortions.

"India needs answers, not obfuscations," he said, adding it is time the RSS stop inflaming these debates for the sake of polarisation.

"Our people, Dalits, Muslims, Christians, Adivasis, backward castes, women and the poor - all deserve peace, dignity, and progress, not hatred and fear. I urge you to counsel your cadres to uphold the Constitution in letter and spirit," he said. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)