Dear Editor,
Your editorial, “Ray of hope” (April 26, 2018) rightly says, “The conviction of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu has given ray of hope to those who are fighting against the powerful people to seek justice.” It is because of the secular nature of our Constitution that has made such a conviction possible.
It is perfectly constitutional if Ram occupies our private space but it will be against the spirit of our Constitution if an Asaram starts enjoying the public space. Unfortunately, some people have been trying to banish the word ~ “Secular” from our Constitution by spreading half-truths. They argue that since this word was not there in the original Constitution, it should not be a part of it.
It is true that this word was not in the Preamble when the Constitution was adopted and enacted on 26 November 1949 or when it came into effect on 26 January 1950. It was incorporated by the 42nd Amendment Act in 1976. But in no way can it be suggested that the ideals of secularism was not part of our original Constitution. This is totally a false propaganda based on half-truths.
Indeed, Article 25 to Article 30 of our Constitution are the embodiment of the spirit of secularism. While Article 25 has given every citizen equal entitlement to freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion; Article 25 (2) has made religion under the control of the State and not vice versa as for example Article 25 (2) (b) has given the State the power to throw open Hindu religious institutions of a public character to all classes and sections of Hindus.
So, we need to highlight the fact that “secular Hindutva” is totally an antithesis of the secular ideals of our Constitution. And the spirit of secularism has been a part of our Constitution since the moment it had seen the light of day. As a matter of fact, our Constitution is Secular in every inch.
Yours,
Sujit De,
Kolkata