Normally I enjoy tempting and teasing people into reading what I write. But this time I will lift the veil of mystery in the very first para! SS stands for Socialism and Secularism. The Troopers, not unlike the Nazi Secret Service (SS), are those who are advocating the removal of SS from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.
“Oh it was actually a mistake. This was an old version of the Constitution, and the words inadvertently got omitted from the Republic Day ad.” Thus spake the wise, but not so simple, mandarins of the Central Govt. So why make such a shenanigan over a slip up? As the old saying goes, “A slip of the tongue is no fault of the mind, and he who remarks is most unkind”. The moot question though is – was this a minor slip up, or a deliberate act of provocation? Subsequent events point to the latter.
Soon after the Opposition decried the “slip up,” NDA partners like the Shiv Sena stridently proclaimed that SS was not required in the Constitution. Other right wingers went so far as to say that if these words were not in the original Constitution adopted in 1949, then the 42nd Amendment that incorporated them in 1976, was an afterthought; and therefore not essential to the Constitution. Hence SS could be dispensed with. Now does not this seem like a deliberate act of provocation, to elicit a sharp reaction, a debate, and then a course correction?
This same pattern was earlier followed for “conversions.” First came the “Ghar Vapsi,” followed by swift denials by the Govt. Even swifter came the demand for a debate on conversions and the need for enacting a strong anti-conversion law! Are we seeing the light?
Namo and his core strategists are not easily prone to error, more so at the Republic Day, where they were showcasing India before Buddy Barak. One is therefore constrained to conclude that there is a method in the madness.
Why had Indira Gandhi incorporated the SS in the Constitution? Those were the days of the Emergency. She wanted to nationalize the banks, bring in the Urban Land Ceiling Act, and remove the right to property. Socialism therefore, was the garb under which she undertook these reforms. Perhaps she also perceived a threat from growing religious fundamentalism. Hence the countervailing force of Secularism. In hindsight one must admit that the SS played a critical role in transforming India from a feudalistic society to a modern one.
Back to basics now. The Preamble of the Constitution states that India is a “Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic”. What follows is even more significant. It seeks to secure for all its citizens:
“JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and opportunity;
And to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation”.
Hence, if we see the Preamble as a whole, we find that the SS is essential and integral to the goals that the nation has set itself. Of the four above, it is again noteworthy that the last three – Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, are infact the clarion call of the French Revolution.
What is the origin and actual meaning of Secularism? I trace it to the Pharisees who tried to entrap Jesus by asking him if it was proper to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus’ response to this was, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Mat 22:21). During the French Revolution, where the monarchy and religious hierarchy were equally despised, secularism took the form of separation of Church and State; something that France and much of Europe zealously guards to date.
This is different from our Indian brand of secularism. As Vice-President Hamid Ansari recently stated, it means the Indian State has no religion; hence it treats all religions equally.
Is this true of our country? Are we really secular? To a large extent, yes. But there are glaring aberrations. When the State spends billions of rupees on Kumbh Melas or Haj subsidies, it can hardly be termed “secular.” If Govt programs begin with religious rituals such as bhoomi pujans, if Hindu deities are found in every police station and Govt premises, and temples can spring up at will on public land, then such acts are a threat to Indian secularism.
Such seemingly innocuous acts of State sponsored religion send out a subtle message to religious minorities in India – that they are second-class citizens in the land of their birth. This sense of discrimination in turn nurtures feelings of resentment, leading to anger and violence. That then stimulates a vicious circle of violence. The Govt, be it at the Centre, in the States or even Municipalities, needs to be attentive to these rumblings, and actively promote secularism in both letter and spirit.
Some recent events unfolding across the country are also indicative of growing intolerance, something that even Buddy Barak was constrained to comment upon. We have rationalists being killed, writers being threatened, derogatory and abusive language being used, and Hindu women being exhorted to have more kids.
Right under the PM’s nose we have had five churches in New Delhi being vandalized. Yet Namo maintains a stoic (sorry, strategic) silence. BJP stalwarts like Arun Jaitley have dismissed these developments as stray incidents in an otherwise tolerant India. My foot! As the old saying goes – one incident could be an accident, two incidents could be a co-incidence, but more than that is pre-planned.
What goes for Secularism is equally true for Socialism, if we really want our country to be founded on the principles of Justice, Equality, Liberty and Fraternity.
Our Prime Minister needs to be reminded that economic development can never be at the price of social discord. If we sow the wind we will reap the whirlwind, as both Indira and Rajive Gandhi’s gruesome assassinations remind us.
Namo may have vikas (development) as his mantra, but it can never be achieved by the vinash (destruction) of India’s delicately woven social and religious fabric. The SS Troopers are not going to let go so easily, so those who do value SS need to dig in their heels for the long haul ahead.
(The writer is the Convenor of the Kanpur Nagrik Manch. This piece is based on his presidential address at a seminar on the subject held on February 5 at Gandhiji’s statue, Phoolbagh, Kanpur.)