New Delhi [India], June 27 : Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member Brinda Karat said that the emergency imposed in 1975 was the "first taste of dictatorship" for India while highlighting the need to fight against "new forms of dictatorship under BJP-RSS rule".
However, she said that the new forms of dictatorship and neo-fascism that remain under the rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) must be fought with the same rigour as the emergency.
Karart claimed that there was an "attack on the constitution" and that efforts were being made to undermine it by subverting institutions and democratic rights and targeting certain communities.
"It's very important that copies of the constitution should be held and displayed all over India because the emergency was the first taste of dictatorship...We condemned it and fought against it. But today, the kind of attack on the constitution is evident, with efforts to undermine it at every stage, including subverting institutions, democratic rights within parliament, and the targeting of certain communities. Just as we fought the emergency, today the new forms of dictatorship and neo-fascism, which are so clearly visible under the BJP-RSS rule, must be fought," Karat told ANI.
Her remarks come amid the ongoing controversy over recent remarks made by RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, where he suggested reconsidering whether the terms "secular and socialist" mentioned in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution should remain.
Hosabale was addressing a program on the 50th anniversary of the emergency, held at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre, jointly organised by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (under the Ministry of Culture) and the Ambedkar International Centre.
Speaking at the event, he emphasised that the emergency wasn't just a misuse of power but an attempt to crush civil liberties. Millions were imprisoned, and freedom of the press was suppressed. He said that those who imposed the emergency and trampled the constitution and democracy have never apologised. If they cannot apologise personally, they should do so on behalf of their ancestors.
He remarked that during the emergency, terms like "socialist" and "secular" were forcibly inserted into the constitution -- a move that needs to be reconsidered.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today said that Hosabale's suggestion was not a "casual remark" but a "long-standing agenda" to reshape the country's democracy.
However, Union Minister Jitendra Singh defended Hosabale, stating that any "right-thinking person" would endorse such a demand, as these terms were not part of the original constitution.
"Any right-thinking citizen will endorse it because everyone knows they are not part of the original constitution, which Dr Ambedkar and the rest of the committee wrote. This is not the question of BJP vs non-BJP...It is a matter of preserving democratic and constitutional values, and those violating the constitution are actually the biggest violators," Singh told reporters here.
He pointed out that "secular and socialist" were added after the 42nd amendment to the constitution, which means that it was not Dr Ambedkar who thought of including these terms.