Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 27 : Shiv Sena leader Shaina NC on Friday said she "supports" the remarks of RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on the Constitution and said that the leader's demand to re-examine the original draft prepared by Dr BR Ambedkar stems from the view that in a republic like India, invoking terms such as "socialist or pseudo-secular" is no longer necessary.
Speaking to ANI, Shiv Sena leader Shaina NC said, "We support the RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on this matter. Because if you see the preamble of the Indian constitution, we see that before 1975-76, there was no mention of the words "socialist and secular." As Congress declared an emergency on June 25, 1975, Indira Gandhi inserted the words "socialist and secular" in the 42nd Constitutional Amendment in the preamble."
"The RSS is demanding to look into the original draft of the preamble by Dr BR Ambedkar, in which there is no mention of these words. And the socialism, secularism, that is actually a symbol of India or a symbol of civilisational ethos, then why was it not in the original draft?" Shaina NC questioned.
Adding further, she said, "This demand of Hosabale is in the context that India is now a republic and to use socialist secular or pseudo-secular words is unnecessary."
This came after RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale questioned the legitimacy of including the terms "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution on Thursday.
Dattatreya Hosabale had earlier stated that the Emergency imposed in the country on June 25, 1975, was the "biggest blow to Indian democracy."
Hosabale made the remarks while addressing a program on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency held at Dr Ambedkar International Centre, jointly organised by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (under the Ministry of Culture), Ambedkar International Centre.
He remarked that during the Emergency, terms like "Socialism" and "Secularism" were forcibly inserted into the Constitution -- a move that needs to be reconsidered today.
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.