How much does Modi think of the poor?

Minister stirs secular pot

Radhika Ramaseshan

New Delhi, Jan. 28: Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today dismissed the "fuss" over the absence of the words "secular and socialist" in a government ad showing the preamble to the Constitution, wading into a controversy at a cabinet briefing where ministers usually stick to talking about the day's decisions. "Sometimes things should be seen in their historical context and the founding fathers of the Constitution, even B.R. Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru, did not include these words in the original text," said Prasad, the IT and communications minister. Spectrum-related decisions were taken at the cabinet meeting today. Last evening, junior I&B minister Rajyavardhan Rathore tweeted a "clarification" that the ad was based on the original preamble, which did not contain these words. BJP sources said Rathore's interjection was meant to cap the debate and felt that "Prasad could have avoided a second intervention". Undeterred, Prasad told The Telegraph: "Let the debate go on." The assertion came a day after US President Barack Obama's public nudge on religious tolerance and a few hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi told NCC cadets that "unity in diversity" was India's strength and inspiration. Modi later met Mary Kom, the boxer who was upheld by Obama along with Shah Rukh Khan and Milka Singh as symbols of India's inter-faith co-existence. Late tonight, Prasad said: "I simply said this was the original preamble and the framers of the Constitution, including Shri Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Azad, knew the tradition of secularism and the tradition of equality and equity. Yet, they never chose to bring in the words in 1950 that were brought in through the back door during Emergency. Would my Congress friends doubt Pandit Nehru's commitment to secularism?" While the BJP insisted there was no "hidden agenda" in the ad, ally Shiv Sena demanded that the words "secular" and "socialist" be dropped from the preamble. The BJP did not officially respond but a leader said: "We don't have a two-thirds majority (in Parliament) to change the Constitution." A party official contended that if the Congress and the social media continued to raise the issue, their answers would be two. First, the preamble had a "hallowed" status  and ought not to have been subject to legislative tweaks. Second, the additions were brought in during Emergency. The words "secular" and "socialist" were enshrined through the 42nd amendment in 1976 by Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister. The above is just not a flash in the pan but gives an idea into the working of the Modi government. By removing the word secularism, it shows that it is just going to continue to divide the population of religious lines - vote banks. The Congress did it with the Muslim vote bank and the BJP is doing it with the Hindu vote bank. Unfortunately for the BJP, our Hindu way of life is very broad minded and will not be fettered by their narrow ways. The removal of "socialist" is even more frightening. It just furthers what Modi had said just after becoming Prime Minister. He will give 4 years to his crony capitalist and only in the 5th year, he will think of the poor. So, the poor, better beware. Modi has no place in his heart for you.