Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma addresses a press conference, in Guwahati.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday claimed that Dr B R Ambedkar had opposed the insertion of the word 'secular' in the Constitution as India already had a long tradition of 5,000 years of secularism.
Addressing the 75th Constitution Day celebrations organised by the Assam government's Parliamentary Affairs Department here, Sarma said, ''The Constituent Assembly had reflected the essence of Indian civilisation in our Constitution and laid the foundation for building a society based on those values.''
In India, despite the opportunity to draft a constitution based on religion, the framers succeeded in making it secular and this exceptional work was possible due to the strength of Indian civilisation, he said.
"Ambedkar had opposed the inclusion of the term 'secular' in the Constitution as he believed that adding the word will create a perception that India became secular only in 1949," Sarma said.
The Constituent Assembly had deliberated that our civilisation is inherently secular. and there was no need to explicitly declare ourselves as secular, he said.
''It must be, therefore, always clear that India's secularism is not a western concept but is derived from the essence of India's 5000-year-old civilisation and culture and is intrinsically rooted in our heritage," he added.
Sarma pointed out that if one studies world history where a constitution was drafted, it is found that the dominant religion in those respective countries formed the basis of their constitution.
India, however, is an exception where despite having over 90 per cent people belonging to a particular religion, the Constituent Assembly courageously drafted a constitution that is secular.
''If we examine two nations created out of India, despite being part of the same shared civilisational history before partition, the Constitution of Pakistan and Bangladesh were framed based on religion,'' he added.
India's Constitution reflects the dreams and aspirations of its people and places the welfare of its citizens at the heart of its governance, he said.
The Constitution ensures that people from all sections of society enjoy freedom, equality, and justice but at the same time, it is also the responsibility and duty of each citizen to preserve its core values and principles.
Sarma further pointed out the numerous challenges faced by the Constitution at various moments in history.
He said that the 1975 declaration of emergency threatened the very fabric of constitutional integrity while during times of divisiveness and communal tension, the Constitution emerged as a beacon of unity and justice.