The Preamble of the Indian Constitution is the heart and soul of the country, and the Narendra Modi-led BJP-NDA government has been hitting mercilessly at it.
Akhilesh Yadav—who, according to me, is a youth icon and a charismatic socialist leader, the former Chief Minister of India’s largest state and the national president of Asia’s largest socialist party, the Samajwadi Party—has been waging a relentless war to safeguard the democratic values and preamble of our Constitution.
Through various anti-Constitution measures, the Modi government has worked towards establishing the hegemony of the Few over the Many.
The Preamble is based on the objectives which were drafted and moved in the Constituent Assembly by Jawaharlal Nehru on December 13, 1946. B. R. Ambedkar said about the preamble:
“It was, indeed, a way of life, which recognizes liberty, equality, and fraternity as the principles of life and which cannot be divorced from each other […] Liberty cannot be divorced from equality; equality cannot be divorced from liberty. Nor can liberty and equality be divorced from fraternity. Without equality, liberty would produce the supremacy of the few over the many. Equality without liberty would kill individual initiative. Without fraternity, liberty and equality could not become a natural course of things.”
The preamble to the Constitution of India is a brief introductory statement that guides the principles of the document, and indicates the source from which the entire document derives its authority and meaning.
The hopes and aspirations of the people, as well as the ideals of our nation, are described in the Preamble in clear words. It can be referred to as the preface which highlights the entire Constitution. It was adopted on November 26, 1949 by the Constituent Assembly and came into effect on January 26, 1950. Every year, this historic even is celebrated as Republic Day in India.
In the 1995, in the case of Union Government Vs LIC of India, the Supreme Court held that the Preamble is an integral part of the Constitution.
As originally enacted the Preamble described the state as a “sovereign democratic republic”, to which the terms “Secular” and “Socialist” were later added with the 42nd Amendment. Unfortunately, the BJP-led NDA government has been dithering when it comes to sacred adherence to these two latest terms in its policies and public programmes.
Frank Huzur is the author of “Tipu’s Story”, a biography of Akhilesh Yadav.