NO PARLIAMENT CONSENT TAKEN TO
MAKE INDIA SECULAR
इमरजेंसी के समय इंदिरा गांधी ने संविधान में पंथनिरपेक्ष और समाजवादी शब्द डलवाए।
Secularism in the 42nd Amendment
On June 26, 1975, prime minister Indira Gandhi announced on the All India Radio that “the president has proclaimed Emergency.” This she said was a necessary response to “the deep and widespread conspiracy which has been brewing ever since I began to introduce certain progressive measures of benefit to the common man and woman of India.”
In the following two years, the prime minister was authorised to rule by decree. Elections were suspended and civil liberties curbed. Thousands were arrested under MISA- the Maintenance of Internal Security Act. Old and new political opponents of Mrs. Gandhi, student activists, trade unionists were put behind bars. Anti-poverty programs, slum demolition drives, and the forced sterilisation campaign were some of the most important measures carried out by the government during this period.
“With the opposition MPs locked away, a series of Constitutional amendments were passed to prolong Mrs. Gandhi’s rule,” writes historian Ramachandra Guha in his iconic work, ‘India after Gandhi.’ While the 38th amendment ensured that no judicial review of the Emergency could take place, the 39th amendment stated that the office of the prime minister could not be challenged by the Supreme Court, but only by a body constituted by the Parliament.
The 42nd amendment came soon after. This 20 pages long detailed document gave unprecedented powers to the Parliament. Almost all parts of the Constitution, including the preamble, was changed with this amendment. Thereafter the description of India in the preamble was changed from “sovereign, democratic republic’ to a ‘sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic.”
With the passing of the 42nd amendment, the spirit of secularism which was always part and parcel of the Constitution was formally inserted into its body.
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