Guwahati, June 28: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has stirred a debate by calling for the removal of the terms 'socialism' and 'secularism' from the Indian Constitution, describing them as "Western concepts" that do not align with Indian civilizational values.
Speaking on Saturday, Sarma argued that these words were added to the Preamble during the Emergency under then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and suggested they were not part of the original vision of the Constitution’s framers.
"These concepts were introduced during a period when the country was under Emergency rule," Sarma stated. "They do not reflect the ethos of our civilisation."
Challenging the idea of secular identity, Sarma remarked, “How can I be secular? I am a hardcore Hindu. A Muslim person is a hardcore Muslim person. How can he be secular?”
His comments are expected to spark further political and ideological discourse around constitutional values and their relevance in contemporary India.
