Context

• On the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Indian Constitution, the Supreme Court of India reaffirmed a critical element of the country’s democratic framework by upholding the inclusion of the words secular and socialist in the Constitution’s Preamble.
• These terms, introduced during the Emergency through the 42nd Amendment in 1976, have faced persistent political and legal challenge.
• The Court’s decision, however, underscored a foundational truth: the essence of India’s constitutional vision transcends the circumstances of its wording.
• Even if the original Preamble of 1949 did not include these specific terms, the principles they represent were already embedded in the spirit and structure of the Constitution.

Supreme Court’s Ruling on Words Secular and Socialism: A Reaffirmation Amidst a Rising Offensive

• While the judiciary’s ruling offered a vital legal defence of secularism and socialism, it also prompted a renewed ideological offensive stance.
• Some prominent right-wing organisations publicly demanded the removal of secular and socialist from the Preamble, calling them alien to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s vision.
• Further amplifying this sentiment, the Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar, termed their insertion a sacrilege to the spirit of Sanatan.
• These statements emanating not from fringe actors but from the apex of national authority.

The Historical Consensus on Secularism and Socialism

• Historical Consensus on Secularism
  • The idea of India as a secular nation was not a post-independence innovation but an integral part of its foundational consensus.
  • The Constituent Assembly debates leave no ambiguity on this matter and there was unanimous agreement that India should be a secular state.
  • No member advocated a theocratic state. Leaders such as Govind Ballabh Pant posed fundamental questions about the dangers of a religious state.
  • Jaspat Roy Kapoor cited Mahatma Gandhi’s assertion that religion should be a private affair. Begum Aizaz Rasul described secularism as the most outstanding feature of the Constitution.
  • Sardar Patel, in a moment of profound reassurance, vowed that the new Constitution would not be disfigured by any provision on a communal basis.
  • These voices collectively charted a vision of a modern, pluralistic India, one that would reject colonial tactics of division and ensure dignity and equality for all citizens.
• The Socialism in the Constitution: A Vision for Justice
  • The campaign to erase the word socialist from the Preamble is similarly aimed at dismantling the Constitution’s egalitarian framework.
  • Socialism, as envisioned in the Indian context, is not a foreign doctrine but a moral and political commitment to social and economic justice.
  • Ambedkar himself emphasised that the Directive Principles of State Policy reflected these socialist ideals.
  • They aimed to create a welfare state committed to eradicating inequality, ending caste-based exploitation, and ensuring land reform and labour rights.
  • The Supreme Court, in its latest ruling, echoed this interpretation by equating socialist with the vision of a welfare state, a state that exists not for the market or the majority alone, but for all its citizens.

The Way Forward: The Responsibility of Resistance

• The Constitution is more than a legal document it is a moral covenant forged in the crucible of India’s long and diverse freedom struggle.
• It represents the dreams of millions who fought not just for independence from colonial rule, but for justice, equality, and freedom at home.
• Defending the secular and socialist character of the Constitution is synonymous with defending the very idea of India, a democracy in which every citizen, regardless of religion, caste, class, or gender, has the right to live with dignity and freedom.
• This defence must be multifaceted: through public education, legal challenges, political mobilisation, and sustained democratic struggle.
• It must involve not just lawyers and politicians, but students, workers, thinkers, and every citizen who believes in the idea of a modern, plural, and just republic.

Conclusion

• As India marks the 75th year of its Constitution, the battle to preserve its soul has never been more urgent.
• The words secular and socialist are not accidental insertions or ideological imports and they are deeply rooted in the Indian experience of colonialism, communal violence, and social inequality.
• To erase them is to erase the legacy of Gandhi, Ambedkar, Patel, and countless others who dreamed of a free and fair India.
• The challenge today is clear: either we uphold and strengthen the democratic edifice built over decades, or we allow it to be dismantled in favour of a narrower, more exclusionary order.