The Union government may have distanced itself from Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde’s assertion that the Constitution will be changed. As the Opposition raised the issue in Parliament, disrupting proceedings and demanding his resignation, Union Minister Vijay Goel stated that the government does not subscribe to the views expressed by Hegde. Outside Parliament, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government has made it clear that it is not on the same page with Hegde on the issue.
Strangely, the minister himself has not clarified on the statement, but other ministers have stepped forward to clear the government’s stand on the issue. Reports state that Hegde will not speak on the matter and plans initially made for him to clarify in Parliament have been dropped. The opposition is not happy with this and in their demands for his resignation, Congress has argued that somebody who does not believe in the Constitution cannot continue as a minister.
The fact remains that Hegde’s comments have opened up an issue that cannot be summarily brushed aside, especially since the minister pointedly referred to the word secular when speaking of changing the Constitution. Hegde has been in the news in the past – for assaulting a doctor in a hospital and for linking Islam with terrorism, and other incidents. The latest controversy erupted when Hegde said, “Some people say the Constitution says secular and you must accept it. We will respect the Constitution, but the Constitution has changed several times and it will change in the future too. We are here to change the Constitution and we’ll change it.” He had also said, in the same speech made in Karnataka, that people should not refer to themselves as secular, but instead identify themselves on the basis of their religion.
The Indian Constitution is pluralistic in nature, non-discriminatory, embracing all religions, languages and giving equal rights to minorities and dalits. Yes, there have been changes to the Constitution, with lawmakers passing over a hundred amendments to the Constitution since it was adopted in 1950, but none of these amendments have tampered with the core ideals that have been enshrined in it. Hegde’s statements bring back to the front pages the apprehension of possible changes to these core values of the Indian Constitution, especially the assertion of India being a secular State.
As much as the onus is on the government to clarify on Hegde’s statement, it is also the responsibility of the party, in this case the Bharatiya Janata Party, to rein in elements who by their statements can adversely upset the delicately balanced harmony in the nation. It is easy to state that the party and government do not subscribe to the views expressed, it would be more convincing if some action is taken on the party member.
In the past few months, the BJP has had to defend itself and also repeatedly assert its secular credentials. Recently a delegation of Catholic leaders met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh after attacks on priests and seminarians for singing Christmas carols. While some of these incidents can be passed off as coming from fringe groups not related to the party, statements, such as the one by Hegde, are acutely embarrassing to the party and the government. Hegde is no loose cannon of a fringe group; he is a Union Minister, holding a high constitutional position, which makes it incumbent on him to weigh his words before saying anything.
In a democracy there will always be conflicting views, and decisions in the country have often been arrived at through consensus. Public opinion would have to be sought before any major changes – whatever be their nature – are undertaken to the Constitution.
