Cong raises scrapping of Preamble from NCERT books; govt committed to Constitution: Nadda

The government is committed to protecting the constitution, Union minister JP Nadda said on Wednesday (August 7), after the Congress raised the issue of dropping the Preamble from some NCERT textbooks, saying this was an attempt to impose a communal ideology on the country.

Leader of the Opposition and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told the Rajya Sabha that the Preamble, the soul and foundation of the Indian Constitution, used to be published in NCERT textbooks.

The objectives stated by the Preamble are to secure justice, liberty, equality to all citizens and promote fraternity to maintain unity and integrity of the nation, he said.

Kharge on social democracy

"Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base social democracy. What does social democracy mean? It means a way of life which recognizes liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life," he quoted from the Constituent Assembly debate.

Kharge said every citizen, especially the young, needs to be educated about foundational principles and values of Indian democracy and Constitution as well as the sacrifices made by freedom fighters such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, BR Ambedkar and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Kharge blasts RSS

He went on to speak about the shifting of statues of Gandhi and Ambedkar in the parliament complex, triggering noisy objection from the treasury benches.

"RSS and BJP are trying to impose their communal ideology on people by tampering with curriculum. And the step taken by NCERT is not right," he said amid protests from the ruling side.

At this point, Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar said that nothing will go on record, and he would "look into what has to be deleted... last four minutes to be deleted." "You are digressing from the issue," he told Kharge.

Nadda's assurance 

"Undoubtedly all of us are committed to the constitution and any perception to the contrary will hurt all of us," Dhankhar said.

Leader of the House and minister Nadda said though he has not seen either the NCERT textbook or the change but can say with all authority state that there is no question of any meddling with the Constitution.

"Word by word, letter by letter, this government under the dynamic leadership of (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is committed (to the Constitution)," he said. "Preamble has been protected and will be protected.”