“Today, I feel that as a Constitution, whatever form it is in, in front of us, deserves to be respected, and everybody, even including Dattatreya [Hosabale] ji, everybody respects it … he was only pointing to the historic process by which those words were inserted.”
Ram Madhav’s remarks on the Constitution came on the heels of a political storm over RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale’s comments, calling for a review of the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’, inserted into the Preamble by way of the 42nd Amendment. Not part of the original text of the Preamble, as drafted by B.R. Ambedkar, the two words were added later during the Emergency, Hosabale said, calling for the review.
On Tuesday, Ram Madhav said that when the Constituent Assembly, back in 1949–50, debated the issue of inserting ‘secular’, there were many questions, as well.
“Let me tell you, interestingly, in 1950, in 1949, in the Constituent Assembly, there was sufficient debate over this issue of whether ‘secular’ should be inserted into our Constitution or not. Ambedkar was categorical. He said: No, don’t create any confusion. We are anyway secular. We always respected our religions, but here the line between religion and state is very thin,” Ram Madhav said.
Claiming Hosabale was questioning the history of insertion of the words, not secularism itself, Ram Madhav said a “needless controversy” was created out of the comments. “So, Dattatreya ji only meant that … sometimes, you know, words are taken out of context unnecessarily,” Madhav said.
The RSS views on the Constitution were consistently misrepresented, Ram Madhav added.
“RSS, right from Golwalkar’s time, you know, repeatedly, Golwalkar was misquoted, misinterpreted, that he opposed this Constitution, he wanted ‘Manusmriti’. In none of his speeches did he ever say that we should have ‘Manusmriti’ as our Constitution. He never said it. But words were put in his mouth,” Ram Madhav said.
Madhav also recounted Golwalkar’s statement in which he said, “…whatever may be our opinions about this Constitution, it’s our Constitution today. We also should respect it.”
When asked about the BJP’s views on the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’, Ram Madhav said everyone had to respect the Constitution. “That’s why I’m repeatedly saying, I said it also, that even for the RSS, this Constitution is certainly sacrosanct,” he added.
Madhav said debates on the Constitution should not be viewed as disrespect to it.
Ram Madhav also spoke at length on the changing world order, Operation Sindoor, the Hindi imposition debate and the RSS centenary celebrations with ThePrint.
‘Changes in world order’
The BJP leader also pointed out that the global order was undergoing a major transformation, and India’s response should be one laced with caution and clarity.
“My general observation was that the Western powers, especially the US, will decline in influence. That doesn’t mean they disappear. They are there, they’re important powers, they will remain, but the influence that we saw in all these decades, the last four or five decades, will no longer be there. We are already seeing it. Nobody listens to those countries anymore. Countries have their independence and all that,” argued Ram Madhav.
Madhav said that apart from the US and China, many other countries were also rising.
“When we fought with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, you recall we used to invoke the name of one more country very frequently—Turkey. What does it mean? Turkey also rose to become an important power. We may not like it. I mean, we have problems with that country, but it’s also a power today,” he said.
Ram Madhav said that earlier, the world had two big powers, but it is no longer bipolar and other countries also wield substantial power now.
“The most important point I emphasised—we are entering into a highly technology-driven world. If you recall, all these decades, whoever dominated the world was whoever was economically strong and capable of good trade. But now, you have to be technologically advanced to survive in the new order. That is why I strongly emphasise that India pays great attention to its research and development, its technological advancements, its innovation, and all that,” he said.
Addressing the new changing world order, Ram Madhav said political states will remain important, but the spotlight will also be turned on non-state players.
“Those we termed as terrorists until yesterday, the Taliban, are now the rulers in Afghanistan; those whom we called terrorists [ISIS] were the rulers in Syria until recently. So, even terrorists, NGOs, tech giants like Elon Musk, and financial wizards like George Soros, you know, Ford Foundation, this foundation, that foundation, they all will be important players,” he said.
The BJP leader further said India should not be calling itself Vishwaguru, but it is the world that should say that.
“As a country, we have to come out of that romantic attitude—that, you know, this whole discourse about Vishwaguru and all. I very much want the whole world to respect me, but Vishwaguru is not a label that we attach to ourselves. It is the world which should say you are my guru,” he said.
Ram Madhav also pointed out that four things are required to achieve such a status: unity, economic strength, being a mature nation, and being a safe and secure nation.
Ram Madhav, who was the BJP in-charge of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, said terror infrastructure in Kashmir crumbled as the youth joining terror ranks came down from 250 a year to four a year only.
Calling Pahalgam attack a major incident and a result of machinations by Pakistan, Madhav said it is a reminder to keep a strong vigil in the state despite a decline in terrorism.
“While the last three or four years, after the abrogation of Article 370, saw terrorism declining very clearly, conspicuously in front of us, because I dealt with that state for many years, I can tell you from my experience also that there were times when we used to have—in a given year—200 to 250 boys joining the ranks of terrorists in Kashmir,” he said.
“From there, today, the number of youths joining terror ranks came down to four a year, showing the terror infrastructure completely crumbled.”
Ram Madhav added that wars will no longer be fought just on the ground. “Missiles, drones, cyber attacks, propaganda decide outcomes like who wins, and who loses,” he said.
RSS outreach
Speaking on the RSS centenary celebrations, Ram Madhav said the organisation had not stopped functioning in the past 100 years—an achievement in itself.
“RSS, especially Mohan Bhagwat ji (RSS chief), has now adopted this extensive reach-out. For instance, reaching out to people who are considered anti-RSS, sometimes. Now, the chief even visited a madrasa. So he has that openness to engage with those outside the periphery of the organisation,” said Ram Madhav.
The RSS chief, he said, engages with diplomats from across different groups.
“I know he meets with the leaders of the Muslim and Christian communities, and more, and that RSS will or should increase engagement, having become the mainstream organisation or mainstream thought process of this country. Now, whoever is outside or at the periphery should be brought into the ambit. Probably that will be the RSS’s efforts,” he said.
Also read: India must drive regional multilateralism, rather than being ‘also there’—Ram Madhav new book
