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RSS chief calls for changing the Constitution

Fakir Chand in Bangalore

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief K S Sudarshan told the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government on Sunday that it should review the basic structure of the Constitution so that India could have its own model of governance.

Defending the current review of the Constitution, Sudarshan told a large public meeting on the final day of the three-day RSS camp in Bangalore that India's parliamentary democracy was just an imitation of the Westminster model of the British.

"It is ironical that this ancient country with a hoary past and rich Vedic tradition should be following a Western model for governance," he said. "We made the British Raj leave India, but we have not given up its system. There is an urgent need to evolve our own system of governance based on such a political system that was in vogue centuries ago."

Recalling Dr B R Ambedkar's speech in the Constituent Assembly way back in 1949, Sudarshan said constitutional experts never said that what they were writing was forever. "They had introduced a rider that its features could be changed with consensus according to the needs of the people and in the interest of the country," he pointed out.

Dubbing the constitutional amendments that have been made so far 'cosmetic', the sarsanghchalak said they had not brought about any transformation in our educational system, economic activity or even cultural aspects.

"All that we have been doing over the last 54 years," he said, "is imitate the West and its educational, economic and cultural traits. It is unfortunate that the present younger generation is not taught about the sacrifices made by our freedom fighters and nationalist leaders. They teach more about world history and what others did in India before the 19th century."

Quoting Thomas Jefferson's observations on the American constitution, Sudarshan said that even one of the founding fathers of the United States had strongly advocated periodical review of statutory provisions because what is applicable to one generation may not be so for the next.

Cautioning people about Pakistan's "designs" against India, Sudarshan said India could not afford to be complacent. So long as Pakistan keeps harping on Kashmir and backs cross-border terrorism, we should remain vigilant and equip our defence forces with all the weapons they need to protect the country.

"If you go through the history of India," he continued, "you will find that this country always remained a soft target because there was no concept of national security. Invaders from the Arab world and the West found Indians weak and submissive. That is why they were able to conquer us invasion after invasion. The same thing happened even in 1962, when China attacked India and captured a major portion of our territory."

Criticising the concept of non-violence as a negative approach, the RSS president said that though India had achieved independence through ahimsa as propounded by Gandhiji, the price the people had paid was enormous as it took more than 90 years to secure freedom.

Emphasizing the need for peace and stability within the country as well as the region, Sudarshan said that while Sri Lanka, Burma and Nepal could be considered friendly, the same could not be said about the other three neighbours -- Pakistan, China and Bangladesh.

"In this context, the RSS stands by this government for encouraging our scientists in developing a nuclear and missile capability to protect the country and build a deterrent to prevent attacks by unfriendly countries like Pakistan," he thundered.

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