Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that there is nothing like word secular in real life practice, it was “biggest lie” told after Indian independence and people who used this word should ask for apologies for using it as a part of Indian constitution.
On the other hand, Congress leader Kapil Sibal replayed him dubbing his statement as the “biggest lie” rather.
Adityanath was speaking at a function organized by the Dainik Jagran group in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, and was responding to a question on communalism and secularism. He also said that any perversion” of history is akin to sedition.
Addressing in Hindi, Adityanath said, “Mera maanna hai ki azadi ke baad Bharat mein sabse bada jhooth dharmnirpeksh shabd hai. Nagrikon ke saath, Bharat ke logon ke saath… un logon ko maafi maangni chahiye, jinhone is shabd ko janm diya aur jo yeh shabd istemaal karte hai… koi vyavastha dharmnirpeksh nahin ho sakti. Rajneetik vyavastha panthnirpeksh ho sakti hai,” (“I believe that after Independence, the biggest lie in India is the word secular…the people who gave birth to this word and who use it, should apologies. No system can be secular. Political systems can be neutral towards sects, but not secular.”)
The word ‘secular’ is included in the Preamble to India’s constitution, which strives to make the country a “sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic”.
As we all know “unity in diversity” is the identity of India. In India, we have followers of many religions and it has made India culturally rich and colorful.