AMN / BENEGALURU
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Friday led a mass reading of the preamble of the constitution and urged every citizen to be cautious of the forces that want to ‘bring Manusmirti back in force’ by destroying the statute.
The chief minister said anti-Constitutional forces are trying to destroy the Constitution and implement Manusmriti again. He called on the state to be alert and aware about this.
“Destroying the Constitution and enforcing Manusmriti means 90% Indians will be forced back into slavery,” he said and warned that a lot of conspiracies are going on for this.
The state government organised the mega event of reading the Constitution’s preamble as part of the ‘International Day of Democracy’ celebrations with lakhs of people participating in the event from India and abroad at the same time.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiaha led the celebrations, along with Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and several other guests, by reading the preamble — “We, the People of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Democratic Republic and to secure to all its citizens….,” in Kannada from the grand steps of ‘Vidhan Soudha’ here with a large number of school students and others in front of them joining in unison.
Addressing the gathering, Siddaramaiah said the government has fulfilled four of the five ‘guarantees’ (pre-poll promises of the Congress) and “walked the talk”.
“Protection of the Constitution is the duty of every citizenâ€æOur Constitution opens with We the people of India. If the wishes of the Constitution are not effectively understood and followed, it is not possible to build an equal society,” the chief minister said.
As per the aspiration of the Constitution which calls for equal society and highlights secular principles, Siddaramaiah said his government has implemented schemes for the prosperity of all and their purpose was to return money back to the public to improve their lives.
“Our government has implemented programmes for the prosperity of all, as per the aspirations of equal society and secular principle of the Constitution,” he said.
The chief minister said anti-Constitutional forces are trying to destroy the Constitution and implement Manusmriti again. He called on the state to be alert and aware about this.
“Destroying the Constitution and enforcing Manusmriti means 90% Indians will be forced back into slavery,” he said and warned that a lot of conspiracies are going on for this.
Siddaramaiah said that after the adoption of the Constitution, the democratic system was officially implemented in India.
“The democratic system has been formed in our land since the time of Buddha and Basavanna (12th-century social reformer)â€æThe debates held in the Parliament during the promulgation of the Constitution seem to reflect the importance of our Constitution and the mindset of the opponents of the Constitution,” the chief minister added.
In June, the Karnataka government made it mandatory for all students of schools and colleges, whether government, aided or private, to read the preamble daily. It also made it compulsory to have a portrait of the preamble of the Constitution put up at all government and semi-government offices in the state.