AMN / MUMBAI
Students in schools across Maharashtra will have to compulsorily read out the preamble to the constitution during their morning assemblies from January 26.
Reading of the preamble is the part of the “sovereignty of constitution, welfare of all” campaign, a state government circular said. “Students will recite the preamble to the constitution every day after morning prayers so that they understand its importance. It is an old government resolution, but we will implement it from January 26,” said state education minister.
A government resolution issued on Tuesday said the objective is to instil values such as justice, freedom and equality enshrined in the Constitution.
Maharashtra government has made it compulsory to recite the Preamble to the Constitution in all schools starting January 26.
A government resolution issued on Tuesday said the objective is to instil values such as justice, freedom and equality enshrined in the Constitution. A similar resolution had been issued in 2013 by the then Congress-NCP government.
Incidentally, people protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act have taken to reading the preamble at demonstrations to highlight how it terms the country as secular while speaking out against discrimination. Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, who has been released on bail after spending over a month in prison, even claimed that he was arrested in January for no reason other than reading out the preamble.
The move to make students read out the preamble to Constitution comes at a time when largescale protests are being held against the Citizenship Amendment Act as well as the National Register of Citizens. The Congress is one of the constituents in the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government along with the NCP. Many Congress leaders have said that the “unconstitutional” law will not be allowed in Maharashtra.
The Citizenship Amendment Act, for the first time, makes religion the test of citizenship in India. The government says it will help minorities from three Muslim-dominated countries get citizenship if they fled to India because of religious persecution before 2015. Critics say it is designed to discriminate against Muslims and violates the secular principles of the constitution.
