Adding 'socialist', 'secular' to preamble narrowed India's spiritual image: J&K chief justice

Reports said Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh Pankaj Mithal, while speaking at a event on Sunday, said the addition of “socialist” and “secular” to the already mentioned “sovereign, democratic, republic” in the Preamble of the Constitution in 1976 narrowed the vastness of its spiritual image.

Jammu:Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh Pankaj Mithal said the addition of “socialist” and “secular” to the already mentioned “sovereign, democratic, republic” in the Preamble of the Constitution in 1976 narrowed the vastness of its spiritual image, reports said. “Very good words, but we have to see whether these amendments were needed, or these have been added at the right place,” reports quoted him as saying.

"Otherwise, Bharat from time immemorial had been a spiritual country and its name should have been “Spiritual Republic of India”, Justice Mithal said at an event on Sunday.

He said people of India have upheld the sacred beliefs of spirituality without interfering in the personal articles of faith of others since time immemorial.

"This secularism has continuously been carried to this day by the nation in its true spirit although the word "secular" was added to the Constitution later through an amendment," he said.

Justice Mithal said India has a distinction of being known as the "spiritual capital" of the world. "India's cultural milieu is the cosmos of pure spirituality, which discourages distinguishing humans on the basis of religion," he said.

He was delivering keynote lecture on "Dharma and the Constitution of India" at an event organised by the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh chapter of Delhi-based organisation Adhivakta Parishad to commemorate the 72nd Constitution Day.

"Our endeavour should be to exercise the fundamental duties instead of asking for the rights only," Justice Mithal further said.

"Religion is synonymous to righteousness and every religion leads to the moral conduct in life," he said, adding that religious scriptures act as a guiding principle in discerning the right from the wrong.

Justice Mithal said laws should be formulated in accordance with the needs of the society and not after looking up to the West.

"The Vedas constitute the law of the nature and it is morality and good conduct that make a person religious. Both the Mahabharat and the principle of "ahimsa" (non-violence) of Gautam Buddha convince people to adopt the highest articles of faith and virtue," he added.

with agency inputs