Athawale opposes Sanatan's demand for dropping 'secular' word

Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale today opposed the Sanatan Sanstha's demand to remove the word "secular" from the Constitution.

The Dalit leader also said he was opposed to the concept of a Hindu nation.

Earlier in the day, Sanstha spokesperson Chetan Rajhans said the Hindutva outfit wanted the term "secular" to be dropped from the Constitution, as it is "very vague and has no specific definition or meaning".

Athawale said the word secular has kept the country integrated.

"Notwithstanding anybody's demand, the word will remain in the Constitution forever," he told reporters.

Athawale, who heads RPI (A), demanded a proper probe as the "Sanstha is facing serious allegations".

However, he did not speak about the charges against the Sanstha.

The minister said the ban on the Goa-based Sanstha, as demanded by the Congress and other parties, would be of little use.

"Thoughts of a person cannot be stopped by killing him. No one should endorse violence. But those involved in violence should face stern action," he said.

Athawale said the Narendra Modi government is a secular dispensation.

"The 'Sab ka sath, fab ka vikas' motto of the BJP is a secular thought," he said.

Commenting on possibility of several opposition parties coming together against the BJP for the 2019 polls, Athawale said, "Even if the Opposition parties join hands, their unity will break over the issue of who would be prime minister. If the BJP, Shiv Sena and the RPI (A) contest 2019 elections jointly, we would win more than 42 seats of Lok Sabha in Maharashtra alone (out of 48)".