Dangerous process underway in India, institutions under 'great threat', says Ansari

Asserting that a "very dangerous" process was underway in India, former vice president Hamid Ansari on Tuesday said the country's institutions were under "great threat" and the principles on which the Constitution's Preamble was drafted were being thrown out.

Ansari said people were living in "difficult times" and it was important to act because if this continues, "it will be too late to wake up".

"We are living in difficult times. I do not have to go into the details of it, but the bare and honest truth is that the institutions of the republic of India are under great threat," Ansari said.

The principles on the basis of which the Preamble of the Constitution was drafted are in the process of being thrown out, he said.

"There is a great deal of sophistry involved in the process so most citizens are slow in picking it up. But the truth is that a very dangerous process is underway. Dangerous for us, the citizens of this country," he said.

He made the remarks at the launch of Bhalchandra Mungekar's book "My Encounters in Parliament" in the presence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, CPI general secretary D Raja and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

Ansari said the situation in the country is being looked upon with a great deal of alarm by its friends abroad, while the country's "enemies are delighted".

"But there is something which has to be taken note of, therefore, I regard Dr Mungekar's words as a wake up call and a call to remind us that we are being misled and if we allow this process to continue, it will be too late to wake up," he said.

Raja, in his remarks, said that "we are confronting fascist forces".

Yechury said the country is facing the challenge of communal national jingoism which needs to be combated.