Judiciarys primary duty to save secular spirit of Constitution: Manmohan Singh

September 26, 2018 08:35

The armed forces are a splendid embodiment of the country's "secular project" and it is vitally important that they remain "uncontaminated" from any sectarian appeal, former prime minister Manmohan Singh said.

The senior Congress leader also said the judiciary should not lose sight of its primary duty to protect the secular spirit of the Constitution as the task has become much more demanding with political disputes and electoral battles turning out to be increasingly over-laced with religious overtones and prejudices.

"The judiciary needs to arrive at its own enlightened view of its custodianship of the Constitution-irrespective of the irresponsible and selfish politicians who have no qualms in injecting communal virus in our body politic," he said while delivering the second A B Bardhan memorial lecture on Tuesday.

Talking about the importance of the Election Commission in India's democratic framework, Singh said it must ensure that religion, religious sentiments and prejudices do not get worked into election discourse.

"As the custodian of the integrity of the electoral process, it is incumbent upon the Election Commission to see to it that religion and religious sentiments and prejudices do not get worked into the election discourse," he said.

"The Commission must be thinking of rolling back the easy acceptance of over-manipulation of religious imagery," the senior Congress leader said.

-- PTI

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