Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday questioned why the word “secular” was not added in the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir in 1976 when it was inserted in the Preamble, stressing that a “healthy debate” on the Constitution was the sign of a “strong democracy”.

Rajnath, who was speaking at a BJP meeting in Patna, did not directly refer to a recent statement by RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale questioning the continuance of the words “socialist” and “secular” that were added to the Preamble during the Emergency in 1976, but appeared to allude to it.

“Main secularism ke nakli pairokaron se puchna chahta hoon ki jab saal 1976 mein apatkaal ke dauran 42nd amendment ke madhyam se secular shabd joda gaya toh kyon in shabdon ko Jammu aur Kashmir ke samvidhan me nahi joda gaya? (I want to ask those fake advocates of secularism: when the word secular was added through the 42nd amendment during the Emergency, why was this word not added to the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir as well?)” Rajnath asked.

“Should Jammu and Kashmir not have been secular? Kashmiri Pandits were being targeted on the basis of their religion,” he said.