New Delhi, Feb 11 (PTI) Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said publishers of the Constitution have given importance to its values, not calligraphy or illustrations after a row erupted in the Rajya Sabha over 22 “missing” miniature illustrations in some copies of the document.
Kharge, who is also the leader of opposition in the House, said this is what the creators of the Constitution have wanted and has been going on for decades.
The Congress staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha after Kharge was not allowed to complete his point when the issue was raised in the House.
In a post in Hindi on X, Kharge said the 22 illustrations in the Constitution were created by famous painter Nandlal Bose at the request of Mahatma Gandhi.
“The wonderful calligraphy work accompanying the illustrations was done by Prem Bihari Narayan Raizada, who in return for payment asked Nehru if he could sign his name to the manuscript, to which Nehru agreed. His nickname ‘Prem’ appears on all pages of the manuscript,” Kharge said.
“The Constitution was made by ‘We, The People’. For the convenience of the general public, those who have printed copies of the Constitution have given importance to its values instead of calligraphy and illustrations. This is what the creators of the Constitution, our great ancestors also wanted. This has been going on for decades,” Kharge said in his post.
“Babasaheb Ambedkar had even said – ‘If I find the Constitution being misused, I shall be the first to burn it’, which means that he considered the values of the Constitution more important,” he said.
“In the last ten and a half years, the Modi government has destroyed every value of the Constitution. That is why during the Lok Sabha elections, the public taught them a lesson and kept them from crossing 400 seats.
“Earlier, we saw how Home Minister Amit Shah insulted the architect of the Indian Constitution by making objectionable remarks on Baba Saheb in Parliament. He insulted the deprived people of this country,” Kharge alleged.
The Congress leader was referring to a previous remark by Shah in Parliament, which the Congress said was an “insult” to Ambedkar, a respected figure and an icon, especially among Dalits. Shah dismissed the allegations and said the Congress was “distorting” and “twisting” his comments.
During zero hour on Tuesday, BJP MP Radha Mohan Das Agrawal raised the issue of 22 illustrations missing in most copies of the Constitution sold in the country today. He demanded the inclusion of the original illustrations, which he alleged have been removed “unconstitutionally”.
Agarwal pointed out that the 22 illustrations included pictures of Ram, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavir, Samrat Vikramaditya, Lakshmi Bai, Shivaji and Mahatma Gandhi, but they have been removed.
This led to an uproar in the house with Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar saying the Constitution signed by its framers that includes the 22 miniatures together with amendments by Parliament is the only authentic one that needs to be promulgated and any violation be taken seriously and dealt with sternly. PTI SKC SKY SKY
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.