Hindu outfit observes Black Day on R-Day eve

MEERUT: At a time when the country is engrossed in Republic Day celebrations, at least 50 persons under the banner of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha waved black flags to observe 'Black Day' and 'mourn' the Constitution of India on Monday.

The leaders of the Hindu outfit claimed to have been celebrating the day for the past five decades to put forward their demand of declaring India a 'Hindu Rasthra' and protest against the Constitution which claims that India is a 'secular country.'

"The Partition of India took place on the basis of religion and eventually India was declared a secular country. Had India been secular, it would have had a Uniform Civil Code, which is not the case. We have been observing this day for over five decades now and will continue until India is declared a Hindu Rashtra", said Ashok Kumar Sharma, national vice president, Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha.

To mark 'Black Day' or 'Kaala Divas' - as the party members call it, member of the organization waved black flags at the office of Hindu Mahasabha on Sharda road on Monday.

Bharat Rajput, district president, Hindu Mahasabha, Meerut, said, "We do not believe in the Constitution of India and have been protesting against it for the past 50 years. Secularism doesn't exist in India and that is why we mourn the Constitution. When India was divided, Pakistan was given the title of Islamic state then why was India not given the title of a Hindu Rashtra? It is this Constitution, which has failed to recognize India as a Hindu state that all of us are against."

Earlier, arrests used to take place whenever black flags were waved outside the office but the court refused arrests after 1987. Every year, party members hand over a memorandum to the station officer of Bhrampuri police station, who further gives it to the district magistrate.