Protecting Constitution duty of all when regimes try to reshape it to fit their ideology: Khurshid

Patna, Jul 12 (PTI) Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday voiced concerns over attempts by "regimes to reshape the Constitution as per their ideology".

Khurshid, who was addressing a national legal conclave organised by the legal cell of the Indian Youth Congress here, also stressed that the Constitution was "not barely a legal document, but the spirit of our freedom, protecting which is the fundamental duty of every Indian".

Without naming any political party, Khurshid said, "When regimes attempt to reshape the Constitution to fit their ideology, it is lawyers who must be the first line of defense, because law serves justice, not power." Addressing the gathering, Krishna Allavaru, national in-charge of the IYC and also Bihar Congress, said, "When the Election Commission deviates from constitutional spirit and institutions serve power instead of people, young legal minds must step forward -- not as advisors, but as defenders of democracy." Speaking on the occasion, Uday Bhanu Chib, IYC national president, said, "To remain silent when the Constitution is under attack is the greatest crime. Each IYC member must now become a determined warrior in the fight for justice." Roopesh Singh Bhadauria, national chairman of IYC's legal cell, said that IYC's legal cell is active not just across India but in 21 countries.

"We are not just offering legal aid, we are driving a constitutional awakening -- from courtrooms to campuses, from streets to Parliament. When our workers are slapped with false charges, when dissent is labelled sedition, it is this legal cell that stands by them, in courts and in public conscience," he said.

AICC social media cell chairperson Supriya Shrinate said that when institutions become tools of political convenience, public resistance becomes the highest constitutional duty.

"We must now take the battle for truth and justice to every platform, including social media, because that's where public consciousness is being shaped," she added.

Others who also addressed the gathering included All India Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba, Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh and senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha. PTI PKD ACD