Guwahati: India is "not a constitutional democracy" but a "civilisation democracy". According to him, 'Sanatan Dharma' kept Indian civilisation from imperial Europe destroying it, PTI reported.
"For the challenges to our civilisation, we need to make them (Left and seculars) understand that India is not a geographical entity born in 1947. I always say that India is not a constitutional democracy. It is a civilisation democracy," Sarma claimed, addressing the third edition of the 'Lokmanthan' convention in Guwahati.
However, he did not bother to elaborate on what he meant by "civilisation democracy."
Sarma called for a collective retaliation to the "attack" of the Left and secularists on "Indian civilisation".
"There is a need to give a big, collective response to the attacks on our civilisation by the Left and secularists. There is a need to teach them through our intellectualism and debate that India is not a union of states, but our living motherland," the CM said.
Though India adopted its Constitution in 1950 and electoral democracy came into being in 1951, some historians claim that democracy existed in India in ancient times.
He said that Indian civilisation was the oldest, adding that European imperialism "destroyed" religion and culture of many countries and continents "like the US, Africa and Australia".