News Analysis India

Tag: Hindutva

  • Nothing wrong in comparing parties with groups killing people in the name of religion: Mehbooba Mufti

    By PTI

    JAMMU: Amid a raging controversy over senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid’s book, in which he compared Hindutva as propagated by some to radical jihadi groups such as the ISIS and the Boko Haram, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday said there is nothing wrong in comparing political parties with groups killing people in the name of religion.

    She accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of hijacking “Hindutva and Hinduism” and said Sanatan Dharma does not teach communalism.

    Khurshid, in his book, wrote: “Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduism known to sages and saints were being pushed aside by a robust version of Hindutva, by all standards a political version similar to the jihadist Islam of groups like ISIS and Boko Haram of recent years.”

    “The communal parties which want to make Hindu and Muslims fight each other and indulge in lynching in the name of religion. You can compare such parties with the ISIS or any other like-minded group because both kill people in the name of religion,” Mufti told reporters outside the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) headquarters here.

    Responding to a question on Khurshid’s book, she said “Sanatan Dharma does not teach us communalism”.

    “RSS, Jan Sangh and BJP want to make people in the country fight each other in the name of religion. They have hijacked Hindutva and Hinduism,” she said.

    The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister referred to “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (the world is one family) and said, “Sanatan Dharma teaches us that. What BJP and RSS are trying to teach us is neither Hindutva nor Hinduism.”

    Meanwhile, a group of Bajrang Dal activists, led by Rakesh Bajrangi, staged a demonstration against Khurshid outside the Press Club here, demanding a ban on his book and registration of a case against the former Union minister.

    “Comparing Hindutva with terror groups is a sin committed by Khurshid. His book should be banned and an FIR lodged against him,” Bajrangi said as his supporters burnt an effigy of the Congress leader.

  • Trouble in Congress over Salman Khurshid’s book? Party leaders decry equating Hindutva with terrorist acts

    Express News Service

    DEHRADUN:  Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Friday said that Salman Khurshid should take his words back regarding the comparison of Hindutva with terrorist organisations ISIS and Boko Haram in his book. 

    “Leaders should refrain from drawing parallels/comparisons which create divides in the society. I do not agree with Shri Salman Khurshid’s comparison. He should take his words back,” said the senior Congress leader. 

    Distancing the party and himself from his fellow Congress leader, Rawat added that this can be Khurshid’s personal view. Leaders like him and the party do not agree with those views.

    Notably, other senior Congress leaders like former Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir Ghulam Nabi Azad have also disapproved of the comparison.

    Azad actually called this comparison ‘factually incorrect’. The BJP has already gone ballistic on this, calling Khurshid’s remark an ‘attack on our faith’.

    Rawat, a former Union minister, also criticised Kangana Ranaut’s statement that India attained freedom after BJP came to power in 2014 and that the Independence of 1947 was actually a bheekh (alms) from the British.

    “Now, some people will start saying India got freedom because Narendra Modiji was born in this country. This is a false narrative which is totally unacceptable. The time for renaissance in our country has arrived. The Congress party must lead the way, with the support of the people of the country,” added Rawat. 

    Meanwhile, right-wing group Hindu Sena on Friday demanded a ban on Khurshid’s book ‘Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times’, alleging that his statement comparing Hindutva to the jihadist Islam of terror groups harms social integrity and hurts the religious sentiments of Hindus.

    In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta said the comparison made in the book is an attempt to demonise the Hindu religion.

    Two advocates have already filed complaints with the police against Khurshid’s comments, while several BJP leaders have sought action against him.

    In his letter, Gupta said, “This book comparing Hindutva/Hinduism to terror outfit ISIS and Boko Haram is an attempt to demonise the Hindu religion. These kinds of statements in a book can give publicity to the book but this harms the social integrity and hurts the sentiments of millions of Hindus residing in the country and all over the world.”

    “Therefore, I request you to kindly look into the matter and put a stay on publication/circulation and sale of the book and also ban the book or take appropriate action as per Indian laws applicable,” he wrote in the letter.

    In a chapter titled ‘The Saffron Sky’, Khurshid writes: “Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduism known to sages and saints were being pushed aside by a robust version of Hindutva, by all standards a political version similar to the jihadist Islam of groups like ISIS and Boko Haram of recent years.”

    According to Gupta, the excerpts from the book, besides being “instigating and provoking”, hurt the religious sentiments of a large number of people who follow the Hindu religion.

    “Our Constitution provides every citizen of India with the freedom of speech and expression but not for misuse of the right when it threatens and shakes the harmony of the country,” he claimed.

    He also said the Supreme Court in a 1995 judgement laid down the proposition that “Hindutva is not a religion it is a way of life and state of mind”.

    The 354-page book, which claims to analyse the juridical history and consequences of the long-standing Ayodhya dispute, was released on Wednesday.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Hindutva, Hinduism not same hymn sheet, says Rahul as Congress alleges Facebook used by BJP as weapon to spread hate

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Launching an attack on RSS-BJP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that the right wing spreading hatred and killing innocent people is not Hinduism but Hindutva. He clarified that the two are different concepts.

    Addressing an All India Congress Committee orientation programme at Sevagram Ashram in Wardha, Rahul said that ideological fight has become very important post 2014 and the divisive and hateful ideology of RSS-BJP has overshadowed the ‘loving, affectionate and nationalistic ideology’ of the Congress.    

    “We have to accept this and our ideology is alive and vibrant and overshadowed, partly because of the complete capture of the media and the Indian nation and also because we have not propagated our ideology among our own people aggressively,” he said.

    His remarks come after senior party leader Salman Khurshid in his book equated Hindutva with ISIS and Jihadist Islam, which veteran party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad called is factually wrong and an exaggeration.

    Rahul observed that Hindutva and Hinduism are two different concepts, adding that otherwise, there would have been no need to use separate words to describe both.

    “Is Hinduism about beating a Sikh or a Muslim? Hindutva, of course, is. But is Hinduism about killing…in which book is it written? I have read the Upanishads. I have not seen it. Where is it written that you should kill an innocent man? I am unable to find this in Hindu scriptures, Islamic scriptures, Sikh scriptures. I can see it in Hindutva though,” he said.

    The MP from Kerela’s Wayanad accepted that the Congress party did not propagate its ideology properly and called for mandatory training at all levels of the party.

    “The Congress ideology…the ideology it follows, has been existing in India for thousands of years. Just like the RSS has its icons, the Congress has its own icons… They are different icons. But, we have them,. It is about bringing in this ideological ocean and allowing our people to swim in it,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the BJP claimed on Friday that the Congress leadership nurses “pathological hatred” for Hinduism as it hit out at Rahul Gandhi for his criticism of Hindutva, saying it is at his behest that Congress leaders like Salman Khurshid, Shashi Tharoor and P Chidambaram have allegedly targeted the religion.

    BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra attacked Gandhi after the Congress leader sought to draw a distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva, a term widely used by the RSS, and alleged that the RSS-BJP ideology was about spreading hate.

    Patra alleged that Gandhi has a history of making critical comments about Hinduism and its culture.

    It is in the character of the Congress and the Gandhi family to attack Hinduism at every opportunity, he said.

    Citing terms like Hindu Pakistan, Hindu Taliban and saffron terror used by Congress leaders Tharoor and Chidambaram, he said they make these remarks at Gandhi’s behest.

    He also referred to Digvijay Singh and Mani Shankar Aiyar in this context.

    “What they say is not a coincidence but an experiment. And the headmaster of this experimental lab is Rahul Gandhi. There is a pathological hatred for Hinduism among Congress leaders, and they get traction for this from the Gandhi family,” he alleged.

    Patra also referred to a comment of Rahul Gandhi, which had found a mention in the WikiLeaks in 2010, that Hindu extremist groups could pose a bigger danger to India than Islamic terror organisation and some other remarks to attack him.

    Gandhi had linked atrocities against women to Indian culture, he claimed.

    The BJP’s attack on Gandhi came a day after the ruling party had slammed the opposition party over its leader Salman Khurshid comparing Hindutva with the jihadist Islam of terrorist groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram in his latest book.

    It is clear that Khurshid has also endorsed what Rahul Gandhi has been saying, Patra said.

    People of India will never forgive the Congress, he said.

    Gandhi on Friday said his party’s ideology is like a “beautiful jewel” with an unending power inside it, but it has been overshadowed by the BJP, and maintained Hindu and Hindutva are different concepts.

    Gandhi was addressing online a four-day ‘AICC orientation programme’ organised at Sevagram Ashram in Wardha in Maharashtra.

    Congress representatives from across the states are participating in the programme.

    Patra said seeking apology from him would be irrelevant.

    The Congress leader, he alleged, has violated constitutional tenets with his remarks that spread “hate” in society.

    The Congress, he said, had also tried to delay the court hearing in the Ram temple case and had, when in power, questioned the existence of Lord Ram.

    To a question about the Congress drawing a distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva, Patra shot back, “Can they talk on similar lines about other religions? Of course not. They cannot talk of similar issues in any other religion. The question is why do they talk ill of Hinduism all the time.”

    Congress on Friday alleged that Facebook was being used as a weapon by the BJP to spread hate and fake news in the country and demanded that a JPC probe be conducted on the issue and laws be enacted to restrict Facebook and WhatsApp.

    The party also alleged that India’s democracy is being manipulated by an American technology company and demanded that it holds an independent inquiry into the issue.

    Congress leaders Rohan Gupta and Praveen Chakravarty said at a joint press conference that it is time Facebook stops being used as a weapon by the BJP to spread hate that threatens the country’s unity.

    The Congress also wrote to Facebook chairman Mark Zuckerberg and asked him to conduct an independent inquiry to probe charges of hate speech and fake news being spread through Facebook and WhatsApp in India.

    “I strongly urge you to conduct an internal enquiry into the functioning of Facebook India and release the findings to the public.

    It is your responsibility as the head of this organisation to hold those responsible for betraying our people accountable for their actions,” Gupta, who heads the social media department of Congress, said in his letter to Zuckerberg.

    “Facebook has become a weapon of the BJP in spreading hatred in the country. There is an attempt to attack the unity of our country and everyone has to understand this and fight it together,” he told reporters here.

    “We demand from Facebook that there should be an independent inquiry on the hate speech being spread through Facebook in the last two years and why Facebook reduced its budget for identifying hate speech and why action was not initiated on issues raised internally on the issue by its own employees,” Gupta also said.

    Chakravarty, who heads the AICC Technology and Data cell, said this issue about Facebook is a very serious one and everyone has to fight it together.

    Citing an internal report statement, he said that after the Pulwama terror attack “an average Facebook user in India has seen more images of dead people in their Facebook account than they saw in their entire lifetime on Facebook”.

    This is besides what is happening on WhatsApp which is private, he said.

    “The world’s largest democracy is being manipulated by an American technology company. This is not anymore about the Congress or the BJP or even politics. This is about the sanctity of our democracy. This is about India and Indians. Are we going to accept this sort of control of our society by foreign technology companies,” Chakravarty asked.

    Noting that it is time to come together as a nation and resist this, he said, Parliament which is elected by the people of India has a responsibility to act on this issue.

    “A JPC must be set up to probe into this issue, as we have previously asked for. The Parliamentary Standing Committee must summon Facebook and other executives to investigate this, just as they have done in other democracies like the US and the UK. And, Laws must be legislated to restrict Facebook and WhatasApp in India,” Chakravarty said.

    Gupta said the country’s trust is being betrayed by Facebook.

    He also said people of the country are also demanding answers from the BJP for using social media players to spread hate.

    He also alleged that Facebook has undermined its own team’s internal report and reduced the budget for controlling hate speech even when such content has increased 80 percent in the last few months.

    Facebook used only 9 percent of its budget to stop and check hate speech in its content, especially in Hindi speaking India, he alleged.

    In his letter to Zuckerberg, Gupta said there is an apparent and evident bias that the company has shown in India towards the ruling dispensation despite their proclivity for sharing hate speech, misinformation, fake news and inflammatory content on your platform.

    He said there is evidence that points to the negligence of Facebook in controlling this hate speech and deliberately ignoring internal documents raising concerns over the same issues.

    “It has also been revealed that your cost cutting approach towards hate review led to a drastic and rapid increase in such content over the last two years,” he said, adding that it is unfortunate that Facebook continues to favour its business interests over the lives and safety of your users in a country which has over 370 million users.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Will get Salman Khurshid’s controversial book on Hindutva banned: Narottam Mishra

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh is contemplating banning in the state, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid’s book in which he has compared Hindutva to radical jihadist groups like ISIS and Boko Haram, after taking legal opinion on the matter, said Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Friday.

    The minister also hit out at Khurshid over the book on the Ayodhya verdict, titled ‘Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times’, which was released on Wednesday.

    Talking to reporters in Bhopal, Mishra said, “We will take the opinion of legal experts on the book and get it banned in Madhya Pradesh.”

    Mishra criticised Khurshid over the controversial content of the book and accused the former Union minister of targeting Hindutva and attempting to divide the majority community.

    “These people do not leave any opportunity to target Hindutva and divide Hindus on caste lines. After ‘Bharat Tere Tukde Honge Inshallah Inshallah’, Rahul Gandhi was the first to go there (on that path). Salman Khurshid is now taking forward the same idea,” he said.

    Mishra stated that Congress leader Kamal Nath had earlier said this is not “Mahan Bharat” but a “Badnam Bharat” (in context of coronavirus pandemic), and his party colleague Khurshid is now moving in the same direction.

    Khurshid, in his book, writes: “Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduism known to sages and saints were being pushed aside by a robust version of Hindutva, by all standards a political version similar to the jihadist Islam of groups like ISIS and Boko Haram of recent years.”

  • Khurshid sparks controversy over his remark on Hindutva and ISIS; BJP, Azad slam Congress leader

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid sparked controversy by comparing a “robust version” of Hindutva to the jihadist Islam of terror groups such as the ISIS and Boko Haram with the BJP and also his party colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad attacking the former union minister.

    While the BJP alleged that the Congress has not only hurt Hindus but also the soul of India and Azad dismissed the comparison made in Khurshid’s new book as “factually wrong and an exaggeration”, a Delhi-based lawyer Vivek Garg filed a complaint with the Delhi Police seeking registration of an FIR against Khurshid.

    Khurshid on his part sought to defend his remarks that came ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and four other states, saying he has not called the proponents of Hindutva terrorists.

    “Hindutva, as portrayed by its proponents, is distorting religion,” he told PTI when asked to comment on the controversy ignited by his remarks.

    “I have not called these guys terrorists, I have just said they are similar in distorting religion. What Hindutva has done, it has pushed aside sanatan dharma and Hinduism and it has taken over a robust, aggressive position similar to Boko Haram and those other guys. I could not find anybody else that they could be similar to. I said they are similar to them, that’s all, nothing to do with Hinduism,” he said.

    According to lawyer Garg, Khurshid, in his book ‘Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times’, wrote: “Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduism known to sages and saints were being pushed aside by a robust version of Hindutva, by all standards a political version similar to the jihadist Islam of groups like ISIS and Boko Haram of recent years.”

    The book was released on Wednesday.

    Azad, a former leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and a member of the Group of 23 leaders that wrote to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi seeking organisational overhaul, tweeted, “In Mr. Salman Khursheed’s new book, we may not agree with Hindutva as a political ideology distinct from composite culture of Hinduism, but comparing Hindutva with ISIS and Jihadist Islam is factually wrong and an exaggeration.”

    In Mr. Salman Khursheed’s new book, we may not agree with Hindutva as a political ideology distinct from composite culture of Hinduism, but comparing Hindutva with ISIS and Jihadist Islam is factually wrong and an exaggeration.
    — Ghulam Nabi Azad (@ghulamnazad) November 11, 2021
    Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Prahlad Joshi said Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should take action against Khurshid for “hurting the sentiments of Hindus”.”

    “I want to ask them what action they are going to take against Khurshid who has insulted both Hindus and Hindutva. Hindutva is not a religion but a way of life,” he told reporters in Dehradun .

    Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narrotam Mishra alleged that Congress leaders are “practitioners of appeasement politics.”

    Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said Khurshid’s book on Ayodhya hurts religious sentiments of people.

    “In the book Khurshid has compared Hindus to ISIS and Boko Haram. It is an attempt not just to hurt the feelings of the Hindus but to hurt India’s soul,” he said, adding, “the Congress party is like a poisonous spider which is weaving web against Hindus.”

    Condemning Khurshid’s remarks, Bhatia alleged that the Congress party’s “ideology and principle is to spread hatred against the Hindu community and to ill-treat the Hindus.”

    Alleging that this is happening at the behest of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Bhatia questioned her silence on the issue and said: “If you remain silent, then it will be clear that your ideology is also against Hindus.”

    Demanding Khurshid’s removal from the Congress, the BJP spokesperson said, “Earlier, the term ‘Hindu terrorism’ was invented when the Congress was in power.”

    BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya in a tweet highlighted a paragraph of the book and said, “Congress’s Salman Khurshid in his new book writes that Hindutva is similar to the jihadist Islamist groups like ISIS and Boko Haram.

    What else can we expect from someone whose party coined the term Saffron terror just to draw equivalence with Islamic jihad, to get Muslim votes?” Lawyer Garg said Khurshid made the remarks in a chapter called ‘The Saffron Sky’ (page-113).

    Garg’s complaint was addressed to the Delhi Police Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) and the SHO of Roop Nagar police station seeking registration of an FIR in the matter under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code(IPC).

    When contacted, a senior police officer said, “We have received a complaint on Thursday but are verifying the allegations made by the complainant. Accordingly, action will be taken as per law.”

    Minister Mishra said that whether it is Salman Khurshid or Digvijaya Singh they write controversial books to create controversy.

    “Because all of them are practitioners of appeasement politics. The kind of alienation and feeling of separation they generate, no one else does it,” Mishra told reporters in Indore.

    “Whether it is Congress party’s men or Gandhi family, they are the supporters of ‘Tukde-Tukde’ gang in the country,” he added.

  • Temples shadow other issues in Uttarakhand politics ahead of assembly polls

    Express News Service

    DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand politics, which earlier revolved around migration, corruption, drug menace, lack of infrastructure and development, has gradually shifted focus to temples, especially Char Dham shrines, ahead of Assembly polls. 

    Political analysts say this change is in sync with political changes in the country. The incumbent BJP, which owes its rise as a national party to ‘temple politics of Ayodhya’, has always focused on ‘Hindutva’, ‘nationalism’ and related issues. However, this time every party in the Himalayan state, including the main opposition Congress, has joined the bandwagon. 

    Political commentator Dinesh Mansera says: “What this election season witnessing is the effect of changes happening in the country, especially in the Hindi belt. All political parties have understood the trend and are acting accordingly. And this is going to continue for a while.” The Congress has already announced that if the party forms the next government, the Char Dham Devsthanam Board will be abolished and the status quo of pre-December 2019 will be resumed. 

    The grand old party has been giving out signals that it doesn’t want to be seen behind the BJP when it comes to courting religious politics. Former chief minister Harish Rawat, while visiting Kedarnath shrine last month, was seen with a trident to show his devotion to Lord Shiva. The party also organised ‘Jalabhishek’ rituals in parallel with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the shrine. All these indicate a paradigm shift in the state’s politics, feel analysts. 

    Even the Aam Aadmi Party which is trying to make its way in the hill state has been focusing largely on the same issue.  Delhi CM and party supremo Arvind Kejriwal, in one of his visits to the state, announced that if his party comes to power in Uttarakhand, the state will be made ‘Spiritual Capital’ of the world for Hindus.  “Earlier it was only the BJP which focused largely on Hindutva, nationalism and related issues but now other parties have understood that they can’t survive on old narratives including one that of Nehruvian secularism,” says Yogesh Kumar, another analyst. 

    With Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting the Kedarnath shrine where he unveiled the statue of Adi Guru Shankaracharya, the BJP is already ahead of other parties. Reconstruction work worth`400 crore is already going on in Kedarnath and a  masterplan for Badrinath worth Rs 250 crore has already been approved.  

  • Hindutva neither left nor right: RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale Friday said Hindutva is neither left nor right and its essence is “integral humanism”.

    Speaking at the launch of RSS leader Ram Madhav’s book “The Hindutva Paradigm: Integral Humanism and Quest for a Non-Western Worldview”, he said cultural cohesion and cultural nationalism are essential for the longevity of a nation.

    Any forcible division or unification of nations, he said, does not sustain.

    “The world had gone to left, or was forced to go left and now the situation is such that world is moving towards the right, so that it’s at the centre. That is what Hindutva is all about — neither left nor right,” he said.

    “I am from the RSS. We have never said in our discourse in the Sangh training camps that we are rightist. Many of our ideas are like leftist ideas,” Hosabale said.

    The RSS leader said there is space for ideas of both sides, the left and the right since these are “human experiences”.

    “Many of our ideas are like leftist ideas. Geographical or political divide are the East and the West that have blurred, dimmed and melted in the post liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation era,” he said.

    Talking about the colonial reminiscent, which he said are irrelevant but continue to persist in present day Indian system, Hosabale cited the recent comment of Chief Justice of India N V Ramana about the “Indianisation of our legal system”.

    “We will not be achieve full freedom till we Indianise our systems,” the RSS leader said.

    Hosabale also cited Mahatma Gandhi’s Hind Sawaraj and also mentioned socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia.

    The CJI had last month said, “Very often our justice delivery poses multiple barriers for the common people. The working and the style of courts do not sit well with the complexities of India. Our systems practise rules being colonial in origin may not be best suited to the needs of Indian population. The need of the hour is the Indianisation of our legal system.”

    Ram Madhav said the book does not present an anti-West world view and that the time has come to explore a world view from India’s point of reference.

    Suggesting that one should be open for newer views and ideas, Madhav said, “We should continue to accept and implement the ideas we got from outside, but there are some ideas that this land can also contribute and we must turn to them.”

  • Uttar Pradesh polls 2022: Secular parties vie for share of Hindutva pie

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Call it BJP’s saffron rub-off: Come UP polls and you would see only the hues of Hindutva this time. Months ahead of the elections, the perception so far is that most Uttar Pradesh parties are jostling for space for claiming a share of the Hindu identity.

    Priyanka Gandhi drove the message home when she recently visited Varanasi, the constituency of PM Modi. The first thing she did was a trip to the Kashi Vishwanth temple. Then she hopped to Durga Kund and offered prayers to the fearsome Hindu Goddess.

    After launching her party’s Kisan Nyay Yatra, the Congress leader landed at Rohania with her forehead smeared with sandalwood paste. She began with shlokas from Durga Saptshati proclaiming that she was on a fast on the fourth day of Navratri.

    The Congress had started out with its ‘soft Hindutva’ approach in 2017 at the time of the Gujarat Assembly polls. Rahul Gandhi had gone on temple hopping, claiming himself to be a ‘janeudhari Hindu’. “People would have accepted a natural rendition of ‘ya devi sarva bhuteshu’ – mantras chanted for various goddesses. But these came from Priyanka, evoking an impression that it was meant to impress the voters,” says Prof AK Mishra, a political scientist.

    But guess who is the latest to join the Hindu appeasers? It is BSP chief Mayawati. At her first election rally in Lucknow on October 9, she vowed not to stop the ongoing development works at religious towns of Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura, if voted to power. “Mayawati surprised everyone. She made it clear that her social engineering plank this time has the religious heft,” says political commentator JP Shukla.

    In the last two-three months, the BSP has conducted around 75 Prabuddh Sammelans (intellectual conferences) focusing on the Brahmins, starting the series from Ayodhya. Party general secretary Satish Mishra, while addressing the meetings, has promised to speed up the construction of the grand temple in Ayodhya.

    The SP isn’t much behind. Party chief Akhilesh Yadav launched his ‘Vijay Yatra’ on Tuesday from the banks of the Ganga in Kanpur. Earlier, addressing a public gathering in Saharanpur on Saturday, Akhilesh referred to the holy Bhagavad Gita.

    Akhilesh too has been on the temple run from Kamadgiri in Chitrakoot, Vimalnath temple at Farrukhabad and Buddha temple at Shravasti. The Aam Aadmi Party, which is entering the Uttar Pradesh Assembly poll fray for the first time, also began its campaign from Ayodhya.

  • RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat seeks policy revamp on population

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Hard Hindutva appeared on the horizon as RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday pushed for revisiting the population policy, scorned at state control of temples, sought tough measures against illegal immigrants, regulation of internet-based OTT content and further “unification of J&K” with the rest of the country.

    His annual Vijayadashmi address gave a glimpse of the agenda, as the NDA government at the Centre enters its eighth year in power, while the BJP will be up against a charged Opposition to defend party ruled states in polls next year. Bhagwat argued that the population percentage of religions of Indian origin has been consistently declining as against a rising Muslim head count.

    He demanded a revamp of the population policy keeping the next 50 years in mind, adding it must be uniformly enforced across all communities and religions. Citing the situation in West Bengal and Assam, Bhagwat toughened his stance against illegal immigrants, demanding the withdrawal of the citizenship granted to some of them as also land ownership.

    Turning to the issue of temple control, Bhagwat said in the South they are mostly run by the state, though they lack proper governance, with interference by people who are “irreligious and unethical heretics”. Stressing on collectivism, which is seen as a message for the consolidation of Hindus castes, Bhagwat sought to restore the status of temples as the fulcrum of society, which can spur Hindu revivalism.

    Bhagwat saw in the targeted killings of minorities in Kashmir a clear design to stoke fear. Noting that there had been gains after the abrogation of Article 370, Bhagwat sought further integration of J&K, which is likely to be an indication for easing curbs on outsiders for settling and doing business there. Expressing anguish over the face-off between Assam and Mizoram police, he asked, “Are we not citizens of the same country?”

    Where he stands

    Temples: Hand over operating rights of Hindu temples to Hindus. Wealth of Hindu temples must be used for worship of deities and welfare of Hindu community only
    J&K: Targeted killings of national minded citizens — especially Hindus — to destroy their morale and
    re-establish a reign of terror
    Taliban: Its stance has alternated between Kashmir and peace talks. Our military must be prepared for all eventualities
    Bitcoins: Clandestine, uncontrolled currency; has potential to destabilise economy
    OTT platforms: Broadcasts unregulated; difficult to predict how it will affect society. But how anti-national forces wish to use it is wellknown

  • There was no love between Jodha and Akbar,  her life was put at stake for power: BJP MLA

    Express News Service

    BHOPAL: While the controversy triggered by ex-MP CM and Congress Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh’s remarks about the RSS-run Saraswati Shishu Mandir schools refuses to die down, a ruling BJP MLA has now kicked up a row with controversial remarks about Jodha Bai and Mughal emperor Akbar.

    Known for making controversial statements, particularly over communal issues, the two-time BJP MLA from Huzur seat of Bhopal district made the controversial remarks during an event Hindutva Dharma Samvad in Sagar district on Monday.

    “There was no I Love You between Jodha Bai and Akbar. Did they study together in college or meet in a coffee house or gym? You’ve to be very cautious and alert about such people who put their daughter at stake just out of their lust for power. We’ve to be very cautious about those who are from amongst us, but can still betray the religion just out of the lust for power,” a video showing Sharma addressing the event in Sagar went viral over social media on Tuesday.

    The remarks sparked demonstration and protest by the Kshatriya (Rajput) community on Tuesday in Vidisha district, which neighbours Bhopal.

    Raising anti-Rameshwar Sharma slogans, the Rajput community people burnt the effigy of the BJP MLA, who is also the ex-Pro Tem Speaker of MP Vidhan Sabha.

    Realizing that the controversy triggered by his remarks could snowball into a major political issue, the BJP legislator tendered an apology. “I cannot even dream of hurting the sentiments of Rajputs, particularly as my Hindutva-oriented politics is inspired by historical icons, Maharana Pratap, Prithviraj Chauhan, and Veer Shivaji. In the event at Sagar, I was only narrating the clever divide and rule policies of the Mughals. Still, if my statements have hurt the Rajput brothers’ sentiments, I apologize to them 100 times,” Sharma said in a written apology.

    It’s not the first time that Sharma has sparked controversy with remarks about any particular community. During the 2018 assembly polls, his objectionable conversation about the Sindhi community in a viral audio clip had not only triggered a row in his assembly constituency (which has a sizeable Sindhi population) but had caused huge embarrassment for the party across the state.