Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)

Mangaluru, Jan 30: "Today the Hindutva philosophy is at the center stage of our country's national life. The leaders of various political parties are jostling to prove their Hinduness," said Ram Madhav, member of RSS central executive committee.

He was speaking after launching his book 'The Hindutva Paradigm' at a programme organised by Citizen's Council in Sanghaniketan here on Sunday, January 30.

"Of late, we have seen Rahul Gandhi proclaiming that he is a real Hindu and not Yogi Adityanath. We could not have imagined such a statement from him 10 years ago. Chief minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee was so eager to prove her Hinduness by claiming that she is a devotee of Durga Mata. Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal in his state budget earmarked a fund allocation for senior citizens of Delhi to go on pilgrimage to Ayodhya. Kejriwal himself was the first person to take the yatra. The reason is simple. Today crores of people of this country stand up for their cultural and religious identity. Those days are gone when people were shy and hesitant to declare their Hinduness," Ram Madhav said.

He also said that today Indians proudly proclaim their cultural, religious, and civilizational identity. "When the RSS launched the fund collection drive of Ram Temple construction, 13 crore people contributed for the cause. In the entire history of the world, there is not a single instance of such magnitude where so many people came together to build a symbol of their culture, their heritage, and their history."

Madhav also said that people of different political parties have contributed to the construction of the temple including the Communists. "Muslims and Christians too came forward in reverence for this great cultural icon," he said.

"Great champions of secularism are talking about Hindutva today. Could you have imagined Shashi Tharoor writing a book on Hinduism 10 years ago? Probably you would have expected him to write a book on secularism. Secularism is not bad but the way it was practiced in India was so discriminatory and defective," he said.

Claiming that there are people in the country who are "uncomfortable" about this new awakening, he said, "They have continued to spread lies about it. As there are no takers in India they are spreading lies in abroad, like former vice-president Hamid Ansari."

Taking a dig at Hamid Ansari, Ram Madhav said, "He was a diplomat in Indian Foreign Service. But unfortunately, he chose a forum called Indian American Muslim Council, a notorious forum for spreading anti-India propaganda in America. When India was in a celebratory mood about the Republic Day, Hamid Ansari went online through Indian American Muslim Council forum to spread canards about the present situation in the country, the cultural revival and claimed this cultural nationalism was a disguise. He said it was another name for Hindu majoritarianism, and claimed that we are using phrases like cultural nationalism and integral humanism to actually establish majoritarian rule in India."

Madhav also said that Ansari's arguments were "irrational". "Hamid Ansari claims that instead of cultural nationalism, we should have civic nationalism. This was the thrust of Ansari's argument. Ansari's civic nationalism had resulted in India's partition. The same argument was peddled by Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

"Who are the immigrants in India? Where is the question of civic nationalism? Those who are invoking the argument of civic nationalism say that they do not feel they are integral part of this nation. They still feel that they are immigrants. Those who argue in favour of civic nationalism do not represent any religion but represent a biased communal mindset. The Muslims and the Christians of this country did not come from any other country. Those who had come several hundred years ago are very few in numbers. Most of them either returned or merged into our national life.

"Subsequently in the last 1,500 years, it was not migration that led to the rise of religions in India. People at some point decided to change their religion which resulted in the rise of a number of faiths. Muslims and Christians of India are not like immigrant Muslims of Europe. They are very much a part and parcel of this society. Now, where is the question of civic nationalism with them? Why can they not think they are as much inheriting the great culture of the country as their Hindu brothers are. The whole argument of those who invoke civic nationalism stands on a false foundation," he said.

"We have all belonged to the country for a millennia, and today we may practice different religions. In our country you can start your own religion, that is the level of freedom we have. The country has got wonderful diversity. India has presented a shining example of democracy.

"Hindutva symbolises the cultural nationalism or integral humanism of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya which stands for an idea of a nation of thousands of years of antiquity through which it founded a great civilizational value system. We should have appreciated it during the time of Independence itself. But today, the people of the country feel that we should stand up with pride and self-respect because of our cultural identity," he said.

RSS Pranth Sanghachalak Dr Vaman Shenoy and Chidananda Kedilaya, Advocate, president of Citizen's Council, Mangaluru were present.