Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 12: Even as the former Congress president Rahul Gandhi stressed that Hinduism and Hindutva were two different concepts amidst row over party leader Salman Khurshid’s book on Ayodhya, the Congress and its senior leaders sought to distance themselves from the controversial statement and advised Khurshid to amend his book.
The statements from the former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and several other senior party leaders disagreeing with Khurshid’s comparing Hindutva with the terror groups like ISIS and Nigeria-based Boko Haram, came even as the Congress and other opposition parties demanded withdrawal of the Padma Shri award from the Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut for her derogatory remarks about the county’s freedom movement.
The Senior Congress leader Harish Rawat on Friday waded into the row over Salman Khurshid’s controversial statement in his book, saying his party colleague should correct his statement in the book that has touched off a political firestorm and should avoid any comparisons that “strengthen venom-spewing forces in society”.
“Politicians, or for that matter, wise men should avoid making such statements,” Rawat said in response to questions on Khurshid’s remark in his book “Sunrise over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times.” At one place in the book, Khurshid referred to Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduism known to sages and saints “being pushed aside by 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 Congress has distanced itself from Khurshid’s comment. Rawat reiterated that this could be Salman Khurshid’s personal view, “but the Congress and we all don’t agree with it.” Another senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has already stressed that comparing Hindutva to Jihadist Islam was an exaggeration.
In a tweet earlier, Azad said the Congress may not agree with Hindutva as a political ideology distinct from the composite culture of Hinduism, “but comparing Hindutva with ISIS and Jihadist Islam is factually wrong and an exaggeration.”
The BJP has pounced on the Congress and demanded an apology from the party president Sonia Gandhi over Khurshid’s remarks in the book. On Friday, the Madhya Pradesh government said it was exploring the option of banning Khurshid’s book in the state. The MP home minister Narottam Mishra saw the comment as a reflection of the approach of top Congress leaders who leave no opportunity “to attack our faith.”
Khurshid, however, has maintained that the statement was being misinterpreted. “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,” he said.
Without referring to the controversy over Khurshid’s book while virtually addressing a four-day AICC orientation camp at Sevagram, Wardha, on Friday, Rahul Gandhi said Hindutva and Hinduism were two different things and stressed upon the need to explore and understand such differences. Gandhi asked if Hinduism was about persecuting people of a different faith, while asserting that Hindutva “of course” was about that.
Stressing that the Congress ideology was like a “beautiful jewel” with an unending power inside it, Gandhi admitted that the “affectionate and nationalistic” ideology of Congress had now been overshadowed by the “hateful ideology” of RSS and BJP. “Today, whether we like it or not, the hateful ideology of RSS and BJP has overshadowed the loving, affectionate and nationalistic ideology of Congress Party, we have to accept this. Our ideology is alive, vibrant but it has been overshadowed,” Gandhi added.
If crystalized, the Congress ideology which is alive and vibrant will envelope that of the BJP-RSS, he said and emphasised on strengthening his party’s ideas within the organisation and spreading them across the country. He said, “We have to accept that there are two ideologies in India – the Congress ideology and the RSS ideology. We have to accept the BJP-RSS has spread hatred in today’s India.”
The former Congress president said there had been “complete capture” of the media by the saffron outfit. “The Congress ideology has been overshadowed partly because of complete capture of the media and complete capture of the Indian nation. It has also been overshadowed as we have not propagated our ideology among our own people aggressively,” said Gandhi.
“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 this ideological ocean and allowing our people to swim in it,” he said. “Now is the time to strengthen Congress ideology in its own organisation and spread its across India through party workers,” he said.
The Congress MP stressed on importance of ideological training, which he said, should be mandatory for all party workers. “The central way to propagate the party’s ideology is by training people in a conversation about what it means to be a Congress person and how is that different from being an RSS person,” he said. “Ideologically training of party workers, in my view, should be made mandatory irrespective of seniority,” Gandhi said.
“It is our strength…it is why we exist and it is important we discover it. They (BJP) have discovered their ideology and crystalized it. We have to crystalize our ideology and the moment we do that it will envelope their ideology. The hate that is being spread today will vanish and the future which seems uncertain will become certain,” he added.
Amidst the ideological row, several opposition leaders demanded that Padma Shri award given to Kangana Ranaut by the Narendra Modi government last month, should be withdrawn because of she should be charged with sedition for her comment that India won true independence in 2014 – when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power – and the 1947 Independence was “bheekh” (alms).
“The Padma Award given to Ranaut should be withdrawn immediately. Before giving such awards, mental psychological evaluation should be done so that in future such persons do not disrespect the nation and its heroes,” Anand Sharma, Congress leader, said on Twitter, tagging President Ram Nath Kovind.
Calling Kangana Ranaut’s comments shameful and shocking, Sharma accused her of insulting Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Valabhbhai Patel, besides belittling the sacrifices of freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad.
The Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik, who is not new to sparking controversies, suggested that the actress might have made the comments under the influence of drugs. “Looks like Kangana Ranaut took a heavy dose of Malana Cream (a variety of hashish) before making such a statement,” the minister remarked.
“We strongly condemn actress Kangana Ranaut’s statement. She insulted freedom fighters. The Centre must take back the Padma Shri from Kangana Ranaut and arrest her,” said the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader.
Many parties have slammed Kangana Ranaut’s remarks. The 34-year-old actress, who has also won national awards in the past, has always been vocal about her support for the ruling BJP and has been known to voice her political stand without tempering it.
Yesterday, her comments were denounced by BJP MP Varun Gandhi, calling her comments “madness or treason.” Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has demanded the Mumbai police to register an FIR against her and the Shiv Sena has also asked for a sedition case against her.
Meanwhile, in another development, some members affiliated to the Hindu rightist groups occupied an open space at sector 12A in Gurgaon in Haryana on Friday afternoon to prevent Muslims from offering Namaz.
Visuals from the site showed people sitting around – they assembled in the morning and claimed to be making a volleyball court. “We are sitting here quietly… but will not allow prayers. We will plan for a game here,” one of those occupying the ground, Parmila Chahar said, while another, Veer Yadav, said: “We will set up a net… will build a volleyball court here (and) children will play. Will not allow namaz, no matter what.”
Muslim organisations, who have faced protests and displays of intimidation at this and other sites for the past several weeks, have said they will not offer prayers at this site today. “We have told everyone that until we have an agreement with our Hindu brothers, we will not be offering prayers here… DC saheb has also given us a week,” they said.
Today’s protests are the latest in the Hindu – Muslim stand-off with residents of some Gurgaon neighbourhoods – boosted reportedly by members of right-wing groups – have hit out at the Muslims praying at what they say are public spaces. The site in Sector 12A is one of 29 “designated” sites for the offer of namaz after an agreement between Hindus and Muslims following similar clashes in 2018.
Some of these spaces are, in fact, public property, such as one in Sector 47. Others, however, are private property, on which no possible objection can be raised to the offer of namaz. Protesters claim “Rohingya refugees” use the prayers as an excuse to commit crimes in the area.
