NEW DELHI: 20 Aug 2014

The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) has castigated Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, (RSS); Chieftain Mohan Bhagwat’s reported statement calling India a Hindu nation. It is dangerous and condemnable as it is against the secular nature of our country, the party said.

SDPI national president A. Sayeed in a statement said that India is a multi-cultural and multi-religious society and has not accepted Golwalkar’s definition of ‘Hindutva’. The Indian Constitution which very specifically states that India is Bharat, a union of state, and the word “Hindustan” is no where mentioned, he pointed out.

Sayeed said Bhagwat should better watch out his words and thoughts. Hindutva is a majoritarian concept which is part of the narrow and divisive agenda of the RSS. While Bhagwat should not be allowed to burn a country for which he and his terrible organization did not contribute anything at all. India is an idea of noble people who created it, he added.

He said that Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Parsi religions have as much claim over India as Hinduism and Buddhism has. Nature has made an experiment in unity in our India, so that unity of the world becomes possible. If the composite culture of India is true, then some day the idea of world-culture and world–humanity must also come to be true. India has shown the way and the way is that of truth and non-violence.

Sayeed said that if RSS is serious on Hinduism, they should champion the cause of abolition of the caste system or make it flexible where anyone can chose his caste based on the benefits or other considerations as it was in the old days. It appears RSS is drunk with power. Thinks might is right. It will prove to be the downfall of BJP Government at the Centre unless it distances itself from RSS.
Bhagwat must know very well, Sayeed said, the word Hindu or Hindutava does not figure in any of the Hindu religious scriptures viz. Vedas, Upanishads, Gita or Puran. Making a distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva, he said, equating the two is belittling the philosophy and richness of Hinduism. If attempt is made to impose Hindu culture then India will break into pieces, he added.

The conglomerate of BJP-RSS needs to clarify whether Hindu to them means an occupant of Hindustan or a member of the Hindu religion. They try to confuse the difference to take shelter in the location context to say they are not communal while trying to polarise and consolidate the Hindu votes. It is a country of Hindustanis not of Hindus. RSS needs correction, the statement said.

The statement stated that the question on everyone’s mind is: “Why are Hindutva sentiments are being raked up now whereas they were earlier muted in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls?” Though the opposition parties have acknowledged that the Modi wave had a major role in the BJP’s landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections, Bhagwat felt it was the people who brought about the change in the country. The Sangh leaders are busy harping on Hindutva and the Ram Temple. It seems that Bhagwat is making noises only to be noticed. On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been focusing his speeches on all-inclusive growth and giving priorities to constructing toilets over temples.

Sayeed charged the RSS and the BJP of dividing the society along communal lines to get political mileage in four poll-bound states. From the day Modi government assumed power, the RSS and its frontal organizations have been trying hard to stoke communal hatred. The BJP and the Sangh Parivar wants to repeat the Muzaffarnagar experiment in other parts of the country as well, he added.

He said the RSS with millions of members in India and abroad has raised its “Hindu nation” pitch after the rise of Narendra Modi to power. The double standard of the government is apparent. While Prime Minister Modi had talked about moratorium on communalism, Mohan Bhagwat has made outrageous statements. The government should have moratorium on RSS first, he said.

Sayeed said: “We have seen and heard most of our leaders including all the secularist ones as well ending their public speeches with shouts of Jai Hind. Will they say what HIND stands for if not for HINDUSTAN denoting this country of ours? Where is the question of defiance come in when calling our country as Hindustan is not made illegal?

He said that the RSS and its various outfits are making a plethora of such objectionable statements ever since the BJP formed the government. He urged the people to reject such statements and uphold their unity based on their common citizenship irrespective of caste and creed.