The architect of modern India made India a secular state. By 'secular' it means that the state will respect all the different religions in the country. States in the North East like Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland have more Christians than other religious adherents; whereas state like Jammu & Kashmir has more Muslim; and Punjab more Sikhs. People of these different states have followed certain religious practices even before present India is born. The territorial feature of India pre-1947 was never like what we have today. Yet the religious composition of these people have evolved to this pattern even before present India came into being though the states are carved out much later. And since these different people came to be part of India or rather was merged with India with their religious belief already embedded in their identity – as an individual and as a community – it is never going to be fair telling them that India will be a Hindu nation. Due to such diverse religious and ethnic historical baggages, it is just so reasonable that India continues to espouse secularism even today.
The founding fathers of RSS never believed in secularism. There is much literature to build a solid case that RSS leaders wanted India to be a Hindu nation. Hindutva is supposedly a way of life of an Indian based on Hindu religious belief. For RSS and the sister organisations Indian identity is to be identified with Hindu identity; and this Hindu nation is to be a strong and a powerful nation. A superpower. This was envisioned in the formation of RSS and this continues to be the guiding principle even today. BJP is believed to be a political wing of this RSS. No wonder RSS cadres actively campaign for BJP time and again during assembly or parliamentary election; and BJP leaders are often drawn from those with RSS upbringing. Besides RSS, other right wing Hindutva based organisations like VHP and Bajrang Dal constitute the Sangh Parivar that provides massive electoral support to BJP. Thus this association between BJP and right-wing Hindu organisations like RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal is the main reason why the religious minorities are quite suspicious of BJP. Had such association between a political party and pseudo-religious & political organisation been absent, the predicament of the religious minorities would never have surfaced in the first place!
The infamous demolition of the Mosque at Ayodhya, the mythical birth place of Ram, in 1992 by the combined speech and act of political leaders of BJP and Sangh Parivar and the failure of the state to bring to trial those responsible for the damage, that effected riots leading to hundreds of dead on the street provides a glaring example why BJP and Sangh Parivar pose a threat to the religious minorities. The killing of Muslims and Christians in states like Gujarat and Orissa by the members of Sangh Parivar and the lackluster response of the state's machinery to the violence are still fresh in the memory. The proven records of how BJP leaders are 'dictated' by RSS ideology as in the case of L K Advani being forced to resign as the President of BJP after his comment on Jinnah in Pakistan or the action taken against Jaswant Singh for his praising of Jinnah etc serve to reinforce the fear that RSS will remote control the BJP government. RSS says that it will not remote control the government, but looking at the past records, it is very difficult to believe the statement.
If BJP is to build a strong, peaceful and prosperous India, let it respect the freedom given to adherents of different religious persuasion as envisioned by the architect of modern India. Let Modi pursue economic liberalisation or set up a strong defence mechanism. One may disagree on how far these things are pursued or how they are pursued, but one can maintain 'let us agree to disagree' kind of a principle on such matters. But my religious belief is so basic to me. I don't want RSS to dictate my religious belief or take away my religious freedom just as I don't want to do the same to others. I would rather see India being torn to pieces – return to pre-1947 state with so many princely states – than let RSS and its cousin BJP take away my religious freedom. Given this kind of deep conviction and the social disorder it could trigger, if undermined, BJP leadership team has a moral and legal obligation to safeguard the basic religious fabric of the state; more so because that is what the architect of the modern believes in.
( This was published in Hueiyen Lanpao on 21st May 2014. Link is here)
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