NEWS: Hindutva is secularism, says Vajpayee in his musings

----------------------------------------------------------
Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/goa-net/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Goanet2003/
----------------------------------------------------------

Hindutva is secularism, says Vajpayee in his musings

>From Indo-Asian News Service

Panaji, Dec 31 (IANS) Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Tuesday
defended and broadened the political concept of "Hindutva", saying it was
not "antithetical" to secularism.

In his annual musings, issued from idyllic Goa where he is holidaying to
mark the advent of 2003, Vajpayee also asserted that Pakistan's efforts at
breaking Jammu and Kashmir from India were doomed to failure.

But his 2,200-word statement sought to emphasize the organic link between
Hindutva - which critics say is synonymous with Hindu supremacy - and
secularism, a constitutional part and parcel of India.

"Secularism is pitted against Hindutva, under the belief that the two are
antithetical to one another," he said. "This is incorrect and untenable.

"Secularism is a concept of the state, enjoining upon it the duty to show
respect for all faiths and to practise no discrimination among citizens on
the basis of their beliefs," he pointed out.

"In this sense, India has been secular since the beginning of her known
history. We chose to remain wedded to secularism even when Pakistan was
carved out on the basis of the spurious and communal two-nation theory. This
could not have been possible if the majority of Indians were not secular."

"On the other hand," he said, "Hindutva, which presents a 'viraat darshan'
(broad, all-encompassing view) of human life, is being projected by some
people in a narrow, rigid and extremist manner - an unfortunate and
unacceptable interpretation that runs totally contrary to its true spirit.

"Hindutva is an integral understanding of the entire Creation, showing the
way both to the Here and the Hereafter. It emphasizes the inseparable
relationship between the individual and society, as well as between man's
material and spiritual needs. Hindutva is liberal, liberating and brooks no
ill will, hatred or violence among different communities on any ground."

Critics of Hindu groups such as the Rashtraiya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the
ideological mentor of Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), say Hindutva
is a rightwing concept that underlines the supremacy of the Hindu religion
over all others in multi-religious India.

Vajpayee challenged such a definition.

"We need to affirm and promote that true understanding of Hindutva which is
forward-looking, not one that seeks to take us back; that which makes us
capable of meeting the challenges of the modern world, not one that is stuck
in the grooves of the past; that which is reform-minded, and not one that
protects obscurantism and injustice, against which all the reformers of the
past have fought.

"If understood and practised in this enlightened sense, which is how Swami
Vivekananda (the early 20th philosopher-saint) and other great patriots
propounded it, the current controversy over Hindutva will be seen as wholly
unnecessary.

"There is no difference between such Hindutva and
'Bharateeyata'(Indianness), since both are expressions of the same 'chintan'
(thought). Both affirm that India belongs to all, and all belong to India.

"It means that all Indians have equal rights and equal responsibilities. It
entails recognition of our common national culture, which is enriched by all
the diverse religious and non-religious traditions in India."

Vajpayee utilized the opportunity to hit out at Pakistan for "targeting
India with terrorism, inspired by religious extremism.

"Innocent children, women and men are being routinely killed, temples are
stormed, our symbols of democracy are attacked, and our security forces are
challenged - all in the name of a 'holy religious war' and 'freedom
struggle'.  This campaign of jehadi terrorism, too, is doomed to fail."

He added: "I am convinced that some day - hopefully soon - the people and
rulers of Pakistan will realize the futile and counter-productive nature of
its Kashmir policy."

Vajpayee called upon Pakistan to "stop cross-border terrorism and abandon
its insistence on the 'centrality' of the Kashmir issue. Let our two
countries agree to promote mutually beneficial trade and economic ties,
strengthen cultural relations, and encourage greater people-to-people
contacts.

"Once our two peoples experience the fruits of a tension-free and
cooperative environment, we will be able to see the Kashmir issue in its
proper dimension and arrive at an amicable and lasting solution."

The prime minister also dwelt on the achievements and plans for the future
of his multi-party coalition government that took power in 1998 and stormed
back to power the next year again.

He said his government was engaged in a "Connectivity Revolution", which
covered rail and air transport, the telecom sector, Internet and IT, the
country's numerous rivers.

"I would, however, place a far bigger importance on another connectivity
effort, one to which I referred earlier - Connectivity of the Hearts and
Minds of One Billion Indians.

"No nation has ever attained greatness without first attaining success in
the awakening and organizing of the whole strength of its people. Unity of
minds, unity of purpose, and unity in action - this is what we have to
demonstrate in every sphere of our national life.

"We have to strengthen the spirit of nationalism, and make it an inspiring
and motivating force to drive all our endeavours."

The prime minister said the country had advanced on various fronts, but "the
progress is not always as rapid - and as regionally and socially balanced -
as we desire. There is a lot that the central and state governments have to
do to speed up this process".

Vajpayee raised questions confronting the nation and Indian society:

"Why should our cities and villages be so unclean and unhygienic? Can this
not be changed visibly by changing the habits and the mindset of each one of
us? Shouldn't citizens themselves initiate a drive for water conservation,
energy conservation, and conservation of our precious cultural heritage?

"Shouldn't our society come down heavily against those who commit atrocities
against women, dalits, adivasis and other weaker sections? Shouldn't our
rich people provide more philanthropic resources for the care of the
orphans, disabled, destitute, and senior citizens?"

--Indo-Asian News Service

WANT TO check out which mailing lists you could subscribe to? Send a blank 
email message to goanet-request-fkB0aodkGtPQT0dZR+AlfA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
========================================================================