By Abdul Gani, TwoCirces.net,
Guwahati: Slamming senior BJP leader Narendra Modi renowned, activist and scholar Ram Puniyani said that the communalism force will destroy the peace of the country. Taking part in a lecture session in Sociology department of Gauhati University in Assam, the former Bombay IIT professor advocated on making films and other means to spread secularism among the mass.
He was reacting to the famous quote of the Gujrat Chief Minister Narendra Modi when he had said of himself as Hindu Nationalist.
“I understand Narendra Modi is a born Hindu but when he says that he is a Hindu Nationalist it means something else. Mahatma Gandhi too was a Hindu but he never said that he was a Hindu Nationalist rather he was an Indian Nationalist and in the same line Maulana Kalam Azad was born Muslim but was an Indian Nationalist,” the biomedical engineering professor said addressing the gathering.
Activist Ram Puniyani delivering his lecture.
He said that Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar and Muhammad Ali Jinnah were Hindu and Muslim nationalist respectively.
Expressing concern at the growing communalism he said it’s a threat to the integrity of the country. “We stand at a very crucial hour and a danger situation. And we need to be careful. We need to save the secularism for saving democratic values,” said Puniyani who is also associated with various secular and democratic initiatives like All India Secular Forum, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism.
According to him various sections of the society are divided by the work people do but not by the religion people practice. “The deprived or the marginalised people in our society will have same feelings and problems barring their different religions. So, even if they beling to different religions they are a section,” he added.
Further, he advocated popularising the message secularism among the mass of the country with various means. “We can arrange lecture session or even we can make films reflecting the values of secularism. If a film club is created and such issues can be discussed over there, it will be a step towards a big goal,” he said.
He also highlighted the gender biasness in the present context of the society. He said that in spite of having three powerful Goddess in the form of Durga, Swarswati and Lakshmi, the women have always been neglected for ages.