By TCN News,
Bhopal: The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) has expressed serious concern over BJP’s Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre veering away from the much-hyped development agenda on which it was propelled to power.
There has been no serious development in last six months, the party said.
There seems to be a serious disconnect between the actions of some of the BJP and RSS cadre and the sentiments of Prime Minister Modi, SDPI national president A Sayeed said in a statement. “On more than one occasion, Modi has spoken of his inclusive vision, he has said that Indian Muslims will die for their country, that they will have no truck with subversive elements. It needs to develop a politics that accounts for both India’s diversity and its aspiration for development,” he added.
Sayeed said the BJP, in particular, must take cue from the PM’s remarks and desist from anti-minority posturing. The BJP should know that empathy with minorities goes to the heart of nation-building that it feels strongly about, the leader said, adding, recent by-polls in Uttar Pradesh and other states have shown that anti-minority tactics can be counterproductive as constituents quickly tire of negative campaign.
Sayeed stressed that the BJP needs to realise that moving away from governance and development issues will ultimately hurt the party’s main asset — the PM himself. “A party and a leader cannot speak in different voices without detriment to both. The BJP must remember that it has some way to go in extending its reach across India, notwithstanding Modi’s popularity.”
He, however, said the rabble-rousers in the BJP are hell bent to pursue the Hindutva agenda of the RSS. The aim is to portray Muslims as predators and criminals whilst presenting Hindus as innocent victims and the derogatory reference of ‘Ramzade’ and ‘Haramzade’ to Muslims by the Union Minister of State Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, which was inherent in the shocking statement, put the clock back on all the conciliatory gestures that Modi has been making obliquely to the minorities to win back their favour.
The statement said that the BJP leadership seems to be facing the dilemma. In Parliament and for the global consumption it has to keep the face of ‘Development’, while to keep its political power it has to go with the divisive agenda of its parent organization as unfolded by its associates and many elements within the party. So, a clever balancing act is always in order, to hide under the apology of Sadhvi and to turn a blind eye towards such tendencies. For them the same divisive agenda has to be operationalized with some variations in places where elections are to be held.
Meanwhile, Sayeed said that Prime Minister Modi, speaking at a function a month ago or so, had talked about the advancement of plastic surgery in ancient India. He had said that there must have been a plastic surgeon who fixed an elephant’s head on lord Ganesha. There is no doubt that India had fairly advanced knowledge of surgery in the past. Sushruta Samhita, an important classical Sanskrit text on medicine, penned by Sushruta is commonly dated to the period of 6th century BC, written during India’s golden age, even explained the basics of plastic surgery.
“However, Modi must stop blabbering. He should also read India’s Constitution which talks about the scientific attitude. If you never learnt the basics of science, please don’t show your colossal ignorance and mislead the already confused Indians further. This completely violates the basics of the Vedas and Vedanta: the formlessness of God,” Sayeed added.
He said that the very idea of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj calling for Bhagwad Gita as a national scripture in a multi-cultural, multi-religious country like India seems absurd. “This is a piece with the statements of various luminaries quoting ancient myths and legends as proof that advanced science and medicine existed in ancient India. India does have a great tradition of indigenous medicine but the kind of acumen attributed to our sages is beyond imagination,” he said.
Similarly is the assertion of Laxmikant Bajpai, president of BJP unit in Uttar Pradesh, that Taj Mahal was a part of an ancient temple that Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan “purchased as part of Tejo Mahalaya temple’s land from Raja Jai Singh” and claimed that he had documents to prove it still exist. This assertion is ridiculous and does not require much to refute it. His blabber is like the same as that of well-known historian P N Oak’s view, who also astutely defended Taj Mahal as a Hindu temple. However, none gave much credence to his claim, the statement stated.
Sayeed asserted that sooner than later, Modi must resolve the dilemma of whether he wants to be true to the spirit of his Independence Day address, in which he had made an impassioned plea for a moratorium on communal violence (and by implication on communal speeches) or he would indulge in doublespeak while condoning the indiscretions of those close to him on the communal question. “If it is rowdy elements within the Sangh Parivar that want the communal cauldron boiling, it is time Modi disciplines them,” he added.