By TwoCircles.net
When Union Minister of BJP Ananth Kumar Hegde said, “ “We are here to change the Constitution and we’ll soon change it”; it sent alarm bells ringing in the minds of all those who believed in the secular democratic India they have always loved and lived in.
But it should not really have come as a surprise because just 2 years ago, in 2016 KN Govindacharya, RSS ideologue and once-powerful general secretary of the BJP, had declared in an interview “We will rewrite the Constitution to reflect Bhartiyata.
It is undoubtedly clear the both the RSS and BJP are silently working towards this ideology of theirs. It maybe recalled that way back in 1965 Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya RSS thinker and co-founder of the political party Bharatiya Jana Sangh, was critical of Indian constitution He spoke about dharma rajya which is on the similar lines of the concept of Savarkar’s Hindutva nation.
It was in this context congress leader Shashi Tharoor, change the Constitution to make India a “Hindu Pakistan”. His party disowned his comments and warned all others to be cautious over the words they choose.
The congress disowning their senior member just to please BJP without seeing the truth in this statement is unfortunate.
And the same has been condemned by Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI Party leader Faizy who strongly expressed his views saying that by not supporting Tharoor, the Congress leadership has shown itself to be bereft of any conviction in taking a principled stand when needed.
Faizy said the Congress party is trying to please everyone and has lost its ideology in the process. Situation in India calls for a party that keeps the interests of a secular community in heart and upholds cultural freedom at any cost. He wondered as to why Congress is so weak in supporting their own leaders like Iyer and Tharoor for highlighting issues which needed to be discussed.
He said, Tharoor is right on his stand that India has turned into a mini “hijacked Hinduism” version of “Pakistan” or even worse. Just see the never ending lynchings in the name of beef and belief, social media hoaxes of child snatching and brutal rapes of minors and women. Caste discrimination and ruthless attack on Dalits and Adivasis are on its peak.
He stated that Tharoor just used the word ‘Pakistan’ as synonym of failed state. He is just right in pointing out danger of nationalism and statehood based on religion, countless examples are there, and Pakistan is one among them. In great extent, the reason for India is better off compared to our neighbours is due to values and ideals upheld by our freedom fighters were secular and modern. It is our choices, whether to uphold values and ideals of freedom struggle to grow further, or to descend into endless pain and chaos of religious conflict.
Faizy stated that what Tharoor has reportedly said is not against Indian democracy, but against the actions of the Modi government in undermining the Indian democracy, which is based on pluralism, tolerance and unity in diversity. Those in the Congress who disagree with his remarks have failed to grasp what he articulated.