I couldn’t believe that the DNA under Aditya Sinha (one of the editors whom I deeply admire for his editorials, his guts in taking on the DMK, and his dedication in bringing to light the atrocities suffered by Tamils during the genocidal attack in 2009) had published such a rabid, anti-Muslim piece written by Subramanian Swamy.
This article is possibly the closest we will ever get to reading an almost-Nazi and absolutely chilling description of the Hindutva project in any mainstream publication.
For those who have difficulty imagining Swamy’s HINDU NATION, here is what it means.
Majoritarianism and political power to Hindus
If half the Hindus voted together, rising above caste and language, a genuine Hindu party would have a two-thirds majority in Parliament and the assemblies.Portraying Hindus as the sole victims of terrorism
The first lesson to be learnt from the recent history of Islamic terrorism against India and for tackling terrorism in India is that the Hindu is the target and that Muslims of India are being programmed by a slow reactive process to become radical and thus slide into suicide against Hindus.Denying non-Hindus the fundamental right to vote, and the fundamental right to power-sharing making them non-citizens
The Muslims of India can join us if they genuinely feel for the Hindu. That they do I will not believe unless they acknowledge with pride that though they may be Muslims, their ancestors were Hindus. If any Muslim acknowledges his or her Hindu legacy, then we Hindus can accept him or her as a part of the Brihad Hindu Samaj (greater Hindu society) which is Hindustan. India that is Bharat that is Hindustan is a nation of Hindus and others whose ancestors were Hindus. Others, who refuse to acknowledge this, or those foreigners who become Indian citizens by registration, can remain in India but should not have voting rights (which means they cannot be elected representatives).Retelling history in which even atrocities by Hindutva like the Babri Masjid demolition are recast into narratives where the Hindu becomes the “victim”
The third lesson is that whatever and however small the terrorist incident, the nation must retaliate massively. For example, when the Ayodhya temple was sought to be attacked, we should have retaliated by re-building the Ram temple at the site.
Meena Kandasamy in her blog. More Here
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Subramanian Swamy’s Islamophobic outbursts in the July 16thedition of DNA did not come as a surprise to many. The maverick always displayed a knack for hogging the limelight throughout his political career. For many years now had been displaying an extreme anti-Muslim attitude despite have close professional as well as family relations with Muslim.
However, this was not always the case. As late as the early to mid-90s Swamy was the most vocal critic of Hindutva. Lest anyone, including Swamy, has any doubts about this we only need to go as far as 1993.
On March 13, 1993 Swamy gave a speech at the Madina Education Centre in Hyderabad on the topic, “Demolition of Babri Masjid and Aftermath.” A verbatim transcript of the speech was published in the April, 4-11, 1993 issue of The Anti-Corruption and was also brought out as a booklet by Madina Publications. A comparison of the DNA article with this speech reveals how radically his views have changed in the short span of 18 years.
In that article Swamy had stated that RSS, VHP, BJP, and other affiliates are not ‘pro-Hindu’ but ‘anti-Muslim’ organizations. ‘After the Babri Masjid demolition, the first thing we must do, is to disabuse the minds of the people, that RSS stands for Hindus…they have vulgarized the name Hindu, like Hitler, in the name of nationalism, vulgarized the meaning of nationalism,’ he had stated.
Dr. Swamy now wants to scrap Article 370. But in his 1993 speech he had asked why the Hindutva parties only talk about Article 370 and not about articles 371 (A),( B), ( C) and‘ so many articles and subsections of article 371 which say that in lowspity area of Himachal Pradesh the outsiders cannot buy land.’
‘In Mizoram outsiders cannot buy land. In Arunachal you cannot buy land, there are so many states where you can’t buy land,’ he continues.
Answering his own question he says that the Hindutva leaders only talk about 370 because that will mean ‘something harmful will happen to Muslims.’
He now raises concerns about the Muslim rise in population. But in 1993 he had stated that there is no scientific evidence to show that the Muslims will become demographic majority in the near future. He had attributed the slightly higher Muslim birthrate to the differences in percapita incomes. ‘If you bring the per capita income of Muslims on the same level as of Hindus, the difference in growth could disappear.’
Swamy calls for removal of Gyan Vapi mosque and the construction of temples on the sites of 300 other mosques. In the 1993 speech he had stated that the Hindutva forces rake up the issue of Kashi Vishwanath and others to ‘collect crores of rupees for it.’ He had then also stated that the ‘Ram Lalla Mandir must be demolished, because it is not a mandir, it is built on sin, it is built on treachery. It is built on deceit, it is not built according to Agama Shastras.’ As a way of getting out of the deadlock he had supported the view of the Babri Masjid Action Committee that it be resolved by independent enquiry committees.
Swamy’s ideological journey has made many twists and turn over the years. That would have been inconsequential in another age. But in the current atmosphere of violent Islamophobic hate, as is evident most recently from Norway, hateful rhetoric can very easily lead to violent action against minorities.
It is heartening to know that Swamy’s fulminations have been condemned a cross-section of the society. At the same time it is sad that one strong votary of peaceful coexistence has transformed himself into a merchant of hate.
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