New Delhi: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said the country is still facing “Hindu-Muslim problems” in society due to the Congress‘ idea of secularism and its vote bank politics.
Addressing an event here, Gadkari said the meaning of the English word “secular” is “sarva dharma bhav” in Hindi or “justice to all and appeasement of none” in English, not “dharmanirpeksh” as the Congress described it “based on its thinking”.
“After 1947, the Congress got the opportunity to rule the country. Based on its thinking, they sowed some seeds… After Independence, various types of Hindu-Muslim problems came up,” the former BJP president said.
It was the Congress’ “secularvaad” (secularism) and its description that created these problems which the country is still facing, he said.
“You find out the meaning of secular in the dictionary. Its meaning is not ‘dharmanirpeksha’. Secular means ‘sarva dharma sambhaav’. Justice to all and appeasement of none is its true meaning,” Gadkari said.
“Unfortunately, the problem that came up in politics in the form of dharmanirpekshta’s definition after 1947 is still creating troubles for us,” the senior BJP leader said.
The policies that were adopted by the Congress as part of its vote bank politics have created the problems, he added.
Gadkari was addressing an event to launch a book, “My Idea of Nation First: Redefining Unalloyed Nationalism“, authoured by Uday Mahurkar.
The Union minister said a recall of history is needed to learn from the “mistakes” made in the past to ensure that they are not repeated in the future.
Reiterating what former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee once asserted, Gadkari said, “India is a secular country, it was secular and it will remain secular.”
“It’s not because of the BJP-RSS. It’s because of Bharatiya ‘sanskriti’, Hindu sanskriti and Sanatan sanskriti in which we say ‘vishwa ka kalyan ho’ (may the world be blessed),” he said.
“We never say ‘mera kalyan ho, mere parivaar ka kalyan ho (may I be blessed, my family be blessed),” Gadkari said in a veiled swipe at the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Reciting a Sanskrit verse, the minister said the Indian culture and ethos respect all faith and religious practices.
“Our culture is not communal or casteist. On the contrary, Hindutva is compassionate, tolerant and all-encompassing,” he said.
Gadkari said that there is no record in the entire history of any Hindu king having destroyed others’ religious places of worship.
“It is because it is not our culture, not in our genetics… We are not ‘adhikarvaadi (authoritarian)’ or ‘vistarvaadi (expansionist)’,” he said.
Unfortunately, Bharatiya and Sanatan sanskriti and its history were “grossly misinterpreted” and some of “our own people” also contributed to it, he said.
“What is the meaning of dharmanirpekshta? I asked someone after the death of Indira ji and Rajiv Gandhi ji why a Brahim was called to perform for ‘mantragni’ (lighting of funeral pyre with chanting of mantras)?” Gandkari asked.
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