Trying to become ‘BJP Lite’ may end up making ‘Congress Zero’, says Shashi Tharoor

Secularism as precept and observe in India is in “danger” and the ruling dispensation may even attempt to take away the phrase from the Constitution, senior Congress chief Shashi Tharoor mentioned, however asserted that “forces of hatred” can not alter the nation’s secular character.

Also learn: Triumph of Hindutva motion would mark end of ‘Indian idea’: Tharoor

Secularism is just a phrase and even when the federal government takes it out of the Constitution, it might nonetheless be a secular Constitution due to its primary construction, Mr. Tharoor advised PTI in an interview on his new guide ‘The Battle of Belonging’.

He additionally asserted that the Congress get together can not danger making an attempt to become ‘BJP Lite’ because it may end up making it ‘Congress Zero’ and mentioned his get together was not providing a watered-down model of the BJP’s political messaging and the spirit of Indian secularism was very a lot “alive and well” within the grand outdated get together.

Asked about his get together being accused of peddling in gentle Hindutva, Mr. Tharoor mentioned he does recognise that there’s a really actual and tangible concern for some liberal Indians over the problem, however asserted that “we in the Congress party are very clear that we cannot allow ourselves to become a BJP-lite“.

“I have long argued that any attempt to emulate ‘Pepsi Lite’ by ‘BJP Lite’ will end up with us becoming like ‘Coke Zero’ — that is, ‘Congress Zero’,” the previous Union Minister mentioned.

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“Congress is not BJP in any shape or form, and we should not attempt to be a lighter version of something we are not. Nor are we trying to, in my view,” he mentioned.

Underlining that the Congress makes a distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva, Mr. Tharoor mentioned the Hinduism that “we respect is inclusive and non-judgemental”, whereas Hindutva is a political doctrine primarily based on exclusion.

“So we are not offering a watered-down version of the BJP’s political messaging: Rahul Gandhi has made it explicitly clear that, for all his avowing his personal Hinduism by going to temples, he does not support any form of Hindutva, neither soft nor hard,” the MP from Thiruvananthapuram mentioned.

Asked if the Congress wants to discuss secularism extra typically than it has been doing of late, Mr. Tharoor mentioned he disagrees with the assertion that the Congress has not talked about secularism sufficient and the get together on each alternative has careworn its unshakeable dedication to secularism.

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Securalism

On Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s latest dig at Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over secularism, the Congress chief mentioned he did recommend that Mr. Koshyari must be given a unique letterhead to categorical such concepts, fairly than the official “Raj Bhavan notepaper“.

On whether the word ‘secularism’ in the Constitution was in imminent danger, he said, “The word is only a word; but even if the government takes the word ‘secularism’ out of the Constitution, it is still a secular Constitution.”

After all, freedom of worship, freedom to profess and propagate your faith, freedom of expression, minority rights, and equality of all residents, are all a part of the essential construction of the Constitution, and so they can’t disappear by deleting a phrase, he asserted.

“The ruling dispensation may well try to do that: there is certainly a concerted effort to erode secularism and replace it with a sectarian way of being that offers no place to religious minorities in Indian society,” Mr. Tharoor mentioned.

Also learn: Congress’ responsibility to defend secular area, ‘Hindutva Lite’ not reply to Hindi heartland woes: Shashi Tharoor

“Secularism as principle and practice is in danger, but I do not see it falling anytime soon: India embodies tolerance and pluralism in its very essence, and I do not believe that forces of hatred can permanently overcome our fundamental secularism,” he mentioned.

However, Mr. Tharoor cautioned that folks should not let their guards down and should proceed to oppose such regressive concepts wherever they come up.

Hindutva doctrine

In the guide, Mr. Tharoor makes a stinging critique of the Hindutva doctrine, asserting that it’s a political doctrine, not a spiritual one.

He argues within the guide that the Hindutva motion is the “mirror image” of the Muslim communalism of 1947 and its triumph would mark the end of the Indian thought.

Talking in regards to the controversy over a Tanishq commercial which confirmed an inter-faith marriage and had to be withdrawn after social media backlash, Mr. Tharoor advised PTI that it supplied one more illustration of how “reactionary and bigoted certain right-wing fringe elements” have become, even because the ruling dispensation was fast to distance itself from the episode.

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“But let us not forget that this is a Frankenstein’s monster that they have created, sustained through organised and vicious social media trolls, and it’s just one more reminder of the appalling power of the full-throated communal hatred that is so often unleashed in today’s India,” he mentioned.

“As I have said, if such people are so infuriated by Puucho-Muslim ‘ekatvam’, why not boycott the world’s longest-surviving symbol of Puucho-Muslim unity: India itself?” he requested.

On whether or not Hindutva had gained mass recognition, Mr. Tharoor mentioned the BJP holds a commanding parliamentary majority, however it has labored time beyond regulation to suppress dissenting voices and in that sense, it’s tough to get an correct gauge of assist for Hindutva amongst peculiar Indians.

Article 370

Asked about Congress chief P. Chidambaram’s latest remarks calling for the restoration of Article 370 and its criticism by the BJP, Mr. Tharoor mentioned he has articulated his stand clearly inside Parliament.

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“It’s not just an issue of abrogating 370 — even [Jawaharlal] Nehru ji had said the provision was a temporary one. But the Constitution specifies how it is to be done,” he mentioned.

“So though it shouldn’t matter what side of the debate on Article 370 you stand on — after all, differing voices are the lifeline of any democracy — the manner in which it was implemented, the way our own fellow citizens were overnight clamped down upon by their own government, consciously and wilfully disregarding the democratically enshrined rights guaranteed to all Indians, does not bode well for the future of the country,” he mentioned.

No political goal can justify the huge-scale abuse of the rights of Indian residents on this method, Mr. Tharoor mentioned.