A Tale of Secularism – Pashupatinath, Iftaar and Babur’s Grave

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been criticised by the opposition parties in parliament for not greeting Muslims on Eid and not organizing Iftaar parties for representatives of the Muslim community like earlier Prime Ministers. These issues were raised by the opposition parties in view of his visit to Pashupatinath Temple during his recent visit to Nepal, even as pictures of the PM offering prayers at Nepal's this famous Temple were splashed all over the TV screens and News Paper headlines. As per the leaders of various “Secular” opposition parties, it was expected that the PM would wish Muslims on Eid too and wanted to know the reason for this “differentiation”. As per them India believes in secularism, but that "some evil forces are trying to create communal tension".  They also pointed out  that since Independence India's Prime Ministers have been hosting Iftaars but none was held under  PM Modi and questioned what has happened now.

 

Meanwhile Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu replied to the criticism saying that the opposition should check their facts as PM had greeted Muslims on Eid and tweeted as below:
Greetings on Eid-ul-Fitr. May this auspicious day strengthen the bond of peace, unity & brotherhood across our Nation. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 29, 2014
 

What these Pseudo Secular politicians  fail to explain is - does greeting and organizing feasts only for one particular community make Indian politicians specially Hindu politicians secular? Is holding Iftaar parties mandatory for the PM? Is it a constitutional requirement? Did they criticize Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi for not hosting Holi Milan or Diwali party? Will Omar Abdullah host an official Diwali party in Srinagar? I am not sure how by having Modi wining and dining with Shabana Azmis and Javed Akhtars in Delhi, will help Hindus mend differences with Muslims in Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur? These symbolic gestures count for nothing as they are for the so called elite or powerful class of our society, who get  a chance to socialize with politicians and media during such occasions.

 

Why in India always only Hindus have to bear the burden of secularism and prove their secular credentials every time whereas we never see any Muslim leaders participating in any Hindu religious ceremony let alone wearing a Tilak or accepting Prasad. Have anybody ever seen any Muslim leader participating in Holi, Diwali or Ganesh Chaturthi Utsav let alone wearing Saffron Anga Vastra or Turban? But no they need not do so, as Muslims are born secular but they demand that others behave as per their whims and fancies. How does it matter if Imam Bukhari asks Muslims not to join Anna Hazare because of Vande Matram, how does it matter that Saudi King while visiting India does not go to Mahatma Gandhi's samadhi, how does it matter if Islam forbids its faithful’s not to offer respect to Hindu culture or deities?  It doesn’t matter to the secular brigade that BSP MP Shafiqur  Rahman  Barq, walked out of the Lok Sabha as India's national song Vande Mataram began playing, saying that it amounts to worshipping the Motherland & it is incorrect for a true Muslim as he can worship only Allah. It also does not matter to them that Kerala ministers of Indian Union Muslim league IUML (allies of  "secular Congress party ” ruling in Kerala), are refusing to light a lamp to inaugurate public functions saying this Indian tradition is un-Islamic.
 

What Narendra Modi as an individual is doing is being equated by these pseudo secularists as his position's act? This is the mindset and the basic problem of this secular brigade. Modi as an individual is a “Hindu by birth” and Prime Minister is his “Official Position”. As Prime Minister he need not do anything except providing good governance and equal development and justice for all Indians irrespective of their caste, creed or religion. As individual he can do what he is interested in personally. Does this brigade know the meaning of secularism? It is separation of religion  from state.  A secular person or politician can continue to hold his personal religious faith & beliefs, but he doesn't involve religion in matters of governance.  And this is what Modi is doing.

 

Just imagine how Modi would appear in the “Breaking News” and next day's News Papers if he had indeed organized an Iftaar wearing the skull cap. The very media that is questioning his secular credentials today would have written headlines as “Maulana Modi”  and that he is playing communal politics and  ready to stoop to any level for power.  Modi is a man, who’s secularism is in his heart and deeds to his motherland.  Anyone else in his place would have succumbed to the flashing cameras and simply given into such cheap publicity gimmicks. They choose to ignore his dedicated work to improve the economy of Gujarat and now of India but are outraged that he declined to organize or attend Iftaar parties. Modi is on record saying that for him “secularism is India First” &  his philosophy is ‘Justice to all, Appeasement to none’ and that “Religion should not be an instrument in our democratic process”. Hence, there should be no Iftaar, Deewali, Christmas parties by the Prime Minister or any other person holding such posts in this country going forward and this culture of appeasement of a particular minority community must be stopped. Modi & BJP came to power riding on the hopes of  millions of “Anti Pseudo Secularist” voters, Patriotic and Nationalistic citizens of India. Before the last Lok Sabha elections, the Pseudo Secularists, Jihadi supporters and sympathisers were thrashing about, screeching & screaming in TV studios, News Papers & street corners that Modi is a divisive, communal, murderous person & BJP is a majoritarian, right-wing party that is anti-Muslims. They have not learnt any lesson from their decimation in the last elections. Why should they grudge his visit to Pashupatinath temple? He is a devout Hindu, has right to his religious beliefs and is not ashamed of it for vote bank politics. He greeted Muslims on Eid. What more they want?  I am sure they are still reeling under the shock of the defeat of their vicious campaign against him. This is nothing but a manifestation of their frustration.  Narendra Modi will change the culture of “false secularism” in India.

This political alliance of Congressi-Marxist-Jihadi-Radical-Castiest (CMJRC) is today the greatest threat to India’s integrity, security and nationalism. They try to pull wool over our eyes and are supported by the unabashedly pro-Jihadi, pro-terrorist, communist, anti-national   journalists in Indian electronic & print media, intellectuals and historians. For these “Secular Saints”- deriding Hindu culture, faith and history through article, literature, art etc. are secular freedom of expression but if someone presents facts against Muslims, then that’s communal.  In this regard, I just want to recall a few incidents/actions by our former Congress Prime Ministers.

 

Former foreign Minister K Natwar Singh made an interesting revelation about former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in his book “Profile and Letters”. It states that during her official visit to Afghanistan in 1968, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (Natwar Singh was accompanying her as an IFS office on duty),  after the day’s engagement wanted to visit the burial place (grave) of Babur, the “Mughal King”, who invaded India and established Mughal Dynasty’s rule. The Afghan Security officials tried to dissuade her but she was adamant.  Finally she went to the grave of Babur, which was a deserted place. She stood before Babur’s grave for a few minutes with her head bent down in reverence. Natwar Singh was standing behind her. After she finished her prayers, she turned back and told Singh “today we have had our brush with history”.  Again, Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi and K. Natwar Singh (this time as India’s External Affairs Minister) visited Afghanistan in 2005. During that visit they had also visited Babur's Grave. Needless to say Babur was an “Invader”  and not an “Indian King”. Indian Media and Indians historians/intellectuals might have forgotten to recollect history as there is another grave in Afghanistan – the burial place of legendary Rajput King Prithviraj Chauhan, an Indian hero who fought the “Muslim Invaders”, lying in a dilapidated condition in the outskirts of Ghazni. But they never visited his grave and paid homage to the Hindu King.  This is because paying obeisance to the “Pride of Hindu History of Bravery” may not be pleasing to the Muslim community back in India, which is their vote bank.  This would have also gone against the established “False Secularism” in India by the CMJRC (Congressi-Marxist-Jihadi-Radical-Castiest) brigade.  Do you know why?

Continued…to next blog (will be uploaded tomorrow)