Bharatiya Janata Party has once again decided to play its Hindutva card for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in India. BJP which is part of a larger National Democratic Alliance had a 50-50 chance in 2004 general elections as an incumbent party. It was shocked when it was defeated because of its failure to look after the rural population. NDA at that time was led by highly regarded Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and a record of solid performance. Ever since Vajpayee retired as the head of the alliance, BJP and NDA have gone back to an old and discredited ideology of Hindutva. Do they really believe that this is a winning platform? If they do then they are stone deaf to the voters of this country. Lal Krishna Advani ought to know this!
There are 30 million middle class voters like me in India who are not exactly thrilled to see UPA back in power. When we look at the alternatives, we either stay at home or are resigned to vote for the Indian National Congress and by implication the United Progressive Alliance. Indian voter for some strange reason had the impression that NDA was tougher on the national security issues. It could be because India carried out the nuclear tests under Vajpayee’s leadership. Similarly, Advani was considered a tough Minister for Home Affairs, notwithstanding his actual record! Whatever the merits for voting the BJP to power, it was certainly not for building a ‘Ram Mandir’ or saving the outlandish and a relatively recent phenomenon of ‘Ram Sethu’.
India has been included in G-8 plus 5 as well as in G-20 summits not because of Hindutva, Ram Mandir or Ram Sethu, but despite such backward tribal issues. Indians do not consider themselves as ‘Hindus’ specifically, they are just happy to be a part of the rising tide of India. Indians are thrilled to have a Zaheer Khan and a Harbhajan Singh demolishing the New Zealand cricket team. They are proud of Ratan Tata to have produced a ‘Tata Nano’ or a Rehman for giving music scores for the Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire. They are not obsessed with some remote Ram Janmabhoomi or long forgotten Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. India is a rising power and could become the biggest economy in the world by the middle of this century. Does it behove India to have a racist political party? Just THINK about it!
Filed under: Indian Politics | Tagged: 'Ram Mandir', 'Ram Sethu', 'Slumdog Millionaire', A R Rehman, Article 370, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Harbhajan Singh, Hindutva, Indian constitution, Indian National Congress, Lal Krishna Advani, Lok Sabha, Minister for Home Affairs, National Democratic Alliance, NDA, New Zealand cricket team, Ram Janmabhoomi, Ratan Tata, Tata Nano, United Progressive Alliance, Zaheer Khan | 2 Comments »
THINK! 