Hindutva is not fascism, says Swamy
HYDERABAD: Former Union minister and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has lambasted those terming Hindutva, which is a way of life, as fascism and said the critics are just mindless.
Delivering a thought-provoking talk on the subject here on Saturday, Swamy explained why Hindutava cannot be called fascism. 'The word originated in Italy and was coined by Mussolini in 1921.
It means a group which blindly obeys a leader,' he said and wondered how one could think of Hindutva as a form of fascism. 'Sonia Gandhi's father was in Mussolini's army and was fascist. One can find a large picture of the dictator in the house of Sonia Gandhi in Italy.'
Swamy said the Rama Sethu case was likely to come up before the Supreme Court on November 26. 'We intend to put forth our argument for the need to declare Rama Sethu as a national monument,' he said. He criticised the prime minister's decision not to visit Sri Lanka for CHOGM though India built houses and educational institutions there.
Calling for such talks across the country to create awareness among people that Hindutava was not fascism, the senior leader said lack of true understanding of India and following the books authored by non-Indians was the problem.
According to Swamy, there is no word, Aryan, but the word 'arya' exists which means gentleman. The word, Dravida, was coined by Adi Shankaracharya during his many debates on shastras to bring back people to Hindu fold.
'It means a land of three coasts. The British cooked up the terms distorting their meanings. There are no two different races. In fact, genetic studies carried out by various universities had shown that all Indians have the same DNA structure.
So how can be North Indian, South Indian, Brahmini, Dalit, Hindu, Muslim be different?'' he asked and recalled his own experiment with the hair samples of Raj Thackeray in Mumbai and a taxi driver in UP.
Comparing the Vijayanagara and Moghul empires, he said the former extended over more area and lasted longer though our history textbooks harped on Moghul kings chapter after chapter.
'Hinduism has, for eons, let the other religions co-exist and never tried to convert people of other faiths which is not the case with other religions. Hindutva is a way of living and the most rational scientific religion. Indians have one great ability, to question everything.'
On the Varna system, he said it was never based on birth but on occupation. 'Ravana was a Brahmin but violated the rule and was killed by Rama. But no Brahmins seek vendetta and, on the contrary, worships Rama as an epitome of all that is good. Like nowhere else, old age is respected and the sick in the family are taken care of only in India.'
News Posted: 17 November, 2013
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