NEW DELHI: Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar stirred another row on Sunday after he said Hindutva is “Hinduism in paranoia,” which drew a strong response from the ruling BJP. During the debate on “Hinduism Needs Protection From Hindutva”, hosted by the Calcutta Debating Circle, Aiyar said Hindutva is a BJP leader “slapping a blind, hungry tribal girl because she attends a Christmas lunch in a Church”.Aiyar also said Hindutva asks “80 per cent of Hindus to quiver in front of 14 per cent of Muslims”. “Hindutva is Hinduism in paranoia. It asks 80% Hindus to quiver in front of 14% Muslims. Hindutva is a BJP leader slapping a blind, hungry tribal girl because she attends a Christmas lunch in a Church. Hindutva raids shopping malls to tear down Christmas decorations,” said Aiyar during the debate. He also quoted VD Savarkar, saying that the Hindutva ideologue saw Buddhism as an existential threat to all Hindus. “He described it as the ultimate negation of Hindutva, bearing the opiate of universalism and nonviolence. He said it was disastrous to national virility and even the existence of the Hindu race,” said Aiyar, referring to Savarkar.‘Hindutva a political tract’Drawing a distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva, Aiyar said Hinduism is “a great spiritual religion, while Hindutva is a political tract.” He also said that Hinduism faced trials and tribulations yet managed to survive and flourish without any need for Hindutva’s protection.“Hinduism is a great spiritual religion. Hindutva is a political tract. Hindutva came only in 1923; for thousands of years before Hindutva, Hinduism faced trial and tribulation and yet survived, flourished, with no need of Hindutva protection… There is no way Gandhi’s and Swami Vivekananda’s Hinduism can be protected or promoted by Savarkar’s Hindutva,” Aiyar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.‘Cherishing Hinduism is Hindutva’Speaking at the same event, Rajya Sabha member and BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said that Hindutva represents ‘Hindu tattva,’ which forms the core essence of Hinduism. He further argued that Hinduism is unique among religions in granting its followers the authority to debate, even on its sacred texts.“… Which culture gives you the authority to debate even on religious texts. It is only Hindu… I would like to ask why the term Hinduism? Why is ‘ism’ associated with all the religions which originated in India? Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. You have never heard of Islamism and Christianism… The ‘ism’ world is being associated just to demean, and what Hindutva is, ‘Hindu tattva’. The basic immunity of Hinduism is Hindu tattva... Another thing I would like to say, when you cherish Hinduism, it is called Hindutva,” the Trivedi said.Lashing out at Aiyar’s remark, the BJP’s national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said: “Yet again Congress attempts to create a divide between Hindus.” They want 1 Hindu to Stand up against the other Hindu. This benefits Congress whose only focus is -“Consolidate Vote Bank: Unite Minority, Divide Hindu Majority,” he said.
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