Sonia Gandhi Destroying Indian Religion, Culture and Traditions
“She (Sonia Gandhi) wants to destroy Indian religion, culture and traditions. We are opposing this, since we will not let this happen. She realizes that our strength is growing, and she is scared of our power. That is why she is opposing us. We are not in any way connected to extremism. Neither the VHP, nor the saints and RSS are involved in any way to militancy”
-VHP Chief Ashok Singhal
Conservative religious and political organizations in both the United States and India are following a similar strategy to reclaim the political power that they once enjoyed. In both these countries the elected leaders have been called names, their religious and cultural allegiances called into question and doubts raised about their citizenship.
Sonia Gandhi is an easy target for the Indian right. She is Italian Indian, a Catholic, a member of the Gandhi family and the President of the Indian National Congress. She is by far the most powerful and influential political leader in India but she is not the Prime Minister. This gives the impression that she is actually running the country and that the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh is just her puppet.
In a democracy like India no one should be above criticism including Sonia Gandhi. She became the President of the Congress Party in 1998 and in the 12 years since the party has become one of the most corrupt political organizations in the country. During her tenure the Congress Party which started the economic reforms under Prime Minister Narasimha Rao in 1992 has slowed down the rate of reform (political, social and economic) significantly. The party has started implementing failed socialistic policies of the 70’s and 80’s all over again. The total national debt and the budget deficits are increasing.
In addition Sonia Gandhi has done very little to dispel the notion that she is the real leader of the country. She is always seen with the Indian Prime Minister at every major photo opportunity although she is just a member of the parliament. One can also argue that Sonia Gandhi and her UPA government has failed to keep India safe from terrorist attacks and has also failed to check the millions of dollars sent to the country from the West and the Middle East for religious propaganda.
But can any sane person accuse Sonia Gandhi of destroying Indian religions, culture and traditions? To be fair no one so far has come up with an agreeable definition and scope of what is and what is not Indian culture and traditions. The religious beliefs, culture and traditions of 1.2 billion people cannot be easily defined. Don’t we have to define who we are before we accuse someone of destroying it?
When we look at India one of the words that comes to mind is pluralism. There is diversity wherever we look. An overwhelming majority of us are “Hindus”. But Hinduism itself is made up of many different religions and belief systems. This is true for the Buddhists, Muslims and Sikhs of India as well. This pluralism can also be seen in our culture and traditions. India has a huge population but very few leaders to represent them. It is very difficult for an Indian even to represent a small section of Indian society because of the diversity.
Organizations like the VHP want to change this pluralistic society that has worked very well for us for thousands of years. They want to represent Indian culture and traditions and take on the onus of protecting “Hindu” interests. In many ways they are creating their own definitions of what Hinduism is (One of the important issues for the VHP is to ban cow-slaughter. According to VHP’s definition a Hindu should not eat Beef. This narrow interpretation of what a Hindu can or cannot eat goes against Indian culinary traditions and scriptures).
VHP Chief said the following in the very same statement: “Over 85 per cent Muslims want peace. However, the remaining 15 per cent have been dominant and involved in terrorist activities. They purposely attack Hindus.” This statement shows more than anything else the real intent of organizations like the VHP. They are trying to divide the nation by making baseless allegations against those they disagree with. There are about 150 Muslims in India. According to VHP 15% of them are “involved in terrorist activities”. Does the VHP wants the rest of us to believe that about 21 million Indian Muslims are terrorists and that they are purposely attacking the Hindus?
Ashok Singhal owes an apology to the Muslim community of India. Indians should make it clear to the VHP and other right wing religious organizations that hate mongering and divisive strategies will not work. Ashok Singhal should also stop talking on behalf of Hinduism or Indians.
“You can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do” – Anne Lamott
Related posts:
- Indian Culture and Values Eroding
- Eradicating Corruption in India: Sonia Gandhi’s Ill-Advised 4 Step Process
- Indian Culture Includes Western Culture
- Indian Politics: Secularism and Pseudo-Secularism
- We Have Met the Enemy and it is Our Culture
Category: News & Government
It’s pretty clear that VHP type organizations blame Muslims and Islam for all of India’s woes. As for Sonia Gandhi, no one should be immune to criticism. But I’m only going to listen to genuine and informed criticism not mad ravings. Of course, people have the right to rave madly as well just like we have the right to tell them they’re idiots.
Couldn’t have said it any better!
She, her son Rahul(The Oxy moron), and her late Husband Rajiv (The Crook…..remember BOFORS…..making money at the expense of Indian National Security) have no patriotism for India what so ever. She is a high school Graduate, a European Socialist and would be working in a Pizza Joint In Italy…..had she not married Rajiv…..The crook. It was Rao who opened up the Indian Economy and set the path for Deveopment.
Vic,
I understand that there were serious allegations against the Congress Party and the Gandhi family in the Bofors case. But the reality is that nothing has been proven connecting her to the bribes. I think questioning her patriotism and whether or not she would be working in a pizza joint had she not met Rajiv Gandhi is a little out of bounds. Her meeting Rajiv Gandhi is a chance event and that is what life is about. Most of her decisions as MP and as party chief are endorsed by party members and other MP’s. She is not making these decisions in a vacuum.
Narasimha Rao started economic liberalization out of necessity. But we all know that he himself had his share of corruption scandals.