Positive Secularism and Religious Politics

The BJP is secular, pluralistic, and multi-religious. They call it Positive Secularism, which respects all faiths as equally valid. I think this view is more secular than the Shiv Sena, the Muslim League, the AIMIM, and the Dravidian regional parties. The BJP works for all Bharatiya citizens, not for a select group of people. Its membership includes Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, Dravidians, and Atheists. It fields candidates of all these groups. Therefore, those who call the BJP communal need to re-examine their political perspective. 

 

Many members of the BJP consider the cow a sacred animal. If an animal can be considered pure or impure for religious reasons, it can also be cherished and loved for similar reasons. Hindus metaphorically consider cows their mother, as both provide them milk. Over time, respect for cows grew from this bond. Those who are violent or cruel may not understand this emotion. In America, killing a pet animal like a dog or a cat results in prison. As Americans love their dogs, Indians love their cows.

 

Abrahamic religions promise that in the coming age, there will be no death or decay. No dead animals will be available to eat, and even carnivorous animals will not hunt. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will rest together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox (Isaiah 11:7). In that era, Ahimsa and Satya will prevail, not violence and hatred. Therefore, vegetarian followers of Abrahamic faiths need not change their diet, as everyone is moving toward universal love and kindness. 

 

Gandhiji died in 1948. The BJP was formed in 1979. No one associates the BJP with Gandhiji's death, except some in Keralam. Godse was not a BJP member. Gandhi's death was a political assassination, not a terrorist attack. Godse was punished by the Indian judiciary. Atal Bihari Vajpayee denounced Godse as a criminal in Parliament. Vajpayee said Godse was not an RSS member, but a rebel. Those spreading false information about the BJP should remember others could do the same, but choose not to because their culture is different.

 

In my view, Jinnah and his Muslim League, who created Pakistan, are more responsible for the events that led to Gandhi's assassination than the RSS. If India hadn't been divided along religious lines, Gandhi might still be alive. Those who think they can counter the countless innocents killed by Jihadis by calling Gandhi's assassination a terrorist attack need to consider two things. 1. What is a Terrorist attack, and how is it different from a political assassination? 2. By how much does the number of people the Jinnah League backed Pakistanis killed outnumber one? Nathuram killed one. Jihadis killed 1000s.

 

Nathuram, a cow-worshipping, Hindi-speaking, North Indian, upper caste Brahmin Hindu, killed another cow-worshipping, Hindi-speaking, North Indian, upper caste Baniya, Mohandas. It happened 80 years ago, immediately after India's partition, due to issues arising from the partition. There is much outrage among non-Hindi-speaking, South Indian, cow-killing Muslim people about Nathuram's act, but not about thousands of North Indian Hindus killed by the Jinnah League-backed Jihadi Muslims of Pakistan. I wonder why. When this outrage appears, a revolution will begin in South Bharat.