PM Can't Call Himself Hindu?

[Guest guest]

PM Can't Call Himself Hindu?

 

I want to draw your attention to an article

published recently on the internet by Pritish Nandy,

excerpted below:

 

"President George W. Bush, in his inaugural address,

made so many references to God, the Bible and

Christianity that even the American media sat

up and noticed it. No, no one was in the least

embarrassed by it. But they noticed it and some

of them pointed it out, quite approvingly, for

in American politics such refe

rences to religion are not seen as anything wrong.

A President who flaunts his faith is no zealot;

nor is he a Christian fundamentalist.

He is a good, decent, God-fearing man.

 

Bush is not the first American President

to be so openly Christian. Many before

him have rooted for a good, strong Christian

image. No one doubted their motives. No one

disparaged them for doing so. Even when it

won them votes, no one accused them of

religious bigotry or political opportunism.

 

Compare all this to India. Think of what

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee goes

through every time he mentions the dreaded

H word. While many are ready to applaud

him when he talks about fresh peace initiatives

in Kashmir or making friends with Pakistan,

the moment he says anything about being Hindu

or defends the cause of Hindutva, he is promptly

accused of revealing his true colors as a khaki

knickerwallah [member of the RSS, India's largest

Hindu service organization, so called for their

trademark khaki-colored shorts.] The very mention

of his religious antecedents, however gently,

raises the hackles of the Opposition and the media.

Forget President Bush; if Vajpayee were to just talk

about what being a Hindu means to him, he would be

flagellated as a bigot who has emerged from the closet.

 

My question is: Why must we deny

Prime Minister Vajpayee his right

to be a Hindu? Bush does not become a

fundamentalist when he refers to

Christianity or the Bible. No one

argues that he is anti-Muslim or

anti-secular simply because he

flaunts his faith in public.

By the same argument, when

Vajpayee speaks of Hindutva or

the Ram temple, why should we

brand him as a fundamentalist?

He remains what he always was, a Hindu at heart,

a secular leader in office."

 

Ian Stone, stump71

www.rediff.com/news/2001/feb/01nandy.htm