Hindu right-wing communalism, not communism, is the greater danger for India, the former Indian vice-president Mohammad Hamid Ansari has said, quoting an old remark by Jawaharlal Nehru.
His comments have set off a fresh row in Indian politics, and the BJP has hit back with sharp criticism.
Ansari was speaking recently at an event at the India Islamic Cultural Centre in New Delhi in memory of the late jurist A G Noorani. He referred to a book on the RSS written by Noorani, and in that context cited an old statement by Nehru.
Ansari said the papers of the then foreign secretary, Jagat Singh Gundevia, record a meeting at which Prime Minister Nehru said the danger to India was not communism but Hindu right-wing communalism.
Quoting Nehru, Ansari said the tendency towards communalism remains an important concern for the country. He also spoke about India’s present political situation.
He argued that cultural nationalism is growing in place of civic nationalism, which could lead to attempts to present an electoral majority as a religious majority. Dividing people on the basis of religion could be dangerous for the country, he said.
Ansari added that such tendencies need to be confronted at the political and legal levels, or the situation could become more complicated. The BJP counter-attacked as soon as his remarks became public.
The BJP spokesman Pradeep Bhandari alleged that Ansari was making such remarks at Rahul Gandhi’s direction, claiming that in 2009 Rahul Gandhi had described Hindu organisations as a bigger danger than Lashkar-e-Taiba. The BJP also accused the Congress of anti-Hindu politics.
The substance of Ansari’s speech, however, was Nehru’s old remark and his own political analysis of civic and cultural nationalism in the present day.
Ansari has been caught up in controversy over historical remarks before. A few months ago he described Mahmud of Ghazni as an “Indian looter”, a comment the BJP also opposed.
Mohammad Hamid Ansari was vice-president of India from 2007 to 2017.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report