Is the Congress nothing but the BJP without the Lotus? Despite holding the secular of saffron banner, time and again it has faced the soft Hindutva charge. Such as now.
“Sometimes as I reached a gathering, a great roar of welcome would greet me: ‘Bharat mata ki jai’, Victory to Mot her India. I would ask them unexpectedly what they meant by that cry, who was this Bharat mata, Mother India, whose victory they wanted?... Bharat mata, Mother India, was essentially these millions of people, and victory to her meant victory to these people. You are parts of this Bharat mata, I told them, you are in a manner yourselves Bharat mata, and as this idea slowly soaked into their brains, their eyes would light up as if they had made a great discovery.”
—Jawaharlal Nehru, in The Discovery of India
It cut to the quick, this question. Waris Pathan, an MLA of Asaduddin Owaisi’s party AIMIM, got unanimously suspended from the Maharashtra assembly till April 13 for refusing to say ‘Bharat mata ki jai’. And more than a few secularliberal hearts cringed at the fact that support for Shiv Sena’s loyalty test came from the party of which Pandit Nehru was the progenitor—the Congress. And when general secretary Digvijaya Singh piped his approval, the thought crossed many a mind: Was the Congress of 2016 playing its own version of Hindutva—albeit a soft Hindutva?
This story is from the April 04, 2016 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 04, 2016 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Soft Ruins
'Soft Ruins' is a chapter within the long-term ongoing project \"When Spring Never Comes\", an expansive exploration of memory, identity and displacement in the aftermath of exile within contemporary global politics. It reflects on how the journey as an asylum seeker in Europe mirrors the instability and threats of life under dictatorship, amidst rising right-wing movements and shifting power dynamics, where both certainty and identity are redefined
Building Beyond Homes: Provident Housing's Transformative Approach
Provident Housing leads in crafting thoughtfully designed homes that cater to modern homebuyers' evolving needs. With a focus on timely delivery, sustainability, and innovative, customer-centric solutions, the company sets new benchmarks. In this exclusive interview, Mallanna Sasalu, CEO of Provident Housing, shares insights into the company's strategies, upcoming projects, and vision for India's housing future.
Syria Speaks
A Syrian graffiti artist-activist's tale of living through bombings, gunshots and displacement
The Burdened
Yemen, once a beautiful land identified with the Queen of Sheba, is now one of the worst ongoing humanitarian disasters of modern times
Sculpting In Time
Documentaries such as Intercepted and Songs of Slow Burning Earth grapple with the Russian occupation beyond displays of desolation
The Story Won't Die
Is Israel's triumphalism over its land grab in Syria realistic? The hard reality is-Israel now has Al-Qaeda as a next-door neighbour
Against the Loveless World
In times of war, love exists as a profound act of defiance
Soul of My Soul
What does it mean to continue to create art during a genocide?
in Dancing the Glory of Monsters
By humanising the stories of those affected by war, poverty and displacement, Buuma hopes to foster empathy and inspire action
All the President's Men
Co-author of All The President's Men and one of the two Washington Post journalists (the other was Carl Berntstein) who broke the Watergate scandal that brought down the President Richard Nixon administration in the United States in 1974, Bob Woodward's recent book War was on top of The New York Times Bestseller list, even above John Grisham.
