Senior BJP leader and former Union Minister, Shanta Kumar, has expressed shock and surprise over the recent outburst of Justice Markandey Katju against Hindutva, saying it has deeply hurt the feelings of the right thinking people across the country.
Katju’s unsavory comments against Hindutva merely betrayed his knowledge about Hinduism which reposed ineffable faith in all religions and communities and forgetting that the principle motto of the Hindus had been non-violence.
“Our scriptures had preached since thousands of years for universal well-being even of the animals and insects. The Sanskrit couplet summed up in the morning prayer, ‘Oh God, all people should be happy, healthy and rich and none should be suffering from any pangs. Sarvey Bhavantu Sukhina, Sarvey Santuniramaya, Sarvey Bhadrani Pashyantu …..” had been the hallmark of Hinduism over the centuries,” he asserted. Shanta said persons like Katju, a former judge and jurist, should refrain from making wild statements which could inflame communal venom and unrest among various communities. All eminent persons like social, political and religious leaders should make relentless efforts to generate communal harmony and brotherhood among the various communities to usher happiness and prosperity in the country, he added.
Shanta said the religious intolerance was never there in the Rigvedic India in its history of thousands of years. Many religions flourished in India and there was no ban on promoting spirituality in this country.
He said for the first time in the history of independent India Prime Minister, Narindra Modi was making vigorous efforts to lift India out of the mire of poverty, communalism, scams and lawlessness, but certain forces which had been voted out of power were feeling like a fish out of water and leaving no stone unturned to destabilise the Government to revive the Jungle Raj.
“It was an irony that some politicians whose sentence had been upheld even by the Supreme Court were blatantly indulging in politics and misguiding the innocent, illiterate and the rural poor to tarnish the new image of India across the world. It was tragic that communal forces at the behest of a neighboring country were trying to sabotage the peace efforts between India and Pakistan where military was dominating democracy and the survival of politicians depended of “hate India” campaign without realising that it was a suicidal course,” the senior BJP leader added.
Shanta wished that Katju had also seen the inhuman plight of the Hindus in Pakistan who were languishing a pitiable life and suffering the atrocities perpetrated by the Muslims there in a sharp contrast of India where Muslims had been holding the highest posts in services, judiciary, politics , business and administration.
The former Union Minister also wished that Katju had cared to study the plight of the people of occupied Kashmir (so-called Azad Kashmir) where the people were daily demonstrating to merge in India. Not a single election had been held there since 1947.