Sir — This refers to the article, “Soul of India in pluralism, tolerance: Pranab” (June 8). The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) event in Nagpur, as usual went without hoisting the national flag and the singing of the national anthem despite a former President’s presence. Nationalism, as defined by RSS and practised by it the organisation, could do without them.
RSS is now sure to take advantage of the visuals of Pranab Mukherjee with RSS chief and others in RSS uniform at the RSS headquarter and the erstwhile Congressman’s eulogy of KB Hedgewar as a ‘great son of Mother India’ at a time when secular parties are uniting against the Hindu revivalist challenge mounted by it.
Mukherjee would now do well to clarify how his tribute to the RSS founder was not inconsistent with his advocacy of Nehruvian secularism, an antithesis to Hindu nationalism. It has now fallen upon the ‘elder statesman’ to prove in the backdrop of his ‘association’ with RSS that ‘secular’ inheritors of privilege are not indistinguishable from ‘sacred’ inheritors of privilege.
Nevertheless, it should be comforting to the Congress that Pranab Mukherjee deployed his verbal repertoire for the defence of secularism and other ideals that sprang from the freedom movement. He wore the secular cap and not the Hindu nationalist cap while delivering his keynote address and wrong-footed the doubters (secular sentinels). It would be churlish of us to underrate his speech as an interminable reiteration of definitions of nation, nationalism and patriotism.
The clash between inclusive Indian nationalism represented by the secular-minded people and exclusive Hindu nationalism represented by the Sangh Parivar is central to contemporary Indian politics and the former’s triumph is crucially important for India’s continued existence as a secular democracy.