NEW DELHI: The secular traditions of Hinduism have received another boost from an unexpected quarter, with the communist Party of India (Marxist) for the first-time quoting the Bhagavad Gita and propagating the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Adi Sankara in a bid to expose the “pseudo Hinduism” of the fascist RSS and its affiliates, in the battle for peace and communal harmony.
In a booklet quoting extensively from the Vedas, Vivekananda and other Hindu spiritual leaders, the CPI(M) has recently brought out its own publication entitled, Pseudo Hinduism Exposed: Saffron Bigade’s Myths and Reality.
The booklet, Witten by party Politburo member Sitaram Yechury, counters the RSS propaganda at the two main planes: One, differentiating between the universalism and tolerance of Hinduism preached by enlightened religious leaders and the distortion of Hinduism for the RSS”s aim of convenng India into a fascist theocratic statc; and two, demolishing the RSS’s anti-Muslim propaganda.
Unlike the CPI booklet by the party’s National Council Secretary AB.Bardhan, the CPI(M) publication lays more emphasis of demolishing each of the RSSBJPVHP combine’s machinations to divide the Hindu sand the Muslims by propagating lies about latter being pampered in India.
Yechury’s in fact likens the BJPRSSVHP propaganda to that of Hitler’s propaganda minister Goebbels.
Yechury draws parallels between Hiwer’s fascist dream and the objectives of the proponents of a Hindu Rashtra.
The BJPRSSVHP activists are referred to as the ‘SS’, Saffron Shirts, evoking a comparison with Hitler’s infamous SS.
Stating that the RSS concept of Hindu Rashtra is in total contradiction with the wisdom of the Geeta, Yechury quotes from the latter” Whatever celestial form a devotee seeks to worship with faith, I stabilize the faith of that particular devotee in that particular form (Chapter VII21).
Contrasting this with the Hindu Rashura credo, Yechury quotes from Golwalkar’s book, “We or Our Nationhood Defined,’ where hesays ofnonHindus. “They have no place in national life, unless they abandon their differences, adopt the religion, culture and language of the nation, completely immerse themselves in the national race,”
Yechury also quotes Gol walkar’s call to Hindus to “learn and profit” from the “good lesson” from Hitlernite Germany’s “race pride al its highest.”
Following these passages from Golwalkar’s book, Yechury goes on to quote Vivekananda: “If anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written, in spite of resistance; help, and not fight, assimilation and not destruction, harmony and peace and not dissension.”
Article extracted from this publication >> January 15, 1993
