Mangaluru: Even as the Congress party is accused of being anti-Hindu and pro-minorities by rightwing activists across India, the members of Congress in a small village at Puttur have decided to form a pro-Hindu organization to garner the Hindu support for the Congress.
Hemanth Shetty, block Congress president, who has decided to float an organization called Bharatiya Hindu Parishad (BHP), feels it’s a need of the hour and says it is to counter BJP, which is playing politics in the name of religion. “I am in the Congress for decades and I am a proud Hindu. However, the BJP goes on saying that the Congress is anti-Hindu, only to woo the majority”, he adds.
Launch of the BHP
He said the BHP will be launched on the Makara Sankramana day of January 14. In addition to it, Shetty has plans to open BHP units in all taluks of the district. “Soon after I made this statement, I got encouraging feedback on the new organization”, he said. With this, Shetty wants to remove the stigma Hindus have against the Congress.
Mr. Shetty further said that the organization will work towards introducing education of Hindu dharma (religion) to the community. “The saddest part is that only few study Bagavad Gita. There is no formal education for all, which is must in other religions. My organization will work on these lines”, he said.
His plan got a boost, when, Shri Vishweshwara Theertha Swamiji of Pejawar mutt too extended co-operation to the organization (without naming it). “…If any political party forms a pro-Hindu organization, I will support it…” Swamiji openly said at the protest meet organized by Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Mangaluru recently.
Interestingly the name of the organization has a lot of similarity to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which openly supports the BJP. “Our intention is to support the Congress party and retain its party workers. It’s not a wing of the party, he said speaking to newskarnataka.com over phone from Puttur.
He further said that the BJP is trying to build its image as the only political party for the Hindus. Furthermore, the party has distorted the meaning of religion and using it for political favors. “My organization will counter their agenda”, Mr. Shetty noted.
The formation of pro-Hindu organization by a Congress leader comes in a district that has been called the laboratory of Hindutva. The region has been a witness to several sensitive experiments, which provoked communal violence in the past. As a result, the rightwing activists have developed strong roots in the district.
In addition to it, the Puttur constituency has long been a BJP bastion. It’s the former assembly constituency and home of Union Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda. In 2013, the Congress managed to wrest it by nominating a former BJP MLA and Gowda-follower, Shakuntala Shetty, as its candidate. Since then, the Congress has been trying all methods to ensure the divided electorate remains with them.
Besides, the Congress party is feeling the brunt of the BJP Hindu consolidation strategy which has been founded on the premise of a single Indian identity rooted in Hinduism. This strategy has won them the Lok Sabha elections in May and a considerable vote and seat share increase in the four states that went to the polls subsequently. The BJP, while maintaining its development stance as its official line, has pushed its religious and other partner outfits to promote this Indian identity strategy and thereby consolidate the Hindu vote in its favour.
Poojary opposes
However, Veteran Congress leader B Janardhana Poojary, who was Union minister in Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi Cabinets, said any move to form a separate wing for Hindus in Congress is akin to suicide. Congress is a secular party, why does he (Hemanth Shetty) think that congress is anti-Hindu party?, Poojary questioned.
In reply to the opposition by fellow congress leaders, Mr. Shetty said that he is forming the organization in his personal capacity and has no direct connection to the congress party. “There is nothing to worry, since it is nothing to do with the Congress directly”, he added.
However, he stressed that the members of the organization will be either from Congress and non-BJP parties. “We have lost many Hindu party workers, who were ousted from the party for attending Hindu Samajotsava, which is organized by VHP. Saffron should not be symbol of VHP or BJP. It’s a universal symbol of Hindus and person wearing it should not be labeled as BJP”, he said.
