Saffron Advani turns to Red China

Aloke Tikku On Board Special IAF Aircraft
July 13. — Mr LK Advani today had to turn to Communist China to bring home where the right-wing saffron brigade was going wrong. And to the Congress to point out where “secularism” in India has failed.
Blend ideology with pragmatism or run the risk of a stunted growth, the Deputy Prime Minister advised the Sangh Parivar a day after the BJP leadership was forced to consider the legislation route to the Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.
Later in the day, the Deputy Prime Minister ruled out bringing in the legislation in Parliament since it could not be passed without the Congress’ support. (In Chennai, Union human resources development minister Mr MM Joshi said the BJP national executive, at its Raipur meeting next week, would discuss the VHP’s demand for the legislation.)
Mr Advani said on board a special aircraft en route to Nagpur that the BJP had blended ideology and pragmatism — just as China did to emerge as a force to reckon with — and graduated into one of the two principal political parties in the country. “We hope our associates, who’re committed to our ideology, would appreciate this with the passage of time.”
This is the first time after the Sangh Parivar took an aggressive stand on the Ayodhya issue that Mr Advani has acknowledged that Parivar members have fundamental differences on how to project their ideology.
The other message he tried to convey was that the BJP’s notion of Hindutva was actually much broader than generally perceived.
“Why does the VHP criticise us? Because we do not accept the narrow appeal of Hindutva they hold,” he said. “They aren’t able to comprehend that a large area of governance has nothing to do with ideology.”
Taking a dig at the Congress, he said pragmatism should not be a façade of opportunism. The BJP, he said, decided to get involved in the Ayodhya issue only after the Congress government had allowed the shilanyas of Ramjanmabhoomi Mandir.
As for secularism, his message was that it was not vote bank politics. The country’s political elite, he said, has twisted the interpretation of secularism and hence, become “allergic” to the Hindus. “Is it possible for a western country to have an establishment that is allergic to Christianity?” A secular state, he said, can’t be “allergic” to any religion.
Mr Advani accused the Congress of being “confused” on secularism. And as for the NDA’s stand on the issue, he said the alliance’s concept of good governance encompassed all sections of the society.