Salman Khurshid Book Controversy: 'Hinduism and Hindutva' are different things, says Rahul Gandhi
Salman Khurshid Book Controversy: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday joined the 'Hindutva' controversy that erupted since the book launch of senior party leader Salman Khurshid. Since the launch of the controversial book, many Congress leaders have joined the debate over Hindutva. Reportedly, the author in his book has compared a "robust version" of Hindutva to the jihadist Islam of terror groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram.
"If Hinduism and Hindutva are the same, why do they have different names? Why use Hinduism, why can't they use Hindutva if they are the same? Obviously, they are different things," he said. Rahul Gandhi said while addressing the National Orientation Camp for Organisation Training, Sevagram Ashram, Wardha virtually.
Senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad too had said that their political ideology on Hindutva may be different than that of the Bharatiya Janata Party. A statement released by the senior leader said, "We may not agree with Hindutva as a political ideology distinct from the composite culture of Hinduism, but comparing Hindutva with ISIS and jihadist Islam is factually wrong and exaggeration."
On China
Rahul Gandhi alleged that the country's national security is "unpardonably compromised" as the government does not have a strategy on China. "Our national security is unpardonably compromised because GOI has no strategy and Mr 56” is scared. My thoughts are with the soldiers risking their lives to guard our borders while GOI churns out lies."
He cited a news report where the External Affairs Ministry and the Chief of Defence Staff had a different take on the China border issue. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat on Thursday said the controversy about the Chinese coming into the Indian territory and building a new village is "not true", and that the villages were well within the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
On Congress's ideology
"Today, whether we like it or not the hateful ideology of RSS & BJP has overshadowed the loving, affectionate and nationalistic ideology of Congress Party, we have to accept this. Our ideology is alive, vibrant but it has been overshadowed. Our ideology has been overshadowed because we've not propagated it among our own people aggressively," Rahul Gandhi added during the launch of the party's digital campaign 'Jan Jagran Abhiyan' via video conferencing.
