In the northeast, the Baptist Church has been very strong. Hence mocking at Hindu rituals was taken for granted and even 'fashionable'. These also could have been American influence. Catholic organisations have different reputations.
They have contributed a lot in education and I am myself a product of St Anthony's High School (Don Bosco instirute) in Shillong.
The fact of the matter is even 'sickularists' like Tavleen Singh writes:
"....We have seen Secularism mocked and reviled as Sickularism".
In Bollywood and rest of India, Muslim appeasement turned Islamic glorification. Even in a predominantly Hindu village, they did not mind showing rains coming to the rescue of drought-hit villagers only after a 'fakir' sings ...
"Allah megh de" !! There could be a few more instances and this blog has dealt with those illustrations in the past.
But that's not the point here. Tavleen Singh also argues:
"It is true that the religiosity we increasingly see (in India) was initially a reaction. It was born out of a false kind of secularism. It was this that caused the rise of militant Hindutva. But now it is time that secularism was brought back into play as a valid and fine idea."
Let us take her point.
But she has a few words about Congress under whom she presumes 'secularism' could be brought back.
"It is unfortunate that the political parties that can play a role in bringing secular ideas back are so obsessed with Gautam Adani that every time a new session of Parliament begins, we see hours and days wasted on trying to force the government into a discussion on this businessman," she points out at Rahul's Adani-Modi obsession.
Then she also says: "A discussion might have happened already if the Leader of the Opposition did not make it clear that his reason for wanting said discussion is to prove that ‘Modi and Adani are one’. Rahul Gandhi should know surely that when you charge the Prime Minister with corruption so openly, it is unlikely to lead to a debate in the Lok Sabha".
Here she is wrong. Rahul Gandhi does not know that he should know. And his advisors - at present likes of Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal - know certain things more than they should really know. About 15 years back, it was Digvijaya ji who destroyed Congress as an organisation by his theories and arguments on 'Osama ji'.
He even pushed the line of 'Saffron terrorism' and gradually made Congress a typical 'ani-Hindu' party. Now it is Jairam's intellectualism which is doing harm to the Congress.If Bharat Jodo was Jairam's idea - the period of 'reward' should be over by now !
Nevertheless it is Congress party's internal matter.
Now Congress - humbled in Haryana's 'Jalebi factory' politics and Maharashtra's anti-Adani games - has to slowly reconcile to the embrace of a winter of discontent and discomfort !
"Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s dig at the Congress that she would ensure the smooth functioning of the INDIA bloc given a chance to lead it has come as a surprise to the grand old party, which is facing flak from some of its allies. As it is, the TMC now keeps an arm’s length from the Opposition alliance," says an 'Indian Express' article.
It also says adding to the "confusion" (if any ..!! ) in the INDI alliance camp is the Samajwadi Party’s decision to walk out of the Maha Vihas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra after Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray’s close aide Milind Narwekar posted a picture on the Babri Masjid demolition -- with a quote from Shiv Sena founder (in 1992) late Bal Thackeray that he was "proud of Sainiks" those who brought down the mosque.
The Congress guys are still confused. One of them said such posts (of Sena leaders) are “avoidable” but added “such ideological contradictions in the alliance are inevitable”.
He said a churn in the Sena (UBT) too is certain to happen given the MVA’s defeat in the recent Assembly elections in Maharashtra. “We all suffered a defeat…but I don’t know…maybe the Sena (UBT) is thinking that they should return to Hindutva. But so far, we have not seen any concrete indication of that,” he said.
But this aspect is a story of 'tragic drama' for Uddhav Thackeray. He had turned a Sharad Pawar-inspired puppet for 'power' and 'throne' and is now thrown out completely by his 'Hindutva-smitten voters'.
An edit in 'Sena (Thackeray)' faction run Saamna said - “In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee is trying to do politics by keeping Congress at a distance. Now (AAP chief) Kejriwal is also treading the same path. This is a matter where the Congress has to introspect and take steps for (Opposition) unity”.
During ongoing winter session of Parliament, things are slowly out of Congress grip.
It's a fact the TMC had not been attending meetings of the INDIA bloc floor leaders in Parliament.
One Congress leader actually exposed Mamata aapa's selfish politics.
"When we ask them, their leaders say TMC is not in INDIA bloc. And then Mamata says she is ready to lead the alliance,” a Congress party leader said.
“The Congress cannot take a view or make a comment on this. All these issues have to be discussed in the alliance,” he added.
Let's conclude this piece with Tavleen Singh's argument.
She says .. "....Human rights activists tend to be leftist ideologically, and leftists have shown a peculiar empathy for jihadists of the kind that are currently running Afghanistan. These bearded fanatics have already banned girls from secondary education, from being seen in public unveiled and unescorted by a male relative and even from speaking too loudly.
But this is truly the final blow because if there are no women nurses and doctors left, who will deliver babies and tend to the medical needs of women? Jihadist Islam is evil.
There is no question about this and when it becomes mixed up with politics and governance, as in Afghanistan and Iran, it turns into a weapon that is nearly always used against women."
" What we are witnessing in Bangladesh is of course another chapter but could be related. The Congress is not seeing or commenting much on what's going against Hindus in that country !
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