Sermon
Of Hate
Communalism Combat
16 May, 2003
(Reproduced below is an
English translation of the VHP international general secretary, Dr.
Praveen Togadias entire speech at a meeting of the Rashtriya Vichar
Manch on March 16, 2003 in Mumbai. No action has yet been taken by the
government of Maharashtra on this speech).
Sauravbhai (in
his in troduction) said that I have been black listed. Today, the right
to black list is with me. Secular ists have been black listed. We are
not being black listed, those who are being black listed are those,
who, by falsely espousing secularism had so far has reduced us to second
class status. Virenbhai also, while taking about other issues (in his
book), has referred to the incident on Dec 6, 1992.
In the true sense, this incident
for the first time after independence, was the start of cultural liberation
and freedom. And, 10 years later, the aandhi (storm) of Hindutva that
had received a setback soon after, is once again on the ascendancy.
I can see that this storm will reach its ultimate destination. And will
only stop after cultural reconciliation has been achieved and reached.
Virenbhai in writing such a book at such a time has achieved
the remarkable feet of giving intellectual spurt and support to this
growing storm. Our history of at least 5,000 years is before us.
People ask me what will be
the plight of minorities in Hindu Rashtra. I say, do you ever go to
England and ask what is the plight of the Hindu minority there? Or do
you go and ask Germans what will be the plight of the French there.
Or have you gone to Japan and asked the Japanese what is the plight
of Chinese in a Japanese State? But people ask these questions. Or have
you asked Muslims why Mecca is not a secular place? Muslims dont
even have the courage to speak there now, the way people are being burnt
and killed. There are few who can speak about this and those are real
men like Sauravbhai who live their commitment and speak out, too.
The region of Europe is very
strange. I am talking about the Vatican. People of Europe, you who had
raised the flag of secularism, did you ever ask why the Vatican is not
secular? If these questions why Mecca is not secular, why the
Vatican is not secular cannot and are not asked even; if in Mecca
the primacy of Islam remains and if in the Vatican the primacy of Christianity
remains, then listen and listen carefully, in the land of Ram, Krishna
and Buddha the primacy of Hindus will remain.
Every one asks me, in your
Hindu rashtra what will the fate of the minorities be? When during Karan
Thapers programme, Nirjaji Chaudhary asked me this question, I
felt very happy not because she asked the question, but because of the
certainty that I and I alone will make Hindu rashtra a reality. Thousands
of years of our history are known to us. In 5,000 glorious years what
injustice have we done to anybody in the name of faith? Show me one
example.
Once the attacks and the
assaults of Islam started, there were no limit to the atrocities we
suffered. Rivers, not streams, of Hindu blood started flowing. Our temples
were destroyed and crushed. Yet we showed a tolerant attitude.
One Shivaji Maharaj as his
fort at Raigad symbolises, rose in protest by trampling on the chest
of Auranzeb. The second major Hindu resistance trampling on the chest
of Muslims was the attack by the Samarajaya of the Vijaynagar empire
against Islamic invasions. And the third time in our history when we
resisted was under the militant inspiration of Guru Gobind Singh by
Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
These three dynastic resistances
were undoubtedly achieved by trampling on Muslims chests but, tell me,
did any of these glorious victors ask for beards to be shaved, or caps
to be given up?
Show me one example where
a mosque was broken down or a Muslim killed? Dont then ask me
what will happen to minorities in a Hindu rashtra; ask what will happen
in Imam Bukharis kind of evil reign.
In the world today, there
are 52 Muslim countries. Imam Bukhari and Shahabuddin, please show me
if in the past 50 years there has been even one nonMuslim head
of government there. We, in the pure land of Shivajis birth and
rule, made Abdul Rehman Antulay a chief minister. We made Abdul Gafoor
chief minister in Bihar. And this, when Muslims are barely 15 per cent
of the population.
In Jammu and Kashmir, where
Hindus are 30 per cent of the population, has there been one nonMuslim
head of the government in the last 50 years? Why should we bear the
brunt of these questions on secularism? Have we got sole property rights
and responsibilities towards secularism? Mahatma Gandhi had and he is
gone now. We are not his heirs, we are the heirs of Shivaji Maharaj.
And are proud of it. And if you want secularism, you, Imam Bukhari,
dont ask this question to Praveen Togadia. Ask it there, in Mecca,
and ask why temples of Lord Ram cannot be built there.
If the existence of the Babri
Masjid at Ayodhya is the greatest symbol of your secularism, for me
the best symbol of secularism is a grand temple to Lord Ram in Mecca.
Will you get it built? And if a Ram Mandir cannot be built in Mecca,
how can any mosque stand erect on the soil of Bharat? But we do not
do this, we not believe in creating disputes. But that should not be
mistaken for impotency. You broke 30,000 of our temples. And yet you
go on discussing, was there a temple below the mosque or not? Yes or
no, we broke it and then your tears starting flowing.
Imagine when my Somnath was
broken what sort of tears must have flowed from my ancestors eyes.
When every corner of Bharat, temples were broken how my ancestors must
have wept. Should 85 crores of people have to worry how 15 crores think
and feel, have I taken a contract for their protection? Or should not
the 15 crores worry about what would happen if all 85 crores would become
Praveen Togadia?
I will give you an example
of this subjugation in way of thinking. I was returning from Bhopal
and a prominent minister traveling in the same train asked me during
our half-hour long discussion: "It is all very well what you say.
But what will you do with 15 crore Muslims?" "Are you a Thakur?"
I thundered at him and he got scared. "Being a Thakur you ask what
to do with these 15 crore of people?" Or should not those 15 crores
think about the feelings of 85 crore Indians. This perverted and subjugated
way of thinking is so deeprooted after 1,000 years of oppression.
Even if we were in danger of being murdered, we may not have the courage
to speak. This is what this subjugation has done to us.
Show me one country in the
world where the minority can attack the majority. Can a masjid be ever
broken in Pakistan? Or, can a church be broken in England? Would anyone
have the guts to set fire to a train in Pakistan? Would any Muslim living
in England have the courage to set fire to a train on the London subway?
Show me one country in the world where the minority can attack the majority.
But it happens in Bharat.
I have sorrow for the people burnt alive like this in Bharat. But I
have greater sorrow wondering how come, in a population of 85 crore
Hindus, how did 12 crores ever get the courage to launch attacks on
85 crores?
I will give you an example.
A doctor from Gujarat, Dr Vanikar, who studied in England, used to tell
me this story about what he shared with other medical students from
England. When he used to tell them that Hindus were being persecuted
in India they would refuse to believe it. Because in England it simply
cannot happen that Hindus or Muslims could ever attack the English.
So they were incredulous, "In a country where you are the majority,
how can you be attacked by the minority. It is not possible". But
this is the state of affairs in Bharat.
And our secular friends?
What is their secularism? Ask them whether they regard or worship the
Shankaracharya? No, no, that is communal. Ask them about Imam Bukhari
and they will ask you to prostrate before him. Ask them if they go to
the temple, and they say, "communal, communal". Ask them whether
they go to a mosque or to Bandra (Mount Mary), they say that is OK.
You tell them about madrassas
which teach fundamentalism and jihad, they say this must be taught.
Tell them that what is being taught there is medieval practice, jihad
to murder Hindus, they say it must be taught. Ask them whether they
worship the cow, they say "communal, communal." And you ask
them whether they should worship the donkey instead and they say, yes,
because the donkey is secular!
This secular jamaat thinks
it is extra intelligent. How did this secularism business start? In
300 AD, Helina, the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, accepted
Christianity and Christianity became the official religion of the Roman
empire. After Christianity became the official religion, the pre-Christian
temples were broken down and in 388 AD the last Roman Emperor, made
Christianity the state religion.
After it became a state religion,
allnon Christian temples were destroyed; from 388 AD to the sixteenth
century the Church and the king together exploited the people; the king
used to take the religious text on behalf of the Church and give them
to the people; the Church used to invest glory in the king.
Four per cent of the property
of France is with the Church today, even today the greatest holder of
economic power and wealth all over the world is the Church. In the sixteenth
century, the Reformation and Renaissance took place in Europe; Christianity
was against science and this led to it. And Europe got liberated from
Christianity and accepted pre-Christian, Arab, Greek and Roman culture
within Europe. Through Greek and Roman culture, science flourished and
it was in this context and climate of the Reformation and the Renaissance
that the demand for secularism was born.
What was the demand? There
were two. Church was a monoculture. The Church wanted to impose
their beliefs on the whole of humanity by force and the sword also.
These secularists said that there should be pluralism. They also said
that this pluralism is only possible if the Church and State were separated.
So on the soil of Europe, what were secularists fighting against, the
monoculturist Church. Why were they fighting? To establish pluralism
in society.
These blind worshippers,
followers of Europe, why they are blind followers Ill tell you.
They dress like Europeans, they eat like Europeans and it seems, if
they dream at night, their dreams too would in English! These blind
followers, blindly imported secularism here and Jawaharlal Nehru provided
the leadership to this. He saw that in Europe such people were battling
the Church. So what was similar to the Church here? It was the Hindu
faith.
Arre, Hindu faith, Hindu
dharma is by nature pluralist. No one has to teach us pluralism. We
have 1,000 different ways of worshipping, we have 18 languages, 1,633
dialects, over 750 deities. No where in the world can you see or find
such living, breathing pluralism.
But they started battling
us. And who joined them in this battle? Those who were using them. The
jihadis. Therefore, jihadis and secularists got together. This is Indian
Secularism.
That is why the other name
of Indian secularism is jihadis. This is Indian secularism. One gets
inspiration from the Quran, the other gets inspiration from Europe.
One breaks our temples while the other does the job of protecting those
who break our temples. And, therefore, I firmly believe that if this
country has to achieve genuine freedom, the secular madrassa in Delhi
Youll ask, do secularists have madrassa?, Ill say yes, the
secular madrassas name is Jawaharlal Nehru University. Lock it
up, close it down.
Gopinath Mundeji, (BJP leader
and former Maharashtra chief minister seated on the dias) if you get
power, this must happen. Then the true battle will start. These secularists
have made life a living hell for us. In Ansal plaza, terrorists come
and the police shoot them down for our protection. One secularist whose
name is Kuldip Nayar tells us that they were innocent. A question came
to my mind, then. I did not know that they were innocent, you did not
know they were innocent, how could Kuldip Nayar know they were innocent.
Are we sure that there was no match fixing between them and Kuldip Nayar?
When our security forces
kill terrorists, they abuse the security forces in the name of human
rights. In this country there are human rights for dogs, for donkeys,
for cats, for Muslims, but no human rights for Hindus. We have no right
to live, no human right to live. My mother traveling in a local train
in Mumbai, she has no rights to return safely, alive. These people have
in the past 50 years turned Bharat desh into a kabrastan (graveyard).
And you are defending these people? We need to fight the last battle
with them.
Only two kinds of people
will remain here: one kind who respect and admire the culture of Bharat,
who are willing to die for their country; the other kind who live here
but have no respect or admiration for Bharat. They may have faith in
the kabrastan, they may have faith in Europistan.
For your sake, for the sake
of future generations, we are not willing to tolerate the death and
destruction of Bharatiya faith and culture. They tell us that at the
place of birth of Lord Ram we cannot have a temple
(break in the
cassette)
The innocent faces of victims
of terrorism on television tells its own story. My good friends from
America, you who are secular, I want to present a model of secularism,
a symbol of secularism for you in America. Will you tolerate a masjid
in honour of Bin Laden built at the site of the destroyed World Trade
Centre? Will ever America allow this? If a masjid in Bin Ladens
name cannot be built in America, how can a masjid in Baburs name
stand on the place which is the birth place of Lord Ram?
But they want such a masjid
to keep standing. Oh, Narasimha Raoji, you could not save the Babri
Masjid. If we do not want it to be saved, how can you save it? On December
6, 1992, I was also in Ayodhya with the Ramsevaks from Gujarat. I watched
TV that evening and saw Narasimha Rao in tears. He was promising Muslims
that he would rebuild the Babri Masjid at the same spot.
Oh, my Muslim brothers, remember
Narasimha Rao could not save Babri Masjid. He promised to rebuild it.
Has he done it? No, he has not. Narasimha Rao could not do it. Sonia
Gandhi is your beloved. If she were to promise rebuilding of the masjid,
will she do it? What is Mulayam Singh to you? Is he promising this to
you? Oh, Muslims, name one leader to me who can promise this to you?
Is anyone promising this?
Muslims, you are orphans,
you are alone. You are being given the illusion that people are with
you. The kind of abuse we had to suffer after Gujarat, both the BJP
and the VHP. I issued a challenge to Sonia Gandhi publicly. There have
been riots before also in Gujarat. I challenged Sonia Gandhi, saying
that there must be one Congress worker at least in every village in
Gujarat. Name a single village where during communal violence a Congress
person has saved the life of Muslims.
In Karnavati (the sangh parivars
preferred name for Ahmedabad), there must be at least 10,000 Congress
workers. Ahsan Jaffri was phoning all Congress workers desperately.
How many Congress workers came to protect him? Not even one. Oh, Muslim
brothers, if the Congress can give me the name of even five villages
in Gujarat where Congress workers saved Muslims or protected Muslims,
I will give you the name of hundred villages where Congress workers
have worked under the bhagwa jhandha (saffron flag) of the VHP.
Who will come to protect
you? Babur and Ghazni? If Ghazni comes, we will crush him beneath our
feet. Now on this dharti (country), the politics of reconciliation embodied
in Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru no longer survives. We dictate
the politics in this land now. This is the land of the pure Ganga and
Jamuna.
And you place bombs here
and there? You know as a Hindu, when a Hindu dies, he is cremated by
the flames of agni. If I can perform the last rites for my father as
a Hindu son, if I step into the battle field in defense of Hindu dharma,
to save Hindu dharma, I can set fire to this entire dharti. Sometimes
they say that Vivekanands vision of Hinduism was great. I also
believe that because I admire him. But Praveen Togadias Hinduism
is not true Hinduism.
Arre Bhai, who are you to
decide this? In Bharat, Hindus are not made to read the Ramayana. I
am a cancer surgeon and yet I can give discourse on the Bhagwad (Gita).
There is a story of Nar and Narayan and rakshas who did so much penance
that the gods are pleased. This is our tradition. Arre bhai, during
the Mahabharat, did God ask Arjun not to fight, did God talk to Arjun
about Ahimsa? What had Krishna Bhagwan said? Fight. Not only that. You
know people are not too happy when I speak only a little. So I will
elaborate.
Remember Bhagwan Krishna.
He told Arjun to kill Karna. This is what Kyshtriya blood is made up
of. Karna was killed. Did anyone tell Krishna, that he had followed
a path of adharma? Do you know how we even killed Bheeshma using tricks,
how we killed Duryodhana, pounding him with a mace. I remember all that
with a my proud Hindu heart. This is my proud Hindu heritage. And for
the victory of the Hindu faith, if we have to fight from behind the
trees that protected Lord Ram, we will do it. I can give you many examples
from the Mahabharat. I have deeply studied Hindu texts for the last
10 or 12 years. I firmly believe that if we do not look at the threat
posed to us seriously, a hundred years later, our coming generations
will not know the heritage of Krishna and Ram.
I want to ask my Muslim brothers
if they want us to accept the legacy and rule of Bin Laden. If the Bin
Laden formula works and the Shariat tradition makes this country into
an Islamic rashtra what will happen? I have read the Quran and Hadith.
If this happens and the majority of our country becomes Muslims, what
will happen to us?
Imagine that a Bin Laden
emerges. What will happen to us? To our women? "Accept Islam, or
we will cut you up." And Hindu women will be distributed among
them. There is a real danger of this happening. So, to protect our further
generations from this fate, we have step into the battle field with
a do or die attitude (Hum kafan bandh ke nikle hain).
We have stepped out for the
victory of Hindus. This work needs support and solidarity. We need to
organize ourselves. The next elections are coming. When the Pope had
come here what did he say? The first thousand years of Christianity
brought Christianity to Europe; the next thousand years took it to Africa;
and the coming thousand years will bring it to Asia. They have plans
for the next thousand years.
We are also thinking of the
future. We are not going to lose our precious blood for the post of
chief minister or prime minister. We are fighting for a Hindu Awakening
and the victory, the final victory, of Hindu Awakening. To sully this
with everyday politics is to lower our aim. Our aim is far mightier.
Eventually, we are bound by life to this body. You know about LIC, the
premium we pay for this life. I am the epitome of LIC-F (life insurance
for the future). That is why, on behalf of the generations to be born
hundred years later, on behalf of LIC-F, I am making a appeal to you
all to devote your mind, body, soul and faith for this ultimate struggle.
(The above is from a video
recording of Praveen Togadias entire
speech in Hindi, transcribed by Teesta Setalvad).