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Don Allen's avatar

Great article.

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Rangarajan's avatar

The aim of any political party has to win the election and get the power to carry out their manifesto. So it is assumed that the parties will project their ideas to capture the votes ideologically.

However, it has not happened like that in India. While the freedom movement captured the imagination and zeal of the people irrespective of religion or caste, that binding factor disappeared after India got freedom.

The undeniable fact is that every government till 2014 was elected only by combinations vote banks of local herds with religious minorities. It is the avowed purpose of both the Abrahamic religions, which are not native to this country, to capture power and rule the country as ideoogical states and to wipe out Hinduism.

Hindu religion is diverse and has no common purpose of capturing power or ruling the country as a Hindu nation. What happened in 2014 is only an awakening and a backlash for the politics of religion played by the politicians with western makeup.

Even now in Bengal, Hindus do not seem to have voted as a vote bank whereas the other religions were very cohesive. The fact is that the place is overrun with intruders from neighboring country. On the other hand there is opposition to fast track citizenship for Hindus fleeing from persecution. Are they playing victimhood?

It is too simplistic to call it victimhood or playing the victim by only one party as the picture seems to imply. Congress has played it all along and cries fowl when others copy their strategy. You are perhaps right in pointing out that some common purpose is required to make a vote bank and maybe victimhood is one used by the minority religions for that purpose. Have you considered the fact that many Muslims in public space have Hindu names like Dilip Kumar and many Reddys in Andhra are actually Christians?

Similarly Ramjanmabhoomi is not 'raked up' - it was there from the day India got freedom and it is a people's movement which was later supported by the parties. What prevented the Muslims from conceding the historical fact that a temple there was demolished? They could have taken the wind out of the sails of the so called Hindu parties.

What we require is electoral reform and until a good system of representation is found the will of the real majority will never be known.

As long as we are a secular country, any talk of religious minority or religious representation in government is untenable.

Somehow even the title of your article sounds biased as if there is only one party that plays dirty politics. I am attracted to your site only because you are promising clear thinking and somehow this piece has become muddled, if you don't mind my saying so. There seems to be a propaganda war going on and I only wish that a clear thinking person will not fall into that trap.

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