New Delhi: Bracketing Pakistan, Shiv Sena and “eminent literary personalities”, who had returned their awards recently over growing incidents of intolerance, as those creating “Modi-phobia to save their own space”, the RSS has attacked “notorious neighbour” Pakistan for preaching human rights to India when it itself has “violated all standards of human rights domestically and internationally” and is the “epicentre of terror”.
“We are witnessing different protests across the nation criticising the Modi-led NDA government for its track record on religious tolerance and freedom of speech and expression... These protests may look different in their content but their intent seems to be the same — create Modi-phobia to save their own space,” said the editorial in the latest issue of RSS’s mouthpiece Organiser.
The RSS is of the view that “secular intellectuals” bracket “everyone talking in the name of Hindus”, as “Hindutva forces” and the “Left liberal intellectuals and literary personalities have now joined hands to further their agenda of ideological intolerance”.
The editorial says protest by Shiv Sena activists against former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri book release and cancellation of Pakistan ghazal singer Ghulam Ali event were efforts by the regional party to “maintain an independent identity from the BJP as a political party”. It also mentioned that Sena is doing a “political positioning”, especially when municipal corporation polls are scheduled in the state.
The editorial states that Pakistan “would obviously try to encash on incidents like Dadri or Kasuri to wrestle the losing space”.
“Especially, when Pakistan is losing out on the J&K discourse and cornered on terrorism, the notorious neighbour would obviously try to encash on incidents like Dadri or Kasuri to wrestle the losing space,” the editorial states. Questioning the motive behind returning of awards by some literary personalities, the RSS wondered why they never returned their awards when minority rights were under threat during the Congress-led UPA rule or questioned the “track record” of the SP government in Uttar Pradesh on religious freedom.
“If they (literary personalities) were so concerned about freedom and minority rights, why did they not return their awards during the UPA rule when many such incidents took place,” the editorial reads.
