Kozhikode: Hindutva could not be defeated unless the culture sphere, from where it imbibed its energy was attacked, said noted social critic Dr Sunil P. Ilayidam. Speaking on ‘Politics of murder and dying democracy’ organised by the Kozhikode Samskarika Vedhi here on Thursday, Mr Ilayidam said that Hindtuva’s surge even after the Gandhi murder was due to its intact cultural domain. “India has the inclusiveness of political nationalism. But this inclusiveness was not expanded to the cultural sphere. That led to the growth of Hindutva,” he said.
“Intense nationality marks fascism. A country’s steps whether towards fascism or democracy could be gauged from how it treated the section which did not come under majority; but from how it treated religious minorities, linguistic minorities etc. Secularism is not an idea covertly imported here by Nehru from European countries as was being alleged. Secularism is very much part and parcel of our life from the ancient times,” according to Mr Ilayidam.
Quoting Gandhi, Sunil P. Ilayidam said that people were not for the country but the country was for the people. “But now the diktat is that the country is supreme and whoever questions the state is anti-national,” he pointed out. Ilayidam reminded that the fight against Hindutva was a long one and Gauri Lankesh and others were brutally killed because they severely attacked the cultural domain of Hindutva. A.K Abdul Hakkim, V. Abdul Lathif among others spoke.
