Opinion | A Gallon of Kerosene From The Land of Thiruvalluvarnewsbhunt

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been running a campaign for some months now that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sprinkled kerosene across the country. Whether the BJP sprinkled it or not, a gallon of kerosene has suddenly been splashed from Tamil Nadu, a state where the BJP’s presence is less than impressive. Udhayanidhi Stalin, a minister in the DMK government, who has little to show except that he is the grandson of M. Karunanidhi and the son of Chief Minister MK Stalin, has called for the eradication of Sanatana Dharma.

From priests-acharyas to common Indians, all have come out in anger against the provocative, incendiary and ill-thought comment. Sensing the backlash, some spokespersons of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (DMK) have tried to explain that the minister meant eradication of caste and that his comment was twisted. But nobody is buying that argument. What Udhayanidhi said is as clear as day.

His remarks, made in an event held under the banner ‘Eradicate Sanatana Dharma’, were read out from a written text. The title of the event as well as the written text show that the remarks were neither impromptu nor twisted. But to be fair to the minister, such remarks have been coming from their leadership from time to time, even though it may have gone a tad far this time.

It is the subsequent explanations and paraphrasing coming out from the likes of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Manoj Jha and Congress leader Karti Chidambaram (both are MPs) that should actually cause concern. Both were quick to jump to the defence of their DMK colleague rather than call out the obnoxious statement for what it is.

This is not surprising considering their own past record. RJD’s Dr Chandrashekhar, a professor by vocation and Bihar’s education minister (no less) has been spewing venom about Hindu scriptures, particularly Ramcharitmanas, every few weeks. The good professor forgets that if there is one common thread that binds Hindus together, it is the Manas. Worse is the case of Karti Chidambaram who seems to be doing it not out of any intellectual conviction, but simple electoral survival.

It cannot be a matter of coincidence that RJD has not condemned Dr Chandrashekhar till now, let alone take any action. The same goes for Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, whose newfound favourite Swami Prasad Maurya, uses the choicest abuses to attack Hindus and the Hindu faith. In West Bengal, Hindus were asked not to display any symbol in front of their houses as it could hurt the sentiments of other religionists who went on the road. Beat that!

The fact is, Udhayanidhi’s remarks appear to be a natural progression from the provocative remarks and comments being made by leaders who have now come under the common I.N.D.I.A banner.

But purely from an electoral standpoint, this Hindu bashing appears baffling. Yes, Narendra Modi has succeeded in building a wider Hindu vote base by bringing together many castes that never voted for one symbol in the past. Maybe the rattled Mandal parties want the Hindu vote-bank to vote as castes rather than as Hindus. But if that is the calculation, then nothing could be worse than these provocative comments which have the potential of making Hindus vote en masse even more stridently than Ram Mandir or Hindu terror.

That is from the electoral standpoint. As for the agenda, it appears that the I.N.D.I.A allies do not believe in the issues that they are themselves projecting. If they want to corner Modi on issues like inflation and unemployment, why are they handing the BJP’s favourite issue, Hindutva on a platter, by coming out with such statements in quick succession?

Whichever way one looks at it, it is a win-win for Modi and the Opposition has some serious reflecting to do. Thiruvalluvar, one of India’s greatest philosopher-poet had said, “Nothing is impossible for those who act after wise counsel and careful thought”. Perhaps the DMK scion, a young and energetic leader who has a long career ahead, is in dire need of some wise counsel. But neither his party nor his allies seem capable of it.

Smita Mishra heads the News and Analysis Wing of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.