Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Iltija Mufti, a Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party leader and daughter of former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, said on Saturday that Hindutva is a disease that has afflicted millions of Indians and sullied the name of a god.
Reacting to a disturbing video of three children being assaulted and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in Ratlam District of Madhya Pradesh, Iltija came down heavily on the Hindutva ideology.
“Ram the deity must hang his head in shame & watch helplessly as minor Muslim boys are whacked with chappals only because they refuse to chant his name. Hindutva is a disease that’s afflicted millions of Indians & sullied a God’s name,” she wrote.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the supporters of the Hindutva ideology were clearly upset with Iltija’s remarks.
But, justifying her statement, Iltija said Hinduism today is being used to lynch and persecute minorities.
She said “Much outrage over my tweet & also whataboutery about Islam. The senseless violence that’s been carried out in the name of Islam is what caused Islamophobia in the first place. Today Hinduism (not Hindutva) also finds itself in a similar situation where it’s being used & abused to lynch & persecute minorities. Let’s call a spade a spade”.
She said that Hindutva and Hinduism are different, as the former wants to spread the hegemony of Hindus.
“There is a lot of difference between Hindutva and Hinduism. Hindutva is a philosophy of hate that Veer Savarkar spread in India in the 1940s to establish the hegemony of Hindus and the philosophy was that India belongs to Hindus and is for Hindus. Like Islam, Hinduism is also a religion that promotes secularism, love and compassion. So, let’s not deliberately distort it. The slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’ is not about ‘Ram Rajya’ but it is being linked to lynching… It is very shameful that Hinduism is being distorted… I criticised Hindutva as an illness,” Iltija Mufti was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.
BJP leader Ravindra Raina said the language used by Iltija Mufti was “very derogatory”. He demanded an apology from the PDP leader.
“PDP leader has used a very derogatory language. This kind of language should not be used. There might be differences of opinion in politics but derogatory language should not be used…PDP leader Iltija Mufti should apologise for her remarks,” he said.
Iltija shot into the limelight in 2019, when her mother was incarcerated before the revocation of Article 370. She used to manage her social media profiles.
She contested the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election from the Bijbehara seat this year but lost to her National Conference rival, Bashir Ahmad Shah Veeri.Show trimmed content
