‘Concept of Hindutva gaining credence’

• All religions adopting Hindu way of life: Swamy

• ‘Uniform Civil Code if I become law minister again’

• UK PM went to Lanka, but Manmohan bowed to pressure

Hyderabad: Former Union Minister and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday said that the concept of Hindutva had been gaining credence and currency from all religions. “Christians have already been adapted to our way of life. Muslims, who have been very dogmatic in their customs and faith, have also been slowly convincing themselves to our point of view. I see there is a visible defiance of diktats of Mullahs who try to impose harsh practices. This is a welcome development,” he remarked.

Delivering a lecture on ‘Misconception of Hindutva as fascism’ here on Saturday, he stated that ‘Hindutva means Hinduness. “It’s a way of life and it has wider appeal than any religion in the world. It is the only Hindutva which says that all religions lead to God. Nowhere in Christianity or Islam is this concept there. Our Shastras are amendable and our thoughts are questionable, and we change accordingly. There have been many schools of thought within the framework of existence of god. Such flexibility we don’t find in other religions,” he said.

Explaining the roots of fascism, he said: “It was born in Italy and the word is synonymous with Benito Mussolini, the dictator. Fascism means blindly following the leader in a war and getting involved in merciless killing of people. Was it in any way equated with Hindutva? The other day, I told a Congressman in a television debate that his leader’s original house in Italy has many posters of Mussolini. He was furious at my remark, but it’s a fact.”

“The DNA of some of the Sinhalese is also the same as ours. We were instrumental in rebuilding the war-ravaged northern frontiers of Sri Lanka. But our Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, a poor man, bowed to internal pressures and avoided going there (to CHOGM meeting) whereas the British Prime Minister David Cameron is already there. A sad tale indeed,” Swamy observed.

To a query, he said he would certainly try to get Article 370 amended and bring the Uniform Civil Code. “Unfortunately I was the law minister in Chandrasekhar’s government for just seven months. If given a chance again, I would certainly do so,” he said. Hoping that the BJP would come to power in 2014, he said that there had been some doubts over Centre’s sincerity in rectifying the errors in electronic voting machines. He said since the Supreme Court was seized of the matter, he was optimistic of fair voting in the next general elections.

Welcoming the chief guest, Errabelli Rammohan Rao, a founder-member of Rural Development Foundation, lauded the crusade launched by Subramanya Swamy against corruption.

He called him the champion of Hindutva cause. Carnatic classical singer Seshulata explained the link between music and culture. T Hanuman Chowdhury, former advisor (IT), and Anurag Garg, Director of Polycom (R&D) India, also took part in the event organised by Pragna Bharati.