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Fight casteism, return to Vedant-Vasant Sathe
By Pramod Kumar
Seminar on secular politics in India
All our senior saints and great personalities like Swami Vivekananda and Savarkar repeatedly emphasised on removing caste system from the society. But it still exists deeply and has ruined the entire system of our society. There is no mention of caste system in the Vedas. Savarkar launched the biggest movement of his life against the caste system. If we do not remove it today, no power will be able to stop the further degradation of Hindu society,? said veteran Congress leader Shri Vasant Sathe. He was speaking at a seminar organised by Sanskritik Gaurav Sansthan in New Delhi on March 11, 2006.
He said all the ways of worship in India should be Indianised to save secularism in the country. He said the right meaning of the word secularism is sarvadharmasamabhav. He advised for deeper study of Islam, which does not recognise non-Muslims as equal. He said the Muslims of India are secular only till there is no tampering with their personal laws and the moment it comes to Islam they are always ready for jehad. Shri Sathe said the root cause of Islamic terrorism in the world lies in the education imparted to them in madrasas, which emphasises that if they indulge in jehad for Islam, they would have their place reserved in the jannat. Citing a research study conducted by a Chennai-based NGO, he said the population of Muslims in Indian subcontinent will be more than Hindus after 50 years and then the Muslims will themselves demand a confederation of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and also rule according to the Shariat. And finally, the dream for Akhand Bharat by Hindus will never be realised, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Ashok Singhal, VHP president, suggested the cremation of all Islamic terrorists who indulge in jehad due to the allurement of getting jannat, instead of burying them and owing to the misconception of getting jannat with all assured facilities there if they die for Islam, the terrorists indulge in jehad. Holding Islam responsible for creating untouchability in India, he said those who did not accept Islam were punished to do the untouchable works. He also called for a research on smritis, which according to him were created during the Buddhist period in the name of Manu and Yagyavalakya. These smritis do not have any mention in the Mahabharat. Today there are about 300 smritis and the rules mentioned in them have today become irreverent. He said due to the efforts of saints and Vishwa Hindu Parishad lakhs of people who had converted to Islam or Christianity have come back to their original roots.
Shri Subramanian Swamy said India is secular till Hindu population is above 80 per cent here. If the Hindu population declines, secularism would not survive here at all. He explained that every Muslim and Christian living in India must recognise that his/her ancestors were Hindus and they did not come from outside. Until there is no unity among all Hindus of the country, the talk of secularism is meaningless. Talking about the recent cartoon controversy, he said Hindus also condemned the publication of the cartoons. But when the Buddhist idols were demolished in Afghanistan and Krishna temple was demolished in Russia, no Muslim thought it fit to speak any word against it.
Earlier initiating the discussion, Dr Surendra Jain said secularism has ruined and corrupted the social system of the country. The word is itself a foreign element. He said it was coined in Europe to finish the authority of Pope. Shri Suryakant Bali, noted journalist and Shri B.P. Singhal also spoke on the occasion.
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