India: No institution, including Army, immune to Hindutva subversion

Business Standard - October 13, 2016

No institution, including Army, immune to Hindutva subversion:

Press Trust of India | New Delhi October 13, 2016


Alleging that BJP was exploiting surgical strikes by the Army for electoral gains in Uttar Pradesh, CPI(M) today said no institution in the country, including the armed forces, is "immune" to the Hindutva "subversion" under the NDA government.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at a Dussehra event in Lucknow, the Left party said the message was "clear" that BJP will fight the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls by "mixing" religion with politics.


RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's remark that "lawful" cow protectors should not be compared with those creating trouble was a "clear" signal that the right-wing outfits will continue their violence on the pretext of beef consumption and cow slaughter, it claimed.

"The warning bells are loud and clear. Under the BJP-RSS dispensation, no institution of the State, including the armed forces, are immune to the Hindutva subversion. This should be a matter of serious concern for every citizen.

"All those who wish to protect the secular, democratic character of the Republic should raise their voice to tell BJP and RSS to keep their hands off the armed forces," former CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said.

He made the remarks in the editorial of forthcoming issue of party mouthpiece 'People's Democracy'.

The Prime Minister broke with the tradition and addressed a Dussehra event in the poll-bound state. The "obvious motive" behind it is making political gains in view of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls due next year, Karat said.

"Modi utilised the festival to lace his political message in a religious idiom. He started his speech with 'Jai Shri Ram' and talked of fighting terrorism using analogies from the Ramayana. The message was clear -- the electoral battle in Uttar Pradesh will be fought by mixing religion with politics and on a strident communal agenda," he said.

Reacting to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's remark that Indian troops were like Hanuman who did not quite know their prowess before the strikes, the Marxist leader said such "crass casteist and religious imagery to describe the Army's role is a dangerous stuff which will corrode secular basis of the armed forces".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)