'Hindutva spreads hatred, not Hindu': Digvijaya Singh targets BJP, says its religion is not Sanatan Dharma

New Delhi, Nov 6 (IANS) Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Friday launched a fresh attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its interpretation of Hindutva, claiming that the ideology promotes hatred rather than Hinduism and has no connection with Sanatan Dharma. 

“...They (BJP) started talking about Sanatan Dharma only after I raised this topic of Sanatan Dharma. Their religion is Hindutva, not Sanatan. Hindutva spreads hatred, not Hindu. Savarkar himself said that Hindutva has no connection with religion,” Digvijaya Singh said.

The senior Congress leader's remarks have triggered a fresh political debate over the meaning of Hindutva and Sanatan Dharma, with Digvijaya Singh drawing a distinction between the two and questioning the BJP's ideological position.

Digvijaya Singh, who is undertaking a journey from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh to Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, made the remarks while interacting with the media in Madhya Pradesh's Guna district during his 'Satya Sanatan Swabhiman Yatra'.

He said that Sanatan Dharma stands for respecting all religions and working for the welfare of the entire world. In contrast, he accused organisations such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) of following an ideology that, according to him, promotes hatred.

Digvijaya Singh also alleged that the BJP began invoking Sanatan Dharma only after he raised the issue, asserting that the party's ideological understanding was rooted in Hindutva rather than the broader philosophy of Sanatan Dharma.

Reacting to the controversy, Congress leader Udit Raj also criticised the BJP and the RSS over their interpretation of Hindutva, invoking the ideology's definition by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and questioning its emphasis on birthplace and sacred land.

"Hindutva was first defined by Savarkar, and it spoke about 'Punyabhoomi' (sacred land) and 'Janmabhoomi' (birthplace). This creates a distinction between human beings. For instance, it is assumed that Muslims and Christians have a birthplace but not a sacred land in India," Raj said.

He also cited the sacrifices made by members of different communities during India's freedom struggle, claiming that around 61,000 Muslims and nearly 8,000 Sikhs had laid down their lives, while alleging that Hindus had made almost no comparable contribution.

Questioning the politics surrounding Hindutva, Raj described it as a divisive idea and challenged the BJP and the RSS to speak about the country's history and the freedom struggle.

"This is not Hindutva; this is about dividing people. Who is a Hindu here? I do not think there is even a single person here who is a Hindu," he said.

--IANS

rs/khz