NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders came down heavily on PDP leader Iltija Mufti for her statement, in which she referred to Hindutva as a “disease,” calling it “irresponsible and objectionable.”
“The statement of PDP leader Iltija Mufti is a very irresponsible, objectionable statement. The tweet by Mufti hurts the religious sentiments of people. This is an attempt to create a divide in society. We should respect the rule of law and the Constitution. The law will take its course. She should apologize for her tweet,” BJP leader Ravindra Raina said while talking to news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, the BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi highlighted the importance of understanding the country’s cultural and moral heritage, which he described as rooted in Hindutva.
“Hindutva is desh ki ‘sanskriti’ hai, ‘sanskar’ hai and those who are unaware of the ‘sanskriti and sanskar’ of this country definitely need to be given a message about Sanatan culture once again,” Naqvi said.
“Some people have developed a phobia of Hindutva, and those with such a phobia of Hindutva should study about it once. They should understand,” Naqvi added.
Iltija Mufti, daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, had reacted to a video showing minor Muslim boys allegedly being forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram.” She described Hindutva as “a disease” that has “afflicted millions of Indians & sullied a God’s name,” adding, “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.”
However, Iltija Mufti clarified her statement, distinguishing between Hinduism and Hindutva. She described Hinduism as a religion that promotes secularism, love, and compassion, akin to Islam, while characterizing Hindutva as an ideology of hate.
She explained, “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 with the aim of establishing the hegemony of Hindus… Like Islam, Hinduism is also a religion that promotes secularism, love, and compassion. So, let’s not deliberately distort it.”
Mufti also criticized the use of the slogan “Jai Shri Ram,” saying it is being misused to incite hate rather than represent the ideals of “Ramrajya.”