Tags:
Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, Feb 2: Former Union Minister Madan Lal Khurana on Tuesday categorically stated that Christian institutions in the country were not used for conversions, contrary to the allegations made by some people in the Sangh Parivar.
Speaking on the Sangh Parivar and Minorities at the Indian Social Institute, Khurana said attacking religious places was pseudo Hinduism and the attack on Christian places of worship in Gujarat had prompted him to resign from the Union Cabinet. After the burning alive of the Australian missionary and his two sons in Orissa, he was reminded of the killings of Sikhs in 1984 and after that there was no question of remaining in the Cabinet, he pointed out.
Khurana said that true Hindusism meant nationalism and secularism , not communalism. Secularsim meant discrimination against none and justice for all, he added. The former minister said that he himself was a product of Allahabad Christian College and the moral education he imbibed at the Christian institution went a long way in his own making. At the same time, he has been in the RSS for the last 54 years which taught him that true Hinduism is nationalism.
The Indian Nation, Kurana pointed out was not based on religion which is proved by the history of the country during the last 1000 years. For example, during the fourth century it was the Hindu rulers in Kerala who voluntarily gave land to Christian and Muslim traders to build churches and mosques. There was no pressure on the Hindu kings, it was the tradition, he said.
Admitting that in the Sangh Parivar some people were communal, Khurana pointed out that it was these very same communal elements who alienated the Sikhs from the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1984 by their statements and actions. After the burning of the Australian missionary, Khurana said he realised merely talking was not enough but some action was needed.
He wanted people to know that there were people like him who did not stick to the chair just for the sake of it. If some members of the Sangh Parivar deviated from the path of true Hinduism he will oppose it. Every time they deviated from the path of true Hinduism, Prime Minister Vajpayee opposed them tooth and nail, he pointed out. He fully endorsed the Prime Minister’s stand on the attack on the Christians, Khurana added.
