Hi Badri , On Sun, May 17, 2009 at 6:00 PM, Badri Natarajan <[email protected]> wrote:
I too agree with what Shiv says. And please don't take me as a supporter of Modi at all. But I offered a viewpoint that Zainab's father might have thought on developmental planks. And I asked her to confirm if she wishes to divulge on the list, if what I think might be the reason is same as her fathers thoughts. > I have a question about this "pseudo-secularism" that you have posted about. > > You seem to believe (correct me if I am wrong) that most of the parties > that I would call "secular" are in fact "pseudo-secular". What do you mean > by that? I would like to know which are those parties you call Secular. You seem to agree with the fact that BJP is communal (which it is in some cases) but not the fact that other parties are share similar guilt ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudo-secularism This wiki article should tell you what is secularism really means in India taking the current trend. Parties are increasingly using this term to oppose BJP's ideology which they term as Communalism and Hindu nationalism. Shiv has repeatedly explained what pseudo secularism means in earlier threads. > My understanding is that the BJP and related parties espouse the > philosophy of Hindutva, and that Hindutva (depending on where exactly you > stand on the political spectrum) means roughly that India is/should be a > Hindu country with a Hindu identity and that Hindus should be given > primacy (in whatever form). I agree that BJP needs to get rid of this and they might tone down this agenda of their's after the elections debacle. You are very right in this. But what do you think about the Shah Bhano case and the Uniform civil code actually, please let me know ? > Similarly, my understanding of "secular parties" is that they espouse a > view which states that India is a country of many religions and faiths and > no faith should be given primacy over others, and India's identity is as a > multi-faith country (even if 80% of the population is Hindu). I view real meaning of secularism exactly the same way you have defined. However, please be wary that some BJP candidates do not even talk about Hindutva in their constituencies and join the party just because they get tickets and are even branded as communal because they are contesting on BJP ticket even though they are secular in their personal beliefs. Is that fair for most people to call them bad because they join BJP ? I'm pretty sure after reading most comments they are most likely to be called as supporters of this extreme Hindu nationalism anyways, though their only intention is to get to parliament and work for the local issues. > Presumably, when you say "pseudo-secular", you mean that the secular > parties do not live up to the ideal? Are there any truly secular parties > in your view? Would you vote for one if it existed? Most of parties are as guilty themselves when they say BJP is communal and have their fair share of flaws in history, and use that word to appease minority vote-banks majorly. There is one truly secular party in AP, called the Lokasatta. You might want to read about it. It's founder JP recently won an assembly elections in AP. And I hope such parties come into national prominence asap. Regards -- Bharat
