JAIPUR: Author and parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor, slamming ‘Hindutva politics’ at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Sunday, said some people have reduced Hinduism to “something like the team identity of the British football hooligan” who become violent if someone doesn’t support the team of their choice. Tharoor argued that religion is essentially a private domain, that ought to be independent of state encroachment.
The Congress MP claimed that the people who have such a mindset often say, “if you don’t support my team, I’m going to hit you on the head. Similarly, some say if you don’t say, Jai Shri Ram, I’m going to flog you.” Tharoor added, “That’s not Hinduism. That has nothing to do with Hinduism.”
Tharoor was sharing the stage with Spanish writer and co-author of the global bestseller ‘Ikigai’ Francesc Miralles and discussed the way of Purusharthas – the four goals of human life.
The MP referred to Swami Vivekananda’s teachings as he said that there are four ways to be a good Hindu. Tharoor also quoted Swami Vivekananda to assert that “the Hindu will never light the fires of inquisition.” He argued that “there is no place for saying, mine is the only way in Hinduism. There is no place for saying, as some unfortunately now claim in the name of Hinduism – they reduce it to something like the team identity of the British football hooligan.”
While discussing the different paths of Hinduism, Tharoor made a veiled attack on the BJP and RSS brand of politics. In an implicit criticism of right-wing politics.
In another session Bollywood actor and director Amol Palekar also claimed that Indian Democracy is now in danger of turning into a mobocracy as he slammed the tendency these days to debunk all criticism of political leaders and the government as an anti-national act. He claimed the tendencies to curb dissent are becoming more dominant in Indian politics these days.