INTERVIEW| BJP uses Ram's name, spreads Nathuram's agenda: Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar
NEW DELHI: In the name of Ram, the ruling BJP is spreading the communal agenda of Nathuram, Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar has said, asserting that vyaktivaad" (individualism) is more "dangerous" than "parivarvaad" (dynastic politics).
In an interaction with PTI editors at the news agency's headquarters here, he also said there was an effort to belittle the contribution of the Gandhi-Nehru family.
Kumar claimed that the BJP was making an attempt to reduce the greatness of the Hindu religion, asserting that in Ram's concept there is no scope of hatred towards anyone.
Asked how the Congress and the INDIA bloc would deal with what many perceive as a wave over the Ram temple construction in Ayodhya that could benefit the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls, he said, "What is the need for the Congress to deal with it? There is nothing wrong if there is a wave of Lord Ram in the country, it would have been wrong if there would have been a wave of 'Nathuram (reference to Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse)' in the country."
"I think what the BJP is propagating, it had no role in it. Ram ji was in Treta Yug, the BJP was formed in 1980. The BJP is engaged in how to dupe those people who believe in Ram, so, Ram's name (naam) is taken but actions (kaam) are of Nathuram. This game benefits the BJP," the Congress leader said.
This is against the history, culture and the future of the coming generation of the country, he added.
Kumar said the concept of Ram is ingrained in the country with people and places named after him.
"You cannot reduce him to a place. In other religions, a particular place is very important but in Hindu religion all places are important and all Gods are important. Ram is as important as Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. So Hindu religion is different from other religions," he said.
What has happened is that those who believe in the Hindu religion are being duped for the sake of political gain, Kumar said, slamming the BJP.
"Attempts are being made to reduce the greatness of the religion. In Ram ji's concept there is no scope of hatred towards anyone," he said.
He said the whole Ramayan is about the way of life and explains what is ethical and what is unethical.
Ram and Ramyana are not just in one form but in several forms, he noted.
"If you talk of Ramayan, there is Tulsidas ji's Ramayan and Valmiki's Ramayan and there are many tales that our different in them, there are hundreds of other Ramayans in this country...This country's culture and history is associated with Ram. The only concerning thing is that by taking Ram's name, Nathuram's communalism and divisiveness on the basis of identity is being spread as a political ploy which is dangerous," Kumar alleged.
Ram's name has been there since Treta Yug, it has been there before BJP's birth and it will continue till beyond BJP's end, Kumar asserted.
On allegations of the Congress being a dynastic party, he said there was an inherent bias in such a statement.
"There is a bias and a deliberate attempt to ridicule the background of a particular family," he said.
"On the allegation of 'parivaarvaad' on the Congress, I would like to ask that is it just limited to the Gandhi-Nehru 'parivaar' or it is applicable to other leaders as well? If it is applicable to other leaders as well then I have a direct question–Till the time Jyotiraditya Scindia was in Congress, he was 'parivaarvadi' but as soon as he crossed over to the BJP, he has become 'rashtravadi, samajwadi and sanghvadi'?" Kumar said.
"Be it any sector, from business to film industry to academia (it is there), so either we are all 'parivaarvadis' or if it is wrong, it should wrong for everyone. It can't be that Congress' parivarvaad is wrong and BJP's is right," Kumar said.
He cited the examples of BJP leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal, Anurag Thakur and BCCI secretary Jay Shah, pointing out that with their fathers having been or in politics, it amounts to dynasticism.
He said the contribution of the Nehru-Gandhi family was being underestimated despite two prime ministers—Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi—having given their lives for the country.
"In this day and age when people retweet for the Congress in the night and switch sides the next morning, two PMs gave their lives. What was the need for Nehru to stay in jail for 15 years, he was Motilal Nehru's son. So the sacrifice and contribution of that family has been reduced," he said.
Kumar argued that 'vyaktivaad' was more dangerous than 'parivaarvaad'.
"Modi ji decided that Shivraj Singh Chouhan will not be CM, (former Haryana CM)Khattar Sahab slept as CM and woke up to know that he is not the CM...where these decisions are being taken? This is worse than parivaarvaad, individualism is more dangerous with one person taking all decisions," he said.
On him being interested in contesting from Begusarai again but the seat going to CPI in alliance, Kumar said one always wants to tread the path that he or she has earlier walked on.
"When I first came to Delhi I was nervous... so fear of the unknown is always there. In your own native place, you have a emotional connect and you feel comforted. But as far as political battle is concerned, I don't see myself reduced to a particular place," the Congress leader said.
Asked about RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and Tejashvi Yadav's reported opposition to his candidature from Begusarai due to insecurity, Kumar said he was not such a big person that the former deputy chief minister of Bihar whose both mother and father were chief ministers be scared of him.
He said that for him, politics is about causes and issues. "If the party asks me to fight the polls, all 543 seats are the same for me,” he asserted.