'I am a Better Hindu than Narendra Modi'
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh speaks to New Indian Express Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla on the issue of conversion, Congress party’s anti-Hindu image, and PM Narendra Modi on Sachchi Baat on India News.
PC: Modi gave the slogan “Congress Mukt Bharat”. They (BJP) are steering ahead in Jharkhand now. Are you worried?
DS: Congress is an ideology.
PC: Is it still relevant?
DS: Yes. It will always remain so. It understands the soul of the country. Mahatma Gandhi honoured this ideology. Narendra Modi cannot finish it.
PC: The party is diminishing. Why don’t people accept the ideology?
DS: We hadn’t said that we will make a BJP-mukt India when the party was reduced to just two MPs. Their ideology is that of fascism. They have created an atmosphere in the country that Modiji will solve all the problems; that black money will return. And that people will see Rs 3 lakh in their accounts when the black money returns; that they will get jobs; that they will get Rs 15 lakh in their accounts; that there will be peace and harmony. And atmosphere was created in the country. They came up with the slogan “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”. The word “Sabka” in the slogan wasn’t defined. Modiji has created a myth through marketing.
PC: They have done successful marketing.
DS: I never agree with Advaniji. However, I agree with Advaniji on the fact that there is no better event and marketing manager than Narendra Modi.
PC: Is a successful businessman not one who controls the market?
DS: The product is bad. The marketing is good.
PC: Is it not for the first time that the BJP has more states than the Congress?
DS: True. Between 1996 and 1998, Congress was left with only two states.
PC: You got only two seats in Jharkhand. Are you an opposition?
DS: Even today the Congress is the major Opposition party. We are the largest single party in the two Houses. We are the Opposition Party.
PC: Your party-workers feel that you end up coming up with the Hindu Muslim issue and the communalism-secularism issue. Don’t you end up in Modi’s trap? Did some people not tell Rahul Gandhi in a meeting that Congress has become an anti-Hindu party?
DS: Congress party is against people who spread communalism. Congress opposed the Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League in the pre-Independence era. We haven’t done a compromise with the AIUDF. We ran into the breaking of our agreement with MIM.
PC: Was it not because of your policies that Bangladeshis changed district after district in Assam?
DS: You are spreading a myth.
PC: Has a democratic change not happened in the districts of Assam?
DS: No. That’s what I want to tell you.
PC: It’s a High Court judgement. The high court has put a restriction.
DS: The judgement is faulty. Illegal migrants are Hindus and Muslims.
PC: How are Hindus illegal migrants?
DS: This is the problem. Look at the democratic profile of Assam. There are Hindu illegal migrants also. The border is porous. There are Muslim and Hindu illegal migrants.
PC: The migrant refugees from Pakistan in Kashmir have no right to vote in the state assembly.
DS: They should be given a right. It has a process. If anyone wants citizenship, he has to undergo a process. Any refugee from Pakistan to India or Bangladesh to India has to undergo a legal procedure.
PC: The Hindus who migrated to Kashmir have the right to vote in the Lok Sabha polls but not the assembly polls. It’s the first state.
DS: I am not a lawyer. I have no knowledge of this issue. But there should be a legal solution to the issue. I know about Assam because I have been an in charge. Modiji has come (to power). Remove Article 370. Coming to the Anti Conversion Law, Congress and Mahatma Gandhi have always been against conversion. There has been a debate on the issue at the Constituent Assembly. Every Indian has the fundamental right to accept any religion. However, it should not happen by force or by inducement. Why do you call it Anti-Conversion law?
PC: It is there in five-six states. It is there even in your state.
DS: Why shouldn’t there be a Freedom of Conversion Act instead of an Anti-Conversion Law? There should be provisions under it.
PC: Were Hindus converting people in your state? (Congress passed Anti Conversion Law in your state).
DS: If the conversions happen from Hindus to Musilms it is called “conversion” and if it happens from Muslims to Hindus it is called “ghar waapsi”. Why?
PC: Like I said before, they are trapping you.
DS: They are not trapping Congress. They are trapping the entire country. We want to tell people that they haven’t won on the development issue. They have won on the name of Hindutva.
PC: You are opposing it and falling into a trap.
DS: I don’t consider anyone a better Hindu than me. I am a better Hindu than Modiji. I observe ekadashi and Navratri fasts. I worship ever day. I am a better Hindu.
PC: When they say that there should be an Anti Conversion Law, which was brought in states by the (run by the) Congress …
DS: We won’t have objections to it. We would want to call it Freedom of Conversion Act instead of Anti Conversion Law.
PC: Give it the name it has in Madhya Pradesh.
DS: Why should we? “Anti Conversion” gives an impression that it is all against conversion. I will give you the example of AR Rahman. He was a Hindu. He is a genius of music. Was his family converted by force? He accepted Islam. No one had an objection. There should be an all party meeting if they wish to bring a Law.
PC: That’s what Venkaiah Naidu had said.
DS: We are ready for the debate.
PC: Do you feel that the poor and Dalits have faced more conversion?
DS: The blame goes to our religion. The Dalits are considered “achhoot”. Where will they go?
PC: They are doing “ghar vaapsi” of Dalits.
DS: That is conversion. That’s what I am saying. An FIR should be lodged. What happened in Agra was on inducement – and happened on the name of ration card etc.
PC: No one complained.
DS: There was a complaint.
PC: The person who complained was not converted.
DS: He was. It was done in the morning. In the evening he went for Namaaz.
PC: It is happening in Kerala—a Congress-ruled state.
DS: Why should we object to it if it has been done willingly?
PC: There was politics in conversion. You never made corruption an issue in Parliament. What is your stand? What statement did you make on the return of Black Money?
DS: Who all was Narendra Modi including in “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas”?
PC: They are trapping you and winning.
DS: It doesn’t affect us.
PC: What will you do if you are not even fit to be in opposition?
DS: The soul of this country is the Ganga-Jamuni culture.
PC: Are you lacking in leadership?
DS: Today Modi is ahead. BJP is behind.
PC: Indiraji used to be in front and Congress behind. Sonia ji was ahead and Congress behind.
DS: We work under the ideology. We have Sonia Gandhi as our leader.
PC: And is Rahul (Gandhi) your leader?
DS: He is our vice president.
PC: There were slogans “Abki Baari Atal Bihari”…
DS: Don’t compare Atalji with Modiji.
PC: What about the leadership for the Delhi polls?
DS: Sheila Dikshit is our leader. She has been a chief minister for three terms.
PC: But she lost after three terms. Who is your leader after her?
DS: Arvinder Singh Lovely, Haroon Yusuf and Sadeep Dikshit. There are others getting ready.
PC: There is always a low turnout at Rahul Gandhi’s rallies.
DS: How can you say that? He went to Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand and you won’t talk about it.
PC: What is Congress party’s future?
DS: Ideology is the core of politics.
PC: They are reviving Congress leaders and figures forgotten by you.
DS: Who has forgotten him? He established the Benaras Hindu University. However, I must say that even Sir Syed Ahmad Khan should be honoured for establishing the Aligarh Muslim University.
PC: Maulana Azad was given the Bharat Ratna.
DS: Yes. He was given the Bharat Ratna. Even Khan should be honoured.
PC: You were politically guided. Now they are politically guided.
DS: It’s a process.
PC: Has Congress, the grand old party reached its expiry date?
DS: Congress is the soul of the country. It will never finish. Congress ideology assimilates everyone. It has served the country by rising away religion, caste and sects. It makes me laugh when Narendra Modi says in India that Congress did nothing in 60 years and then says that India has become a string nation when he travels abroad. He must stop doing this.
PC: Does Congress need more young leaders?
DS: Congress always gives youth a chance.
PC: Will your heart remain the same?
DS: Our heart will remain the same. Our ideology will remain the same whether we win or lose.
PC: Thanks for coming to our studio.
DS: Thanks.