Hindu is not a religious concept, but a cultural identity: Venkaiah Naidu

[rug]

Naidu slams attempts to create controversies whenever there is a reference to the word Hindu



Union minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M. Venkaiah Naidu. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

First Published: Thu, Aug 21 2014. 09 02 PM IST
PTI

Hyderabad: Amid a raging debate on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks, Union minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday slammed attempts to create controversies whenever there is a reference to the word “Hindu”.

“Hindu is a not a religious concept. Hindu is a cultural identity,” the urban development and parliamentary affairs minister said at an event, days after Bhagwat said India is a Hindu nation and Hindutva is its identity.

“If Hindu is a religion, then why this (The) Hindu newspaper?... If Hindu is a religion, then why Hindustan Times newspaper and why Hindi akhbaar (newspaper) Hindustan? And why Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT)? Then why Hindustan Aeronautics Limited ? Then why Hindustan Shipyard? I can give 125 examples like this. These are not the names given by (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi or Venkaiah Naidu or somebody. This has been there in our traditions. On August 15, what do you say? ‘Jai Hind’: does it mean to say Hinduon ko Jai aur bakio ko nahi. Aisa hai kya?” Naidu said.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of year-long CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) 70th anniversary celebrations, he argued that when one talks of Swadeshi, it means to tap the knowledge which is available in India and then excel. “We are not opposed to getting anything from outside.”

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/hVFDWWl6IldxhDVh9ahfqN/Hindu-is-not-a-religious-concept-but-a-cultural-identity-V.html

[carolinayellowdog]

1. Indian Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Parsees, and Jews might all disagree

Somehow this guy's protestations ring hollow to me. Seems reminiscent of the "this is a Christian nation-- what? you Jews and atheists are offended by that?" stuff in this country. Until I spent time in India I didn't realize how annoying Hindi supremacism was to people in South India. English is the medium of instruction in Tamil Nadu, a state with as large a population as many European nations.

So on edit-- I googled and found this:

Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) a New York based group which is spearheading the online protest against Narendra Modi said that the 100, 000 threshold was achieved Tuesday (August 12) a week before the White House deadline of August 20.

The petition urges Barack Obama, US president, to condemn Indian PM Narendra Modi and his BJP for perpetrating violence against Muslims, Sikhs and Christians. The petition went online on July 21 on the White House’s We the People Web site with the headline Cancel White House invitation to PM Modi.

[rug]

2. Thanks for that perspective.

[mr blur]

3. Just like "Christianity is not a religion, it's a personal relationship with Gawd", eh?

And similar weasel words.

[cbayer]

4. Say what? Did you just make that up all by yourself?