The Sangh Parivar has launched a very powerful politico-religious offense against socio-cultural and socio-political forces and groups, which firmly believe that the Indian civilisation is historically constituted by many cultural streams and that the country's unity has been achieved by the intermingling of diverse cultural belief systems. The forces of Hindutva represented by the BJP, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal, the RSS, the ABVP and the Shiv Sainiks believe that India is "one nation based on one culture" and its heritage is linked with Hindu religion.

The real meaning of "one nation and one culture" is that Hindus must have a privileged position and the various minority groups have to accept their way of life ... During the Nineties, they intensified their struggle to capture State power and implement their programme of establishing a Hindu Raj. They forcibly demolished the Babari Masjid at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

... In the 1993 State Assembly elections, the voter punished the BJP and Sangh Parivar by defeating them in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and in Rajasthan, it succeeded with difficulty. The message was loud and clear that the BJP definition of Hindu Raj was not acceptable in a multi-cultural plural society. Similarly, the BJP could not electorally cash in on its ideology in the Lok Sabha elections of 1996 and 1998. In March 1998, the BJP formed a coalition government at the Centre and last month, in the "mini-general elections" held in Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Delhi, the BJP was routed in Delhi and Rajasthan and in Madhya Pradesh ... Militant Hindu mobilisation has not brought any political dividends. It has been clearly and repeatedly established that the voter is not enamoured of the self-appointed guardians of the Hindus and this voter does not hesitate to pynish the champions of Hindutva.

Any party, in a democracy, examines the adequacy and authenticity of its political agenda, particularly when an electoral verdict is given against its politics and programmes ..

Are the BJP and the Sangh Parivar doing some rethinking about their ideological position of "one nation and one culture"? ... The answer is clear. The political and cultural forces of thee Hindutva are living in an illusory words of their own self-created Hinduism. But political illusions do not bring electoral successes in a democracy. Since the BJP and its other partners of the Sangh Parivar have a clear ideological agenda of establishing a Hindu state, it has not deviated from its ideology of Hindutva.

A few examples will substantiate the statement that the BIP governments are trying to exercise their power by spreading the message of Hindutva and creating a situation where Hindus occupy a special position in society. First, the Babari mosque was demolished on December 6,1992 when Kalyan Singh was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, In1998, Kalyan Singh is again the Chief Minister and the State police have harassed a respected Muslim leader, Ali Mian. If Ali Mian can be targeted, ordinary Muslims cannot expect any fair play from the BJP State Government.

Second, under the direct control of the BJP Government in Gujarat, Christian places of worship and schools are under attack by the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The forces of Hindutva have targeted the Christian minority in Gujarat because the protective umbrella is provided by the State Government.

Third, the Shiv Sena leader in Maharashtra has targeted the cricket team from Pakistan and the message to the Muslims of Maharashtra is that the Shiv Sena-BJP government does not respect their sentiments.

Fourth, the Education and Culture Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, created a controversy at an official meeting of State Education Ministers by starting the meeting with a prayer on Saraswati Vandana. Not only did many Ministers protest against this ritual at a public function, the Joint General-Secretary of the RSS, stated that "anyone who is opposed to Saraswati Vandana is not an Indian". It was a repeat story by the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists when they proclaimed turning the anti-Babari mosque agitation that people should "learn to live as Hindus if they wanted to live in India". Hindu cultural symbols are protected and promoted by the BJP-led governments and the minority cultural groups are at the receiving end. A BJP minister of the Delhi State Government hurt the feelings of the Christian community by making a ridiculous public statement, that "wine was served in Churches"

Fifth, the Hindutva forces are suddenly showing a sense of pride in public institutions dealing with the writing of history and culture. The BJP-led government at the Centre and in the states seems determined to use their political power for promoting the ideology and historiography of Hindutva. Since educational and research institutions are the main sources of interpretation of history and culture, the BJP governments have nominated and appointed RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal activists in such organisations.

Sixth, Arun Shourie, BJP member of Raja Sabha, has launched a bitter attack against historians who interpret India as a multicultural and multilingual plural society.

The Sangh Parivar on the basis of its present political presence in the central government, has launched a three-fold strategy to promote the ideology of Hindutva. First, a project for re-writing history and culture has been taken up at an intellectual level by using State power. State patronage has been extended to intellectuals to launch an attack against interpretations of Indian history, which do not promote the concept of "one nation and one culture". Second,"minorities have been given a political message that the BJP led governments at the Centre or the states will openly pursue discriminatory and anti-minority policies. Third, minorities should not expect protection of life and property from State functionaries under the BJP governments ..

Politics of multi-culturalism has to confront the politics of Hindutva at many levels. It is not the absent mindedness of Atal Behari Vajpayee, who appointed three stalwarts of Hindutva as Minister of Home, Education and Information and Broadcasting ... Advani, Joshi and Swaraj actively, and aggressively, pursued the Hindu agenda in these ministries.

Advani targeted Bangladeshis and wanted an identity card for every Indian as his priority. Joshi and Sushma Swaraj exercised their power to aggressively promote Hindu educational and cultural agenda. Saraswati Vandana, Vande Mataram, teaching of Sanskrit and recitation of mantras and bhajans have suddenly emerged centre-stage ... Uma Bharti wants to organise Hindu youth with State patronage.

... The forces of Hindutva are not shy of pursuing their goals with the help of political power ... The cultural agenda of the forces of Hindutva not only has a primacy for all members of the Sangh Parivar; it is also the sole commitment of the BJP government. Social and political forces representing multi-cultural, pluralist and accommodative tradition of Indian civilisation, which is based on composite culture, should understand that the BJP exercises power for its ideology and electoral setbacks do not make any difference to the leadership of the Hindutva forces ..

The BJP has nothing else to offer except the promotion of inter-community hatred and violence. Without polarising the different communities, the BJP cannot rule the country and in power, it accelerates the processes of inter-community polarisation. This is the reality and essence of the politics of Hindutva. The forces of Hindutva have been actively opposing secular, democratic and pluralist forces ... The results of the elections to the State Assemblies should not make secular forces complacent ... (Source: The Hindu, 6 December, 1998)

The attacks on missionaries arc due to an awakening among Hindus. The attack is a natural reaction of the local people to the missionary activity ...

- B.L. Sharma 'Prem', VHP Leader