The RSS has a two-fold task before it. One is to organise the Hindus. To build a strong Hindu society ... The other task is to assimilate the non-Hindus, like Muslims and Christians, in the mainstream.

Minorities

They can follow the faith of their own conviction. No one can object to it ... But this country must be looked upon as the Motherland by them. They must have a feeling of patriotism for this country.

Islamic Inj

But the Islamic division of the world into Darul Harab and Darul Islam comes in the way. Islam has yet to learn the art of existing and flourishing in a country where Muslims are in a minority. They cannot convert the whole of India to Islam. After all, they have to live here. So they have to recognise this fact. And today it has become a matter of grave concern and deep thinking in the Muslim countries. Because Quran offers no guidance in this regard. It only talks of killing kafirs or converting them to Islam. But they cannot do it always and everywhere.

How can they do it where they are in a minority? If they try to do it, a major clash will take place and only the members of the minority will be killed. But Muslims themselves have to change this state of affairs. We cannot change it for them.

Three Alternatives

Congress has not correctly understood the Muslim  problem. They continue to carry on their policy of appeasement. But to what effect? The Muslims of this country can be treated in three ways. One is tiraskar which means if they will not themselves change leave them alone, reject them as our compatriots. Second is puraskar, which is appeasement, i.e. bribing them to behave, which is being done by the Congress and others of-their ilk. The third way is parishkar meaning to change them, that is, restore them to the mainstream by providing them samskaras.

We want to change them by offering them the right samskaras. Their religion will not be changed. They can follow their own religion. Mecca can continue to be holy for the Muslims but India should be holier than the holy for them. You can go to a mosque and offer namaz, you can keep the roza. We have no problem. But if you have to choose between Mecca or Islam and India you must choose India. All the Muslims should have this feeling: we will live and die only for this country.

The Demolition

We (Hindus) did pull down the structure in Ayodhya. In fact it was a reaction to the Muslim vote-bank. We wanted to solve this problem through negotiation and legislation. But there was no puraskar for burai (evil act). We change burai also with parishkar. Now I think, the Hindu society has been regenerated which was the prime task of the RSS.

(Source: The Organiser, 7 May, 1995)

(Courtesy: The Communalism Combat, February, 1998)

Views of Vajpayee, the Liberal

I

India will continue to be a secular state if the BJP comes to power: "India will not be a theocracy. We believe in positive, not negative secularism. Minorities are Indian citizens with rights and privileges. There will be no discrimination on the basis of religion" There is extensive scope for a dialogue (on Ayodhya). We are sure some solution can emerge,"                                                                            (Source: The Indian Express, 10 January, 1998)

 II

A new programme will be formulated for the new  combination. The BJP programme will not be adopted as the programme of the government of a new combination. It will have to be amended.

(The BJP) is going to become the mainstream. The Congress is vacating the space. Apart from the BJP no one can fill this vacuum.

Muslims are not alienated. They come to our rallies. They listen to us. Now they are getting disillusioned with other political parties. They think they are being treated as vote banks. They like the BJP because it is a frank party. By now most of their apprehensions have been allayed after seeing the BJP State governments in operation.

(It is ridiculous to say) that if there are fewer communal riots in States ruled by the BJP.

Once we come to power we have to uphold the law. We are committed to 'Raj dharma'. The raja must be above all favouritism and discrimination.

We will not allow Ayodhya to be repeated anywhere. That is my assurance. The VHP and RSS have views of their own. The BJP too has its own views. Mathura and Kashi are not on our agenda.

There is no need to apologise for Ayodhya. The party did not do anything. The party was asking the people not to demolish. But the people went out of control. If anybody is to be blamed, it is the Central Government.

Kalyan Singh ... was the Chief Minister. He tried. He failed. He paid the price ..

(Source: The Indian Express, 25 January, 1998)

BJP: A.B. Vajpayee's Views

A new programme will be formulated for the new combination. The BJP programme will not be adopted as the programme of the government of a new combination. it will have to be amended. The BJP is going to become the mainstream. The Congress is vacating the space. Apart from the BJP no one can fill this vacuum.

The Muslims are not alienated. They come to our rallies. They listen to us. Now they are getting disillusioned with other political parties. They think they are being treated as vote banks. They like the BJP because it is a frank party. By now most of their apprehensions have been allayed after seeing the BJP State governments in operation.

It is ridiculous to say if there are fewer communal riots in States ruled by the BJP, it is because earlier our party helped engineer such trouble.

Once we come to power we have to uphold the law. We are committed to 'Raj dharma'. The raja must be above all favouritism and discrimination.

We will not allow Ayodhya to be repeated anywhere. That is my assurance. The VHP and RSS have views of their own. The BJP toc has its own views. Mathura and Kashi are not on our agenda

There is no need to apologise for Ayodhya. The party did not do anything. The party was asking for people not to demolish. But the people went out of control. If anybody is to be blamed, it is the Central Government.

Kalyan Singh ... was the chief minister. He tried. He failed. He paid the price.                                                                                               (Source: The Indian Express, 25 January, 1998)

 RSS: Rajender Singh's Views

On BJP's Alliances:

The BJP might have alliances but each party has a different manifesto and they are fighting on their own agenda. It's only a question of seat adjustments to make sure that their votes don't get divided and the third party doesn't win. And the BJP has not done anything which we don't approve of.

On Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura:

Being a political party, the BJP thinks and talks about the immediate issues. They need not think about the questions of the future. At present we cannot do anything about Ram Janmabhoomi because the land surrounding it has been taken over by the government.

On BJP's Policies:

Kalyan Singh inducted people with criminal links in his Cabinet to show that the BJP was not an untouchable. To show that you can't make a fool of us every time and topple our governments. For abnormal times we have to adopt abnormal policies.

On Godse:

Godse was motivated by (the philosophy of) akhanda Bharat. Uske mantavya achhe thhe par usne achhe  was good but he used the wrong methods) ... He was  shocked to see crores of people migrate (from Pakistan) and wanted to kill all the leaders.

 Shiv Sena: Bal Thackeray's Views

... I was never against Muslims. I have always sympathised with them for they have been cajoled, exploited and treated as mere vote-banks by politicians.  This beleaguered community has been exploited by the Congress for almost 50 years.

... With me, Hindutva is a personal force, imploring me to be a better Hindu. A good Hindu is one who doesn't hurt the feelings of the members of other communities.

The Hindu-Muslim problem is a gift of the English after 1857 ... For them communal riots were games to be relished. Today this game has been played by the politicians and we have to see through this game and work steadily for firmly cementing Hindu-Muslim reconciliation on the unexceptional principle of "justice for all and appeasement for none".

Over the last 50 years the politics of opportunism and appeasement has taken not only Muslims but the entire country to the bank of collapse ... While the common Muslim is still languishing in his ghetto, the Congress has treated this community as their vote bank

... I have always desired that Muslims must join the mainstream. In Maharashtra we have launched a social upliftment scheme, "Taleem, Tijarat Aur Tarbiyat" (education, commerce and training) ...

Hindutva is always at the core of my heart ... What's wrong in being a staunch Hindu or Muslim? Hindutva has unfortunately been interpreted as a movement to annihilate Muslims. It's not so. Hindutva doesn't mean fighting Muslims or driving them out of India.

I have never been against patriotic Muslims. But it hurts when sweets are distributed and crackers burnt after India is defeated in a cricket or hockey match against  Pakistan. This is not patriotism. I still maintain that those Muslims who side with Pakistan need introspection since India is their homeland ...

Honesty speaking, to a "Sangh Parivar" member an Indian Muslim appears to be aggressive, belligerent, intolerant, fanatically rooted to the past glory, resistant to any change and a drag on the nation's march to the 21^st century ... They need to come out of their ghetto mentality. The educated, progressive and secular Muslims must come forward to lead the community. A

broad world view is needed for the Indian Muslims ... Hindu-Muslim relations in multi-religious, multi-cultural Indian can be reconceived. Hindus and Muslims of India are linked with each other and communal harmony without leaving one's identity, should be the watchword today.                                             (Source: The Times of India, 9 February, 1998)

A Plea for Liberal Hindutva

The BJP - broadly positioned as a "Hindutva fundamentalist party" - has become a powerful force. None of the mainstream political parties, or even the amorphous mass called the "Third Front", are willing to touch the BJP with a barge-pole - although, surprisingly, they have 'no such reservations while dealing with the Muslim League or Ibrahim Sulaiman Sait's Indian National League, if the situation so warrants.

However, the BJP has only itself to blame for its unenviable situation. Why can the BJP not genuinely embrace the Supreme Court's idea of Hindutva and see the difference it makes?

Why can it not shake off the influence of the semi- literate. self-styled "clerics" who overrun every party event with swastikas and saffron pennants ..? Why can the party not acknowledge the multi-ethnic and multi-lingual character of India, leave alone its multi-religious nature?

Already, the BJP has begun to soft-pedal the issues that it held dear, like the uniform civil code (an unexceptionable proposition), the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution (a debatable point depending on how you look at it) and the construction of the temple at Ayodhya, to commemorate Lord Rama's birth ...

If Hindu fundamentalism defines itself in terms of a reaction to Muslim fundamentalism, bigotry will inevitably beget bigotry and close the doors of harmony and understanding ...

It is all very well to bolster Hindu self-esteem. But that ought to be done under the aegis of the "kinder, gentler face" ... Vajpayee supposedly represents. It cannot be done under the war-banner of the zealous RSS, the Shiv Sena, or any of the ultra-fundamentalist sections within the BJP

It was Hindu fundamentalism that was responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, whose "Gandhian socialism" the BJP now professes ..

But ... religion does not foreclose "western" freedoms or a liberal lifestyle. Israel's religiosity does not preclude the existence of a free society for all practical purposes, with minimum religious interference only in the lives of those who opt for organised religion. For example, there are shops selling kosher food for the devout, while others can live as they please. The polity, culture and private life are free of religious imposition.

There is also the example of the Christian Democrats in Germany, or the True Path and Motherland parties of Turkey, who are fighting hard to fend off religious extremists ...

(Source: The Kshemendra Upadhyaya in The Times of India, 25 November, 1997)

BJP: Murli Manohar Joshi's Views

In recent times, the Bharatiya Janata Party has been accused of throwing principles to the wind in order to win allies ... but we found ourselves in a situation where the more we played by the rules, the more others were violating them ... We upheld our principles only to be treated as pariahs so we decided to teach everyone a lesson. But we will definitely go back to principles once this political transition is over ..

The BJP is the only party which has a clear goal, that of stability under the leadership of A.B. Vajpayee. There are several aspects to stability - a stable country, a stable government and a stable dynamic economy.

Minority Policy

The BJP's performance in the various states it rules disproves the theory that it is biased against the so-called minorities. We believe in the credo justice for all, appeasement of none ... About the BJP's agenda vis-a-vis the Muslims, ... we want the Ayodhya dispute to be resolved either through dialogue or legislation, not litigation and that Kashi and Mathura are definitely not on our agenda .... I personally do not consider Muslims or Christians to be minorities. It is this philosophy of minorityism that has resulted in a social and religious divide. After all, the majority of Muslims and Christians are of Indian stock. Ways of worship may be different but that does not transform a person from majority to minority.

The religious bogey is just another stick to beat the BJP with. India has never been a Hindu state. India can never be a theocracy because the Hindu mind is secular ... The perception of the BJP as some sort of Hindu party is the result of the sustained onslaught on us  in which the media has played a major role. Our demand for a uniform civil too has been misinterpreted by many as a ploy to impose a Hindu code on the country. This is absolutely untrue, we want a situation where everyone gets a fair deal before the law. Personal laws at present discriminate in matters like inheritance which are particularly prejudicial to women. ...

The RSS Facto ... We are close to the RSS. We certainly do listen to it and take its advice, but there is no question of the RSS, controlling the party. All the BJP's leaders grew up in the RSS tradition and it continues to help us whenever we are in difficulty. ...                                                                                                           (Source: The Times of India, 5 February, 1998)