Narratives Like "Hindus In Danger" Being Set In Country, Says Tushar Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi on Saturday expressed concern over what he claimed narratives like "Hindus in danger" being set in the country and governments coming to power on the issues like Ram Mandir.

He said some intellectuals label these things as "Hindu rashtravad" (nationalism) but "Hindu rashtravadis" have no place in a country like India but they can go to Nepal.

Speaking about narratives, Mr Gandhi said, "It is being said that Hindus are in danger but nobody asks how Hindus are in danger? Similarly, on the issue of Ram temple, governments are coming to power".

"Many intellectuals certify all this as Hindu rashtravad. But there should be a Hindu rashtra (nation) for this. Have we become a Hindu rashtra? Hindu rashtravad can be in Nepal but not in the country whose Constitution mentions 'sarv dharma samabhav'," he said.

Mr Gandhi was speaking at the launch of the book "Sahmatichi Hukumshahi -Aristocracy to Technocracy" written by journalist Milind Kirti.

"How can we accept that those talking about Hindutva are Hindu rashtravadis? If they are Hindu rashtravadis, they can go to Nepal. They have no place here," he said.

Mr Gandhi said all these ideas are "making us slaves and we are not able to understand the motive behind them".

He said "imperialism of technology" is the biggest danger for the world today.

"A kind of colonisation is taking place because of technology. There is a harmonious connection between the corporates and technology. Corporations do business for profit whereas the soul of technology should be innovation, but if we see today the aim of technology has become capitalism to earn profit," Mr Gandhi said.

Mr Gandhi said people are not reacting and cited incidents including the killing of a girl in Kashmir to name a few.

"On the contrary, lawyers had taken out a morcha when accused in a case were punished by the court. Did we react? Similarly, did we react when perpetrators in the Bilkis Bano case were released (prematurely by the Gujarat government under its remission policy for life-term convicts)," he asked.

Mr Gandhi expressed concerns over the "misuse" of UAPA or anti-terror law saying people are being arrested on someone's order and not because they have committed any crime.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)