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Manish Tewari says he is confused by Hinduism vs Hindutva debate in Congress

I am a Hindu, I worship my God but that is not my politics, he said

41-Manish-Tewari Manish Tewari | J. Suresh

Congress leader Manish Tewari, on Wednesday, said the Congress started down on a slippery slope when it deviated from the Nehruvian ideal of secularism and that he was confused about "Hinduism qua Hindutva debate" in the party.

Taking to Twitter, Tewari said he was in the Congress because he believed in the "Nehruvian ideal" that religion is a private space activity and should not be used in politics.

"In Hinduism Versus Hindutva debate some people in Congress miss a fundamental point. If I were to believe that my religious identity should be basis of my politics then I should be in A Majoritarian or Minoritarian Political Party.

"I am in the Congress because I believe in Nehruvian ideal that religion is a private space activity. Everyone has the right to practice, profess and propagate their religion in their private lives. In public domain there should be a strict separation of the Church and the State. I am a Hindu, I worship my God but that is not my politics," Tewari said in a series of tweets.

He was reacting to a news report after the Supreme Court declined to reconsider its 1995 order on the meaning of 'Hindutva' and the court said it would not go to a larger bench on what is 'Hindutva' or what its meaning was.

In response to a tweet, the former union minister said, "When the Congress deviated from the Nehruvian ideal of Secularism as interpreted as Separation of Church and State and moved towards 'Sarv Dharam Sambhav' it started down a slippery slope and has not stopped skidding since. Larger debate required".

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had recently said that Hinduism and Hindutva are "different things" and stated that Hindutva was about beating a person. He had also slammed the ideology of the BJP-RSS alleging it has spread hatred in India, drawing a sharp retort from the BJP which claimed that the Congress leadership nurses a "pathological hatred" for Hinduism.

Tewari said, "In the global struggle between right-wing populism and liberalism, progressive parties cannot ever win hearts and minds of people if they offer ersatz ideologies predicated on religion and caste bereft of core convictions and pluralistic beliefs."

The Congress leader also said that Jawahar Lal Nehru was a pandit and Abdul Kalam Azad was a Maulana and both of them had a deep understanding of their respective faiths "but they built modern Indian state by designing the Constitution on an avowedly secular basis and not on religious identity despite Partition".

In another tweet, Tewari said, "'I am frankly confused by this Hinduism qua Hindutva debate in INCIndia (Congress). If I want to base my Politics on Hinduism or Hindutva then I should be in Hindu Mahasabha. If I want to base it on Islamism then I should be in Jamat-I-Islami. Why should I be in INCIndia?"

While addressing a Congress training camp in Wardha on November 12, Rahul Gandhi had made the remarks on Hindutva that have escalated the war of words between BJP and the Congress ahead of the assembly polls in five states including Uttar Pradesh.

"Is Hinduism about beating a Sikh, or a Muslim. Hindutva, of course, is. In which book is it written? I have not seen it. I have read the Upanishads. I have not read it, Gandhi said, as he sought to draw a distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva, a term widely used by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS).

"What is the difference between Hinduism as we know it and Hindutva. Are they the same thing? Can they be the same thing. If they are the same thing, why don't they have the same name? Why do they have a different name. Why do you use the word Hinduism, why not just use Hindutva if they are the same thing. They are obviously different things" Gandhi had said.

The remarks had come after Congress leader Salman Khurshid sparked a row by comparing a "robust version" of Hindutva to the jihadist Islam of terror groups such as the ISIS and Boko Haram.

However, his party colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad did not agree with Khurshid and said, "The comparison is factually incorrect and an exaggeration.

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