Skip to main content

Fake secularism? Vajpayee's anti-conversion logic and MP govt's 'love jihad' move

Counterview Desk

Harvard-educated policy analyst Mohan Guruswamy, who was finance minister Yashwant Sinha’s adviser in late 1990s, and then perceived as close to then Union home minister LK Advani, in a Facebook post has revealed how the then Prime Minister AB Vajpayee wanted “all conversions to be registered by district Collectors or magistrates after application through proper channels.”
Calling conversions the “centrepiece” logic behind a “love jihad” law, planned to be enacted in Madhya Pradesh, Guruswamy claims, Advani agreed with his view that any effort to put obstacle in changing one’s religion went against “all notions of personal freedoms like speech, belief and worship.”

Text:

The declaration by the MP Home Minister to enact a law to ban "love jihad" marriages reminds me of an episode going back to 1998. The centerpiece of its logic is conversion. The sanghis believe that romance is a part of jihad to convert a Hindu woman or sometimes into a Muslim.
I was coopted by LK Advani, then BJP president, to write the NDA manifesto. The manifesto committee consisted of leaders like Vajpayee, Jaswant Singh, Fernandes, Venkiah, Mahajan, Sharad Yadav and some others. I had drafted most of the manifesto including the economics section, that promised greater loosening of FDI controls and SEZs. It also promised higher appropriations for health and education. There wasn't much discussion on these.
But Vajpayee had two submissions. One was India must go nuclear, reminding me of Krishna Kant, former VP, whose only contribution to any discussion was, "Hamko atom bomb banana chahiye!" Everybody seemed fine with this but agreed that this item must be couched in very ambiguous terms. Some mention was made about how Narasimha Rao's plan to test was scuttled after the US uncovered his plans. It was believed that a very high ranking defence scientist was behind the leak. I was tasked with writing this. This particular task had some consequences which I will hold for later.  
Mohan Guruswamy
The other Vajpayee item was more interesting. He wanted all conversions to be registered by District Collectors or Magistrates after application through proper channels. I was sitting next to Advani and whispered into his ear that this was absolute nonsense. 
Advani was at that time attempting to make a transformation from Hindu nationalist into a social and economic conservative. He had recently read a couple of books by Amartya Sen and was very impressed by them. I told him it offends all notions of personal freedoms like speech, belief and worship. Advani then asked me to speak up.
When I gave my spiel on freedoms and that a state cannot be given the power to approve or sanction them because these freedoms were inherent. Vajpayee reacted angrily to this. He pointedly asked me if conversion was to be treated so lightly? I somewhat cheekily remarked that politicians changed their political beliefs all the time, so why was religion different. 
Advani saved me from Vajpayee’s wrath by saying he supported my contention and that basic freedoms would be infringed by having this. Vajpayee then laughingly went along by telling me, "Tum Harvard walon sey bach key rahna padega?"
Not long after Vajpayee became PM he raised this issue again publicly and wanted it to be debated. "Iss pey ek bahas honi chahiye!" Of course, there was no “bahas”. But the Australian missionary Dr Graham Staines and his two young sons were burnt alive in their station wagon soon after.
So I decided to give him a bahas. I was the FMs advisor and technically part of government. But I nevertheless wrote a piece on conversion in the Indian Express titled "A Thousand Years of Shame" (“One Thousand Years of Shame”, February 3, 1999) in which I shredded the arguments against conversion. The PM didn't respond but saw to it that my position in government became untenable. So much for the humbug about Vajpayee’s secularism.

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam*  The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'A disaster in the making': Expansion of oil palm plantations in Northeast India

By Rupa Chinai, Ravi Chellam*  Until a few decades ago, India was nearly 100% self-sufficient in edible oils, with a diverse variety of oilseeds that were grown and consumed sustainably in keeping with the ecological and climatic conditions of different regions in the country. Today, India is highly reliant on palm oil imports to meet its vegetable oil demands. 

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

40,000 Odisha adolescent girls ask CM: Why is scheme to fight malnutrition on paper?

By Our Representative  In unique a postcard campaign to combat malnutrition, aimed at providing dietary diversity, considered crucial during adolescence, especially among girls, signed by about 40,000 adolescent girls from over 10,000 villages, have reminded Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik that his government's Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), which converged with Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman  ( POSHAN ) 2.0 in 2021, is not being implemented in the State.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.