December 24, 2015
- The former RSS spokesman maintains that India consists of only one culture, which he terms "Hindu" and that India's minorities should win "the goodwill of the majority"
- Muslims, Christians and Communists described as "internal challenges"
- Writers and intellectuals are protesting against the BJP "to defame the image of India"
Ram Madhav, the National General Secretary of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told Al Jazeera's Mehdi Hasan that he believes India, Pakistan and Bangladesh will reunite to form Akhand Bharat, or "undivided India".
Referring to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the right-wing Hindu nationalist organisation often described as the ideological wing of the BJP, Madhav said, "The RSS still believes that one day these parts, which have for historical reasons separated only 60 years ago, will again, through popular goodwill, come together and Akhand Bharat will be created… As an RSS member I also hold…onto that view". However, he clarified, "That does not mean we wage war on any country, [or that] we annex any country… Without war, through popular consent, it can happen".
These comments were made in the final episode of the brand new series of Head to Head, Al Jazeera English's premier interview programme, which is hosted by Mehdi Hasan and filmed in front of an audience at the Oxford Union. The programme airs on Friday 25thDecember on Al Jazeera English.
Madhav was previously Spokesman and a National Executive Member at the RSS, until he was deputed to the BJP in July 2014, and then appointed National General Secretary.
Since its landslide victory in 2014, the BJP has come under fire for allegedly contributing to a "climate of intolerance" in India, which is home to the world's largest Muslim-minority population. When challenged on why a number of high-profile writers and intellectuals have returned their awards to protest against the BJP government in recent months, Madhav argued they were doing so "to defame the government and in turn to defame the image of India," and that their method of protest was "wrong".
The BJP has also been criticised for its ties to the RSS and Hindu nationalist ideology. When asked to respond to inflammatory statements made by the former RSS leader and influential ideologue M.S. Golwalkar in his book "Bunch of Thoughts", currently available to download from the RSS website, Madhav denied that Golwalkar referred to a "Muslim menace" or to Christians as "bloodsuckers". Challenged by Hasan on Golwalkar's identification of three "internal threats" to India, named by Golwalkar as Muslims, Christians and Communists, Madhav responded, "Yes, they are challenges, we had the three challenges in our country… No internal threats; internal challenges, yes."
Questioned on a statement made earlier this year, in which he said India was "a Hindu country", Madhav explained, "[I]t's a land where a particular way of life, a particular culture or civilization is practiced". Pressed by Hasan on the definition of this particular culture, he said, "We call it Hindu – do you have any objection? India has one culture. We are one culture, one people, one nation."
Challenged on why the RSS stated that the safety of Muslims "lies in the goodwill of the majority," Madhav said, "It's not about Muslims winning the goodwill of Hindus alone – it is the other way also. If you are in small number, if you feel threatened, have the goodwill of the majority in your area… You have goodwill and good relations, that's what we mean."
Hasan also questioned Madhav, who is in charge of the BJP's "Jammu & Kashmir affairs" – which is the Indian authorities' term for Indian-administered Kashmir - , on how to bring peace to the region, and Madhav responded, "The only outstanding issue…with regard to the Kashmir problem is the Kashmir under Pakistan occupation. The Kashmir that is… an integral part of India, it has been proved time and again that it's an integral part of India." He assured the audience that "political demands in Kashmir…will be taken care of," although with the caveat: "short of separating from India".
Pressed by Hasan on the BJP's plans for reaching a solution with Pakistan, he replied, "Have patience…We want peace," adding, "You worry about many more things that are happening. Your ISIS can catch hold of nuclear weapons".
Hasan is joined in the Oxford Union by a panel of three experts: Dr Nitasha Kaul, a Kashmiri novelist, academic, economist and poet, who is currently Assistant Professor at the University of Westminster; Dr Gautam Sen, former Advisor to the Prime Minister's Office in Bharat and previously a lecturer in political economy at the London School of Economics; and Mehboob Khan, a former BBC journalist and Kashmir correspondent at United News of India, who is currently a Presenter at UN Radio and Editor at Asian Voice Global.
This brand new series of Head to Head also included interviews with Paul Bremer, former US Presidential Envoy to Iraq; Natalia Narochnitskaya, former Russian politician and historian; and Hina Rabbani Khar, former Foreign Minister of Pakistan.
Is Modi's India flirting with fascism? with Ram Madhav will be broadcast on Friday 25th December 2015 at 20:00 GMT. Repeats on December 26th at 12:00 GMT, December 27th at 01:00 GMT and December 28th at 06:00 GMT.
This programme will be available online after it first airs on this link: http://aje.io/dr7v
