An inclusive Hindutva, not averse to change: Advani

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New Delhi: Faced with a vigorous ‘Hindutva vs moderation’ debate in the party after its defeat at the hands of the Congress in the general election, L K Advani on Sunday sought to refashion Hindutva as an “inclusive, tolerant philosophy which was not averse to change with the changing times”.

Invoking former RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras to stress on the “change” factor in the evolution of the BJP (as also the RSS), he said that the BJP’s Hindutva was in accordance with the ‘95 Supreme Court verdict underlining Hindutva “as a way of life” even as he emphasised the party’s RSS roots. “How can a people believing in the dictum ekam sat vipra bahuda vadanti (truth is one, sages call it variously) ever become champions of a state which would uphold the interests of one religion at the cost of others,” Advani, asked the party delegates, quoting former RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras’s Vijaya Dashmi speech, in 1980.

Seeking to settle the debate on Varun Gandhi’s Pilibhit speech, he warned against any bigoted anti-Muslim interpretation of Hindutva and was in agreement with Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Shahnawaz Hussain (who tore into Varun’s speech at the party officebearers’ meet earlier).

“It is said that the Sangh is changing and that it has to change further. It is a sign of their evolution. That which doesn’t change is not living, it is dead,” Advani quoted Deoras as saying, which was also meant to be a subtle message to assembled party delegates. Neither Advani nor the party’s political resolution referred to “right wing philosophy”, preferring the “nationalist” tag for the party.

Advani’s bid to refashion Hindutva found support from leaders from various states, besides the duo of Naqvi and Hussain. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that Muslim women had voted for him, at times much against the wishes of their husbands, because fruits of development had reached every section of society. “Muslims must not go off the party’s radar”, he said. Party general secretary Gopinath Munde, whose aide Pasha Patel has been an advocate for the Sachar Committee recommendations in Maharashtra, said the party must reach out to Muslims even if they don’t vote for it. Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, too, spoke on similar lines.