Agency report

New Delhi, Mar 16: Apparently seeking to win back his hardcore Hindutva constituency after the Jinnah interlude, Leader of Opposition L K Advani has asserted that India's soul was 'Hindu' and described the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh as a 'power house', a 'university' and the 'biggest movement' of the 20th century.

In an article written for the Hindi 'Outlook' ahead of his controversial 'National Integration Yatra' which is yet to get the full backing of the Sangh Parivar, he says, "The concept of Hindu Rashtra is wide and liberal which the critics of the Sangh either do not want to understand or ignore it despite understanding it".

In this regard, he recalled that Bharatiya Jan Sangh (the earlier avatar of the Bharatiya Janata Party) founder Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya had stated that both India and Hindu were "synonymous" and hence "there is no scope for a controversy on the term Hindu Rashtra".

"It is our belief that the identity and soul of this nation is Hindu. The meaning of the word Hindu is not in the communal sense. Whenever people ask me why India is successful as a democracy compared to other developing countries, I say that only due to Hindus, the country is both democratic and secular", said Advani, who had to step down as BJP president after a spat with RSS over the Jinnah episode.

While Arya Samaj and Ramakrishna Mission were influential in the 19th century, "The biggest movement of 20th century and thereafter was the RSS", he said adding if it was a "power house prior to Independence, it is a university now." The ultimate aim of the RSS, he said was the nation's holistic development and it was expected to be done by RSS volunteers only.

In their criticism of Advani, the Hindu religious leaders accused the former deputy prime minister of ignoring Hindu interests while in power. "Advani did nothing for Hindus when he was in power. What can he do now. We have no interest in his yatra," Hansdas Maharaj said. Singhal said the VHP would support organisations that it believed were sincerely espousing the Hindu cause. The VHP leaders' comments came in the wake of RSS chief K S Sudarshan's remarks that the Sangh would support any event that aim to raise awareness about what he saw as a threat to national unity from "minorityism."

But the VHP chief did echo Sudarshan's charges of pro-minority bias against the Congress-led UPA government. "This minorityism may lead to a second partition of the country. Hindus are feeling unsafe because of the rise in jehadi attacks," he said.

The VHP chief, who petitioned the President to dismiss the UP government in the wake of the bomb explosions in Varanasi, said the Centre should tackle militancy with an iron fist.

"There is an urgent need to protect Hindus from jehadis and naxals. We demand the government deal with them with an iron fist," Singhal said. Also, he claimed the prime minister had turned down his request for an appointment.

Firebrand Hindu leader Sadhvi Rithambara also accompanied the VHP chief.