Salman Khurshid: Standing against those who divide

My recent book, Sunrise over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times, is over 300 pages long. Throughout the book, I have sought to support and endorse the Ayodhya judgment, despite many of my legal colleagues having doubted its legal correctness, acknowledged and praised the philosophy of Hinduism, underscored the humanist dimensions of Sanatan Dharma. The thrust of the book is to promote religious harmony between Hindus and Muslims and highlight the Ayodhya judgment as an opportunity to find closure on the unpleasant past and look forward to a shared future.

Salman Khurshid’s house in Nainital vandalised

Sadly, all this received little attention from the national media and members of the ruling party. Instead, they latched on to one sentence in Chapter VI that makes a distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva: “Sanatan Dharma and the classical Hinduism known to sages and saints was being pushed aside by a robust version of Hindutva, by all standards a political version similar to the jihadist Islam of groups like ISIS and Boko Haram of recent years.”

The outrage seems directed at my questioning the nature of Hindutva and even more at seeking to underscore its similarity with Boko Haram and ISIS….

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/hindutva-forces-salman-khurshid-book-on-ayodhya-7626303/?utm_source=newzmate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=morningbrief&pnespid=BOE490Fe8ikchFiT95vfRkpGpA063rt2pBtUE6kPLYzKZsPydZUKnVwbIOh4RBIfUygV9loj


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