People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti on Sunday sought to clarify her social media post on Hindutuva, while asserting that it’s an ideology of hate propagated by Veer Savarkar in the 1940s.
Iltija, daughter of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, had said in a post on X that Hindutva is an illness that afflicted millions of Indians and sullied a God’s name.
“Ram the deity must hang his head in shame & watch helplessly as minor Muslim boys are whacked with chappals only because they refuse to chant his name. Hindutva is a disease that’s afflicted millions of Indians & sullied a Gods name,” she said on Saturday while sharing a purported video of Muslim minor boys being attacked and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
Clarifying her post, Mufti said on Sunday that there is a lot of difference between Hindutva and Hinduism. She emphasised that like Islam, Hinduism is a religion that promotes secularism, love, and compassion.
“There is a lot of difference between Hindutva and Hinduism. Hindutva is a philosophy of hate that Veer Savarkar spread in India in the 1940s with the aim of establishing the hegemony of Hindus, and the philosophy was that India belongs to Hindus and is for Hindus. Like Islam, Hinduism is also a religion that promotes secularism, love, and compassion. So, let's not deliberately distort it," she was quoted as saying by ANI.
Mufti further argued that the "Jai Shri Ram" slogan has been wrongly associated with violence and is being used as a tool to instigate hate, rather than representing the ideals of "Ramrajya”.
Earlier, the BJP had strongly criticised Mufti’s post and demanded an apology from her.
"PDP leader has used a very derogatory language. This kind of language should not be used. There might be differences of opinion in politics but derogatory language should not be used...PDP leader Iltija Mufti should apologise for her remarks," BJP leader Ravinder Raina had said.