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Khurana lashes out at 'extremist' Sangh Parivar members

Former Union minister Madan Lal Khurana has lashed out at 'extremist elements' in the Sangh Parivar and said the Hinduism he followed was tolerant, secular and not ''pseudo.''

''I follow that Hinduism which is not only tolerant but has also adopted many other races and peoples in its 5000-year history. I don't believe in pseudo-Hinduism or pseudo-secularism. I am a member of the RSS and have been its member for the last 54 years. What it has taught me is true Hinduism and nationalism,'' he said at a meeting on the 'Sangh Parivar and the minorities', organised by the Indian Social Institute and the All-India Catholic Union.

Describing the recent attacks on Christians in some parts of the country, particularly in Orissa where the Australian missionary and his two sons were burnt alive, as the handiwork of extremist elements in the Sangh Parivar, he said the incidents had tarnished the image of the country and the Bharatiya Janata Party government not only in India but also in foreign countries.

''But all the people in the RSS and BJP are not like those extremist elements. There are also some people like Madan Lal Khurana in the government as well as the BJP,'' he said.

The former minister who resigned from the Union Cabinet in protest against the recent attacks on Christians, said he had walked out of the government just to prove to the world that there were saner elements also in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government who felt very strongly about the attacks.

''The entire world is watching the Vajpayee government and the recent incidents have forced other countries to form an opinion about India. I decided that only words would not serve the purpose but something practical should be done to convey the message of how strongly we feel about the incidents. This was to set an example that the RSS, the BJP government and the entire Sangh Parivar do not follow pseudo-secularism or pseudo-Hinduism.''

He, however, said he was opposed to ''forcible conversions''.

Asked to elaborate whether he admitted that forcible conversions were taking place, he said he personally did not know. ''But if they were taking place, they should be stopped,'' he said. He even appealed to the Christian community to help stop forcible conversions saying that alone could solve the problems.

He also said that secularism did not mean that minorities should be appeased in the name of secularism. ''That was bound to invite reaction.''

UNI

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