Ruing that his party is giving a "muted response" to the challenge of communalism in Narendra Modi-ruled Gujarat, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Friday said the communal contagion has also "infected" his own partymen in the state.
"Instead of a robust response coming from the Congress party which I would like to see, we have a muted response, we really need to stand up and be counted and say, as Nehru said, 'I don't care how many elections I lose, but we have to stand up for the secular principles which is the basis of Indian nationhood'"
"That is the basis on which we should campaign in Gujarat and not see whether we can win the 2012 elections or not," Aiyar told NDTV on Friday night.
He said there is something sick in creating a society in which it is regarded as politically incorrect to be secular.
"Communalism has spread so far in Gujarat that it also infected members of my party," Aiyar said recalling that he wanted to campaign for his party in Godhra during the 2002 elections but was told not to do so when he had reached the airport on 6th December, the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition.
"I land in Ahmedabad and my party people say it is better for you to stay in your hotel. I went out to attend a meeting and someone said don't use the word secularism. I think there is something sick in creating a society in which it is regarded as politically incorrect to be secular," Aiyar said.
Responding to questions of fear in Congress over Modi becoming a national leader in Bharatiya Janata Party, he said that the fear of Modi is much more pronounced in the saffron party than in Congress ranks.
"The Congress does not need to fear the rise of Narendra Modi, but as Indians we need to fear the rise of Modi because he represents the sheer antithesis of everything that has gone into the making of the Indian nation," Aiyar told NDTV.
Taking a jibe at the Opposition party over the issue, he said, "There is Arun Jaitley attempting to become the Prime Minister notwithstanding his educational background, there is Sushma Swaraj attempting to do the same, there is Advani once again climbing a rath in the hope that it will take him to political success."
"The party is so divided within for fear of Narendra Modi converting himself from a state leader to a national leader," he said.
