Speaking on the spirit of India TedEx speaker Sanjeev Chopra and Information Commissioner Uday Mahurkar had contrasting views while deconstructing what the idea of India constitutes of.
While asserting the role of V D Savarkar on ideological front, Mahurkar said that there is an importance of him as he had carved for him a space and produced a vision which rightly makes him the father of Indian security. He said, “Had we followed his ideology we would have been a security superpower. His ideology is above caste pride, religion pride or any other thing. He was very clear. He said all castes and religions have equal rights. Savarkar had been very relevant. His idea of nation will help India to achieve heights.”
He added, “Though he has been very harsh in his words but he was meticulously relevant even in predicting how the country would evolve. Unfortunately, he is being interpreted in a wrong way. All the threads of what is happening today or has been happening lately were put out by sawarkar 75 years ago. I also call him Nostradamas of India. According to my assessment, the radicals in Muslim community had been 10 Percent in independent India. Now they have increased from 10 to around 30 percent.”
Moreover talking about the Chandrayaan (moon landing project) Mahurkar mentioned it as a phase of national awakening which was missing before 2014 (before the advent of Modi as a PM). He said that this phase of national awakening should have started soon after the independence (1947). He said, “Unfortunately, the unexpected death of Mahatma Gandhi brought such people in power who were against the ethos of the country. His murder became a big impediment in the progress of the country and thrusted a forced ideology on India.”
In addition to that, Mahurkar said that the party (Congress) that propagated secularism was one-sided secularism which resulted in display of some people coming against common civil code which came in the way of the evolution of India. He said, “After 2014, things have started to change. In each and every field whether it be an economy or any other sector. Be it education or infrastructure development there has been a marked change.”
When asked about his understanding on what has allowed for this awakening in the past decade. Mahurkar answered, “Before 2014, there were conditions to secularism. This doesn’t conclude that today’s times are all hunky dory. Even today, there are problems on several fronts but a citizen feels encouraged and invoked by a spirit that he can do it. You saw the people recently how they reacted to successful landing of Chandrayaan.”
He added, “I am saying that the potential of the Country’s resources were not exploited. Ram temple is also a part of national awakening. Why should the majority people be denied of their worship places? And if u see it now, funds are being sent to every community and there is no discrimination in it. There is no discrimination on the basis of caste and on religion. This has pumped up vigor among people and resulted in can-do spirit.”