New Delhi, April 11: L.K. Advani has promised an institutionalised mechanism to allow religious leaders to get involved in the country’s governance if he becomes Prime Minister.

A letter he has sent to hundreds of religious leaders from every major faith promises that a BJP government would correct the prevailing notion that secularism means being anti-religion or religion-neutral.

Any “consultative mechanism” to legitimise religious bodies’ role in providing “guidance” to the government — as the letter promises — could be seen as detrimental to the Constitution’s vision of India as a secular republic, although Advani promises equal respect for all religions.

The letter says: “It will be my endeavour to seek on a regular basis the guidance of spiritual leaders of all denominations on major challenges and issues facing the nation. For this, we shall evolve a suitable consultative mechanism.”

Although Advani has attempted an image makeover from hard-liner to moderate to try and fit into Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s shoes, his latest move signifies a major departure from the Vajpayee era.

During those years of BJP rule between 1998 and 2004, Hindu religious leaders, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) mahants, had been extremely unhappy with the government.

Vajpayee had antagonised even the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh by keeping its leaders at bay, to the extent that new Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that nothing had changed with the change of government at the Centre (from the Congress and the United Front to the BJP).

Advani’s letter follows a charter of demands from the Dharma Raksha Manch, a VHP-backed body that claims India’s identity cannot be religion-neutral and has demanded the country be declared a “spiritual nation”.

The Manch has representatives from all major religions but draws its sustenance from the larger Sangh parivar. Many of its demands — on conversions and the protection of the cow, the Ganga and the Ram Setu — find mention in Advani’s letter.

The letter raises most of the parivar’s pet issues, including the regulation of foreign donations that are allegedly being used for conversions, but doesn’t mention the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. Although the Manch has called for a uniform civil code — an exclusively Hindutva agenda — Advani is silent on this.

According to PTI, sources in Advani’s office said the letter’s recipients included Baba Ramdev, Shri Shri Ravi Shankar, Maulana Wahiuddin and several archbishops.

“Our people have unshakeable faith in religion, and seek the guidance of religious leaders like you in matters both worldly and other-worldly. This is because religion in India has always cared for the well-being of the nation and its people, and striven for strengthening the ethical edifice of both the state and society,” the letter says.

“We shall end governmental neglect of the multi-faith spiritual heritage of India. The advocacy and practice of secularism, which unfortunately has come to acquire an anti-religious or religion-neutral connotation in the past five years, will be restored to its true meaning — Sarva Panth Samaadar (equal respect for all faiths).”

The promises in the letter include beautification and development of important pilgrimage centres of all faiths, and amenities for pilgrims similar to those at the Vaishnodevi shrine and Tirupati.