A woman Hindutva leader has sought five minutes of free rein from the Centre to convert the country into a “Hindu Rashtra”.
The Vishwa Hindu Mahasangh (Bharat), which claims to be working towards making India a nation “only for Hindus”, organised a mahayagna in Moradabad on Monday to pledge that they would transform India into a “Hindu Rashtra”.
“We want the government to give us five minutes (of permission to do anything). Each matri-shakti (mother-power) would take on 100 of them,” Tulika Sharma, general secretary of the organisation, said in an apparent reference to the minority community.
“We are learning to use weapons. I am myself learning sword fighting,” she added.
Sharma said the outfit had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare India a Hindu nation “as soon as possible”.
“We can also do this. Nobody should think that we fear anybody. The Hindu religion is 10,000 years old. Those who belonged to other faiths came here either to popularise their religion or to loot India. Then they converted some Hindus. Those who left India after Partition (in 1947) were non-Hindus. Those who are still living here must convert to Hinduism or leave the country soon,” she warned.
Sharma claimed AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had remarked in Moradabad a few years ago that they would have changed “the dynamic of the area if given 15 minutes”.
“We don’t need 15 minutes; we need only five minutes to handle them and make India a Hindu nation. Anybody can get a taste of our power by giving us five minutes only,” she said.
Sharma’s emergence as a hate-spewing Hindutva zealot in Uttar Pradesh comes close on the heels of the arrest of All India Hindu Mahasabha national general secretary Pooja Shakun Pandey in connection with the murder of local businessman Abhishek Gupta.
A senior BJP leader in Lucknow said he supported Sharma’s demand. “Even the BJP stands by her demand. Senior leaders of the BJP and the RSS have made similar demands in the past,” he said on condition of anonymity.
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Anurag Bhadauriya said: “We oppose both Owaisi and Sharma’s remarks. The government must take action against such people.”