Atal Bihari Vajpayee death anniversary: ‘Never demanded for a Hindu Raj…,' when former PM spoke against theocracy

livemint.com:

Atal Bihari Vajpayee death anniversary: Former Indian prime minister and one of the tallest leader of BJP Atal Bihari Vajpayee had once commented that RSS never demanded for a Hindu Raj, it spoke about a Hindu Rashtra. Then explaining the concept for Hindu Rashtra, he said, the idea of Rashtra is that India is not formed in 1947 but it was a very old civilisation and ‘I would personally prefer calling it Bharatiya Rashtra, and not a Hindu Rashtra’ “We never demanded Hindu Rashtra or theocracy," he said during an interview and further added, “Politic in the name of religion has never happened in this country, and it will never happen in the future." “Our opinion about the minorities is extremely clear.

Minorities are citizens of India and they have equal rights and responsibilities in this country. This is a secular country and minorities should never live in fear." Vajpayee's visionary leadership and strategic acumen not only shaped the BJP's image during his prime ministerial tenure but also helped build the party's stocks from scratch.

During the interview, Vajpayee discerned nationalism as equal rights for all, dismissing communalism based on religion or majority. Explaiing the difference between the two, Vajpayee said, “If Hindus in this country think that they should have some special rights since they are the majority and the minorities should lesser rights, then that is communalism." Vajpayee underscores that constitutionally guaranteed equal rights diminish harm to minorities.