India still facing ‘Hindu-Muslim’ issues due to Cong policy: Gadkari

New Delhi: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said the country is still facing “Hindu-Muslim problems” in society due to the Congress’ idea of secularism and its vote bank politics.

Addressing an event in New Delhi, Gadkari said the meaning of the English word “secular” is “sarva dharma bhav” in Hindi or “justice to all and appeasement of none” in English, not “dharmanirpeksh” as the Congress described it “based on its thinking”. “After 1947, the Congress got the opportunity to rule the country. Based on its thinking, they sowed some seeds... After Independence, various types of Hindu-Muslim problems came up,” the former BJP president said. It was the Congress’ “secularvaad” (secularism) and its description that created these problems which the country is still facing, he said.

“You find out the meaning of secular in the dictionary. Its meaning is not ‘dharmanirpeksha’. Secular means ‘sarva dharma sambhaav’. Justice to all and appeasement of none is its true meaning,” Gadkari said.

“Unfortunately, the problem that came up in politics in the form of dharmanirpekshta’s definition after 1947 is still creating troubles for us,” the senior BJP leader said.

The policies that were adopted by the Congress as part of its vote bank politics have created the problems, he added.

Gadkari was addressing an event orgainsed here to launch a book, “My Idea of Nation First: Redefining Unalloyed Nationalism”, authoured by Uday Mahurkar.

The Union minister said a recall of history is needed to learn from the “mistakes” made in the past to ensure that they are not repeated in the future.

Reiterating what former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee once asserted, Gadkari said, “India is a secular country, it was secular and it will remain secular.”