Q: So you will not demand ‘Hindu Rashtra' if ‘true' secularism is followed in this country.
Ram Madhav: ‘Hindu Rashtra' is total secularism. There is no contradiction. And to say that we are demanding Hindu Rashtra is very funny to me. India is a ‘Hindu Rashtra'. We have to realize it.
Now what is happening is that you are terming people as majority or minority on the basis of religion. And you are saying that a particular religious community should have the first claim over resources. How can it be permitted in any country? Poorest people should have more rights but to say that a particular religion should have first claim is false secularism.
Q: What do you mean by ‘cultural nationalism' and why it is always interpreted as against minorities particularly Muslims.
Ram Madhav: ‘Cultural nationalism' is similar to the concept of ‘Hindu Rashtra'. ‘Hindu Rashtra' is what we call cultural nationalist idea. India as a nation should follow the age old principles of our ‘Hindu culture' where all ways of worship will flourish, all diversity will flourish but under one principle – We are all one. We have to live respecting each other. Under ‘Hindu Rashtra' or ‘cultural nationalism' setup, you will find every identity being protected under one identity – we are one country, one people, and one culture.
As for why ‘cultural nationalism' has been interpreted as against minorities, there are two reasons.
One is, those who have got special privileges in the name of minorities, they don't want to give up. They should think about whether this whole drama of special privileges has benefited their communities. Dividing this country in the name of minorities and majorities has not helped minorities and has not helped in creating unity. On the contrary dividing people on religious lines had led to division of this country and once again we can see more of mutual hatred and less of mutual understanding because of this.
Secondly and most importantly, pseudo-secular leaders of various political parties are thriving on divisions of our society. These people have turned minorities into votes, minority votes.
