Ramesh Shinde Calls For Hindu Rashtra On Shivaji’s Swarajya Model In Bengaluru

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Bengaluru: A ‘Hindu Rashtra’ should be established in India on the model of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Swarajya, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) national spokesperson Ramesh Shinde said in Bengaluru, arguing that it is essential for the country’s security and existence.

Shinde was speaking at a ‘Hindutvanishtha Sneha Sammelan’, a get-together of Hindutva supporters held at the Manandi Nanjunda Shetty hall in the city to mark the Samiti entering its 25th year, according to a release issued by the organisation on November 1.

“Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj remains immortal in people’s minds because he built Swarajya. On the same model, establishing a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ is essential for India’s security and existence,” Shinde said, according to the release.

Ramesh Shinde on infiltration, scrapyards and meat sale

Referring to what he described as the problem of illegal infiltrators challenging the country’s internal security, Shinde claimed that Rohingyas who had travelled 3,500 km from Myanmar had settled near the Sunjuwan army camps in Jammu, and called this a serious security lapse. He also voiced concern over what he termed rapid, unauthorised demographic change in various parts of the country, saying it posed a grave threat to India’s future security.

Shinde alleged that large unlicensed scrapyards were becoming hideouts for illegal infiltrators, and that roadside meat sale in violation of civic rules was a risk to health and security. He said new campaigns would be launched against unauthorised scrapyards and illegal meat sale, for what he called a capable India and a safe ‘Hindu Rashtra’.

He urged young people to be alert to what he called anti-national threats such as ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ and ‘Vision 2047’. He also said a ‘police complaints authority’ had been set up for the protection of Hindu activists, and a ‘Mandir Mahasangh’ for the safety of temples.

Muthalik calls for ‘kshatratva’

Sri Ram Sene founder Pramod Muthalik, who also addressed the gathering, said the HJS was building awareness of nationalism rooted in devotion and strength, on a spiritual foundation. He said everyone must prepare physically and mentally, with an awareness of ‘kshatratva’ (warrior spirit), to face what he described as the coming days of conflict. Muthalik had also addressed a regional Hindu Rashtra convention in Bengaluru in April.

Muthalik condemned what he called appeasement over the song Vande Mataram, and asserted that establishing a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ and enforcing a strict anti-cow slaughter law were unavoidable for the protection of dharma.

According to Muthalik, thousands of awareness books have been published on the basis of what he described as evidence-based studies, with data, on the effects of issues such as halal and ‘love jihad’ on the nation, religion and Hindu society. He said nationalist ideas were being spread through religious awareness meetings, door-to-door contact and religious education, and that people were being urged that every Hindu must, without hesitation, cultivate ‘kshatratva’ to protect religion, the country, scriptures and the cow.

HJS lists its campaigns

HJS state spokesperson Mohan Gowda said the Samiti works in 22 states and has, for the last 25 years, been engaged in propagating and protecting dharma and in organising Hindus, with the resolve of establishing a Hindu Rashtra. He said the Samiti had held more than 3,000 agitations against what it regards as attacks on dharma, and had brought together more than 1,000 Hindu organisations through its national Hindu Rashtra convention.

Gowda said the Samiti had fought successfully against making the Bible compulsory in schools, for legal action to stop shows it considers blasphemous, for a ‘halal-free’ campaign, and for the observance of religious rules at temple fairs. He referred to its women’s wing ‘Ranaragini’, legal assistance offered by lawyers through the ‘Rashtrabhakta Adhivakta Samiti’ and a campaign for respect to the national flag, and said a police complaints authority was set up after the Samiti’s legal battle.

Hindu leaders Prashant Sambargi, Shivakumar and Sri Aroodha Bharati Swamiji, along with office-bearers of organisations including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Rashtra Raksha Pade, Sri Ram Sene and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, thinkers, lawyers and hundreds of activists attended the gathering, the release said.