Barking up the wrong trees

My friend from the VHP was defending Praveen Togadia8217;s infamous statement on Sonia Gandhi. He said, 8216;8216;Togadia owes no explana...

My friend from the VHP was defending Praveen Togadia8217;s infamous statement on Sonia Gandhi. He said, 8216;8216;Togadia owes no explanation to communists and pseudo-securalists who were in any case calling everyone the running dogs of imperialism.8217;8217;

Strolling inside Lodhi Garden in New Delhi with his dog in tow, the VHP man stared at his canine possession proudly. 8216;8216;He is well trained,8217;8217; he said. The dog did a pranam whenever he saw other dogs.

My VHP friend continued, 8216;8216;You Hindus are the ones making the most noise about us. In fact, Muslims in India have kept quiet after Gujarat. Since we have written you off, we have decided to make sure at least Hindu dogs remain Hindus. One thing is for sure8212;at least they are loyal. Not like you Hindus supported by Musharraf.8217;8217;

8216;8216;How,8217;8217; I asked, 8216;8216;have Hindus been responsible for their own mess?8217;8217;

8216;8216;Look at V P Singh. He was a Hindu but he divided us. And thanks to him we have become a minority in our own country.8217;8217; This was entirely new. I said, 8216;8216;Tell me more.8217;8217;

8216;8216;By introducing reservations for lower caste, he divided the Hindus into lower caste and upper caste.8217;8217; 8216;8216;You mean, he introduced the caste system,8217;8217; I asked.

8216;8216;The caste system existed but by introducing reservations in the caste system, he made sure Hindus were isolated.8217;8217; I countered, 8216;8216;You mean the upper caste.8217;8217;

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8216;8216;Yes, we are the real Hindus and, thanks to the misguided Hindus, are in a real minority,8217;8217; argued my VHP friend. 8216;8216;I realised that it was the non-Hindus who were getting all the reservations in Tamil Nadu. There were backwards who were getting top jobs, untouchability had been sought to be abolished, the so-called atrocities against Dalits were being publicised8230; What is the world coming to?8217;8217;

8216;8216;You mean your real fight is for us and we don8217;t realise it,8217;8217; I said. He replied, 8216;8216;Even the NDA Government is pushing for reforms instead of swadeshi, succumbing to Bush and appeasing every pseudo-secularist.8217;8217;

The VHP man had his own definition of Musharraf8217;s Muslim: 8216;8216;Anyone opposed to the VHP is Musharraf8217;s Muslim. It is Vaghela in Gujarat, Mulayam Singh in UP and Sonia Gandhi in the rest of the country.8217;8217;

At that precise moment, a pack of dogs, all Yorkshire terriers, attacked my friend8217;s pet but despite the snarling, the VHP desi dog was not getting provoked. 8216;8216;See how tolerant he is compared to dogs belonging to other faiths,8217;8217; said my friend proudly.

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Trying to change the subject, I asked, 8216;8216;Hasn8217;t the BJP and the Prime Minister in particular attacked the VHP for its provocative statements? 8216;8216;We are aware of the pressures on the PM, these are the compulsions of power. Once he8217;s out of power he will see reason. We are convinced he is a good Hindu at heart, but we will not be underdogs and sacrifices have to be made for a larger cause,8217;8217; argued the VHP leader.

At that precise moment, my friend8217;s dog, who had been docile all along, struggled out of its leash and raced towards its own larger cause8212;a starving desi stray who looked Indian in every way.

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