Root for the roots

VADODARA, Aug 25: Praveen Togadiya, general secretary of the international body of Vishwa Hindu Parishad VHP took a different stance towards the quot;anti-Hinduquot; parties at an quot;intellectualsquot; meet Bhautik Sammelan on Tuesday night. The fiery orator was unusually mild and refrained from his otherwise routine critique of such forces.

Organised by a group of doctors and advocates, VHP8217;s Gujarat secretary Dilip Trivedi lambasted the Congress and other parties and exhorted the gathering to support the Bharatiya Janata Party in the coming elections. BJP is the only party which favoured interests of Hindus, he said. Any country would be doomed if its intellectuals do not speak at the right time, Togadiya said. He gave examples of former civilised8217; nation-states like Greece and Italy which had dramatically changed 8212; sociologically and culturally 8212; over the centuries and had lost most of what they possessed in terms of academic, intellectual and cultural treasurers.

Indirectly lampooning several Congress leaders8217; culture and education which, he said, had roots in foreign countries, Togadiya alleged they were endangering the country for further partitions because they did not know the roots of India and the means of progress. 8220;Earlier it was Pakistan, then Bangladesh. At present it is Kashmir and it may be northeastern states next8221;, he held, adding that only truly Indians could save the country from such partitions.