This is the speech that VHP international general secretary Praveen Togadia made on Saturday at Lodia village—the epicentre of the earthquake in Gujarat’s Bhuj district—in the presence of State Industry Minister Suresh Mehta and Animal Husbandry Minister Devanand Solanki. Excerpts from the speech, which was first reported by The Indian Express, as recorded on tape.
When I came here, some friends told me that some organisations have requested that I should not say anything that will offend their feelings. Now they dictate to us what we should say. But my question is, don’t you offend us?
At Bhimasar police station, a complaint has been lodged. An 18-year-old boy was taken to Radhanpur six months ago and made a Muslim. If you do this, doesn’t this offend us? We don’t offend anybody’s feelings. But here our feelings have been hurt. Have you agitated against this?
‘Soniaben is imported from abroad. But Muslims of India are not imported, they are converted. I advise all Muslims to get tested, if their blood is proved to be that of Rama and Krishna, how can there be any dispute?’ |
When you attack our Akshardham, does not this offend our feelings? When you burnt people alive at Godhra station, does this not offend our feelings? When you destroy our Somnath temple, does not this offend our feelings?
When the so-called Babri Masjid which was, in fact, a Hindu temple was destroyed, Muslims became unhappy. They (Muslims) clamoured that Hindus had destroyed the masjid which was a Hindu temple. Here, were your feelings not hurt? They were. When Babar destroyed our Ram temple 450 years ago, were we not hurt then? When you burnt people at Godhra station, we have to respect your feelings. When you create bloodshed at Akshardham we have to respect your feelings, but should you not respect our feelings in such incidents?
This type of mindset has produced the offspring of Gazni in this country. We have always lived peacefully for ages. Do you find any clash between the Parsees and Hindus? Is there any conflict between Hindus and Jews? Is there any fight between Hindus and Buddhists? Do you find any clash between Hindus and Sikhs? Why then there is conflict with some Muslims?
‘There’s been browbeating in Gujarat to delay elections so that Hindu votes get divided, so that supporters of Miya Musharraf could rule here. Therefore, never vote on the basis of caste. Vote on the basis of religion’ |
When a survey conducted by the India Today magazine asked Muslims whether Mohammad Gazni, Aurangzeb and Jinnah, who was unfortunately from Gujarat, were among their heroes, one-third of the 12 crore Muslims gave an affirmative answer. How we can have a rapport with you when you have this mentality? They certainly cannot be our heroes. If you still think that your feelings are hurt, then you should go to Pakistan. If you have to live in this country you have to respect the feelings of Hindus. We have never hurt your feelings, you have. You are still doing it.
A well known Mumbai-based authority on Islam, Rafiq Zakaria, has written that only jihadis opposed Muslims. Of late, there is seen some protest against this mentality in some Muslims. Zakaria clearly says that Hindus are not at fault here as it is work of only jihadi Muslims.
I will give you an example of a village near Viramgam where there was communal harmony between Muslims and Hindus who greet each other with ‘Ram Ram’ and ‘Salaam Valekum’ for ages. But then came a maulvi from Uttar Pradesh. One day, on a Friday, a Muslim did not greet Hindus. When the Hindu villagers asked the Muslim villagers for the reason behind this sudden change in behaviour, they were told that the maulvi had told them not to wish Kafirs on Friday.
When the Godhra incident took place, the so-called secularists of this country did not condemn it the same day. Those who disrupted Parliament for a whole month on the Ram mandir issue didn’t raise this issue in Parliament. Then, the communal violence began from February 28. First, the puppies of Gujarat made noises and started barking. When it was felt that this noise would not do, dogs from all over the country started coming here. Some came from Lucknow, some came from Kerala. Then we heard that a dog from Italy also made the rounds here.
‘You can’t harm the Hindu religion by jihad because we have the tradition of wearing a garland of flowers. But our Hindu deity wears a garland of human heads, we wrongly adopted the tradition of wearing flowers’ |
There has been browbeating in Gujarat to delay the elections so that Hindu votes get divided, so that people of Lohana community vote for their community candidates, so that the Darbars, Patels and Brahmins do the same. So that the supporters of Miya Musharraf could rule here. Should we permit companions of Miya Musharraf to rule here?
Therefore, never vote on the basis of caste. Vote on the basis of religion. If you do not vote on the basis of religion, there cannot be unity among the people of Gujarat.
You think that Hindus could be suppressed with bomb explosions or violence? We are five crore Hindus in Gujarat. If 50,000 Hindus get killed in a terrorist attack, the five crore figure will not get smaller. If you people who number 50,000 die, no one would be left here from you.
Our Soniaben is imported from abroad. But Muslims of India are not imported. Indian Muslims are converted Muslims. Therefore, Soniaben is a foreigner to us but Muslims are not.
Since the forefathers of Muslims are Hindus, how can the blood of Arabia flow in their blood? I advise all Muslims to get themselves tested for their Hindu origin. I request Indian Muslims to get their genetics tested. The blood flowing in their blood vessels will be found to be not of Prophet Mohammed but of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna. If it is proved that you have the blood of Rama and Krishna, then how can there be any dispute with you? It is you who are in conflict with us. If in the name of Prophet Mohammed, you pray in a mosque, we have no objection. But if you talk of jihad, it is not acceptable to us.
Gujarat is not the right place for jihad. You cannot harm Hindu religion and culture by jihad because Hindus have the tradition of wearing a garland of flowers. But our Hindu deity wears a garland of human heads, we feel we wrongly adopted the tradition of wearing a garland of flowers.