FEBRUARY 21 Nation Building

The BJP leaders point out that the secularism of the Congress is pseudosecularism and to replace it they have offered the concept of Hindutva. Perhaps they do not know that Hindutva is not the alternative for pseudosecularism. It is this error in thinking which has caused the BJP to fail as a party. No significant work of national construction may be expected from it. In a large country like India only those who possess a universal outlook are capable of governing. Individuals who think along sectarian lines instead of being broad-minded, are not suitable for India’s leadership. 5. Now the hour has come to form a fresh political party composed not of “freedom fighters” but of educational and social activists. It is only such people who can save India from ruination. In the last three years I have travelled extensively all over the country. During my tours I have found that there are tens of thousands of individuals in our country who are capable of positive thinking, and are actively involved in the field of educational and social reform. They pine for the welfare of the country. All these people can be gathered at the platform of a new political party. Today we stand at the most critical juncture of our history. To build a new and brighter future for our country, we have to work, on the one hand, for mass education, an outline for which I have already presented in The Hindustan Times of May 19, 1995. An equally important task is the formation of a new political party on the lines discussed above. To me the future of the country rests on the rigorous performance of these two tasks. 6. As a first step in the right direction I propose that a political meeting be convened at the All India level; this should not include those whose political records are marred in the eyes of the public. Only those should be invited to it whose records are clean and who are actively, practically involved in some field of national construction. This political convention can become the basis for a party with fresh vigour, capable of providing the right leadership to the country.