By Shishir Arya

Nagpur: The very idea of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb (term used for fusion of Hindu and Muslim cultures in the country), is irrelevant. What exists is one culture, and the rest can simply merge into it, said secretary-general of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Milind Parande. “The Hindu cause has to be prime,” he added.
“The confluence of Ganga and Jamuna rivers takes place at Prayagraj (Allahabad). If you see, there Jamuna completely merges into the Ganga and simply vanishes. It has to be the same for the country. Everything else has to merge into one large Hindu culture,” said Parande.

He was addressing a press conference in the city on Monday. Parande also said that idol of Lord Rama would be installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple at Ayodhya by December 2023. The work is in the foundation stage and donations to the tune of Rs3,200 crore have received for the cause so far. The temple even today is open for pilgrimage, he added.

Later talking to TOI, Parande said that the single culture means Hindu culture, which is related to a geo-cultural identity.

“By merging into the Hindu culture does not mean that Muslims may not follow their religion,” he said.

“They can follow their faith, but have to respect the sentiments of Hindus, which is majority community in the country. They should refrain from cow slaughter, not protest against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and live peacefully without causing riots,” he said.

“The post-poll violence in West Bengal is one example where they used their brute force of majority. What will happen if the Hindus use their brute force of majority,” he asked.

There is need to change the history curriculum, which glorifies the Mughal kings, Parande said as he hit out at The Empire web series on Babur.

Parande said VHP is a social organization and works for the betterment of Hindus and does not tend to harm anyone and also does not believe in violence.

“VHP has also been actively working on bringing back women into the Hindu fold after they were converted to Islam through love jihad,” he said. Nearly 1,000 are re-converted each year, he added.

On question about lyricist Javed Akhtar’s Taliban-RSS comments, which have raked up a controversy, Parande said strict action should be taken against him. “Javed Akhtar is a man of repute and a person like him should not make such comments. One such person brings disrepute to the entire community. Now it is up to the community members to denounce him,” he said.

On the alleged ‘Hijab Day’ incident in Nagpur, Parande said strict action should be taken against the organizers. “Their apology is not enough and they should be punished. They are apologizing now because they lack the power. Tomorrow if they get the might, same thing would be forced upon us,” he said, referring to last week’s incident in which some women had allegedly tried to make walkers on a street in Civil Lines wear Hijab.

This story first appeared on timesofindia.indiatimes.com