ALIGARH: He said that under the RSS, India is becoming mirror image of Pakistan. Irfan Habib is unfazed that he’s stirred up the hornet’s nest by his comparison of RSS and ISIS, in which he had claimed that both organizations were just as idiotic and ignorant. The historian, who is professor emeritus at Centre of Advanced Study, Aligarh Muslim University, asserted that the protection of liberal values and democracy was the job of “all the people”.

“Democratic values are not for liberals alone to protect. All the people in the country must protect its secular credentials.,” Habib told a newspaper. He explained that his comparison of the ISIS with RSS ought to be seen in the context of extremism in the name of religion and the ignorance exhibited by followers of these ideologies.

“When it comes to ignorance and idiocy, RSS and ISIS are just the same. The events of 1947 show that RSS outdid ISIS in hate crimes. The RSS portrays Indian history so wrongly that it defames the country,” he said.

On Sardar Patel’s stance on the RSS, Habib said although Patel did not think the RSS was behind the assassination of Gandhi, he knew as home minister that it had celebrated the assassination with distribution of sweets.

“Patel believed RSS and Hindu Mahasabha (may not have been behind the assassination, but) had other sins and crimes to answer for. Now what were those? Has anyone thought of inquiring into those crimes? They have gone unpunished for those,” Habib said.

Recommending that people read DF Karaka’s ‘Freedom must not stink’, Habib said, “RSS has blood on its hands. They are guilty of distributing sweets on the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.”

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dr Habib said, “He goes all out to defame the country, saying genetics and cosmetic surgery existed in India in ancient times. Does that mean we were so bad at science and technology that we forgot all those skills?”

Comparing the Modi government to that led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 1998-2004, he said, “Under Vajpayee, there was a coalition. So there were groups in government that did not toe the BJP line. Still, there were RSS-initiated campaigns in which Lal Krishna Advani participated. Vajpayee had mellowed, and adopted Gandhian socialism. He condemned the Gujarat riots. He had exposure to national politics before becoming PM, unlike Modi, who is a total RSS man. His government shows no restraint.”

[Prepared by Newsnet Desk from media sources]

  habib, intolerance, RSS