BJP claims it is ‘secular’; slams NPCC tirade as ‘off course’

DIMAPUR, OCTOBER 5: The Nagaland unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has in the outright denounced what it called the “self contradicting amusing stance of NPCC” that the BJP was “non-secular.” The BJP issued a press release in response to the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) on Wednesday.
‘The criticism around the views that BJP is non-secular is nothing but cheap propaganda tactics for publicity adopted by below-the-edge leaders which has no foothold. The failed election gimmick adopted by the NPCC president to rope in supporters at the cost of the secular integrity of the ruling BJP government is a pathetic statement,’ the BJP press release stated.
The unit has ‘clarified’ that the BJP “is a secular political party based on the philosophy of humanism and patriotism with focus on ushering in all round equitable developments throughout the furthest reach of the country.”
The party, the unit claimed, “has no agenda of Hindunisation (sic) as assumed. The instances of anti-Christian activities is not only confined to the BJP government period but has also occurred during several of the congress governments in the centre and states,” the BJP stated.
“The only fact is that such incidences are vociferously highlighted by anti BJP elements to malign the party. On the same breadth, though anti-cow slaughter legislation is as old as India’s Independence in varying measures from state to state, anti BJP elements had flatly blamed only the BJP for the legislations. As such, the time has come for the public to examine and retrospect such anti BJP propagandas and remain steadfast with only the truths.”
On the NPCC’s “Christian charges against BJP,” the BJP asserted that “no true Christians criticize and point fingers but they live practical Christian lives.”
The BJP stated: “Those who criticize with a holier-than-thou attitude are just another professing Christians who has a doubtful foundation of Christian faith and whose Christianity stretches only as long as his criticisms. They are the breed of ‘Christians’ who have belittled the meaning and depth of Christianity. Not BJP.”
The BJP said that the party has a “large number of Christians as well as members from every different types of religions professed in the country” and not “restricted to Hinduism.”
Also, the BJP noted what it said was the NPCC’s “ridiculous charges” that DAN alliance was for “reasons of greed.”
In one good length, the party questioned if the Congress had “forgotten that the money centric politics of the Congress since 1975 took the state on the wild, wild road to zenith levels of corruption the last three decades thereby looting the state of any developments?”
“The problem today of corruption, disharmony, unemployment, differences, economic slump, etc., are the by-products of yesteryears’ congress misrule of greed which the NDA and the DAN governments are finding extremely tough to rectify. With patience on the part of the erstwhile congress, these problems shall be gradually solved and place the nation and state on the path of normalcy.”
The BJP has stated that “instead of lambasting the NDA and DAN,” the NPCC should “own responsibility for the misdeeds of the Congress culture till date and appreciate the tireless efforts being made by the prime minister to remedy the faulty corruption culture through various measures such as linking adhaar to bank accounts for receiving government subsidies as well as myriads of public welfare related schemes.”