Tejasvi Surya, a BJP MP, has “unconditionally withdrawn” his remarks on Hindu revival and “returning to the Hindu fold” all those who converted “over the course of India’s history.” The video clip of his remarks has sparked widespread outrage at a time when a number of contentious statements have been delivered from public venues.
Tejasvi Surya, the Member of Parliament for Bangalore South, sparked outrage on social media when he urged Hindus to “dream big” and “reconvert” Pakistanis to Hinduism. Temples and mutts, according to the BJP leader, should establish a goal of re-converting individuals of other religions to Hinduism.
“Those people who have left their mother religion and have for various socio-political, economic reasons over the course of India’s history, those who have gone out of the Hindu fold, must be brought back in whole, brought back into the Hindu faith, brought back to the mother faith,” asserted the 31-year-old MP from Bangalore South.
“We should start thinking big,” Surya remarked at the “Vishwarpanam” event at Krishna Mutt in Udupi on Saturday. We should begin boldly dreaming of the unattainable and making it a reality.”
“Abolition of Article 370 and the construction of Ram Mandir may appear unattainable today,” he remarked.
He suggested that such a ‘ghar wapsi’ push start in Karnataka, citing the state’s history of preventing “intrusion and invasion from Mughals and other external forces in South India.”
Some people on social media backed Tejasvi, while others were offended by his statements. “Bangalore south, are you not ashamed of electing this man to Parliament?” Clearly, intelligence does not equal education!” tweeted Twitter user Anand Srinivasan.
