HVK Archives: Mark Tully pulls out all stops for Hindutva
Mark Tully pulls out all stops for Hindutva - The Asian Age
Bishwanath Ghosh
()
27 August 1997
Title: Mark Tully pulls out all stops for Hindutva
Author: Bishwanath Ghosh
Publication: The Asian Age
Date: August 27, 1997
The BJP has found a new advocate in Mr Mark Tully, the former BBC
correspondent, who feels that Indian civilisation has a Hindu base to it
and that Hindus should proclaim their identity with pride.
The party is so thrilled with one of India's famous foreigners endorsing
its line that it has devoted seven pages to Mr Tully's views in a recent
issue of its mouthpiece, BJP Today.
The former BBC correspondent has expressed these views while addressing the
National Hindu Students Forum in Britain. "I believe that Indian has to
have some way of expressing its respect for its own civilisation and
accepting the fact, and I have said this publicly many times before, that
it is, and you can argue, whether there is such a thing as Hinduism or not,
scholars will always argue but most Indians feel that there is a Hindu base
to this civilisation," says Mr Tully, who has authored several books
including No Full Stops in India.
Mr Tully is considered by many in the BJP as more Indian than Indians, and
they are extremely happy that the well-known foreign journalist has
expressed such an opinion at a time when "many educated Indians were wary
of endorsing BJP's Hindutva philosophy."
Mr Tully even comes to the rescue of the BJP: "As soon as you talk about
Hinduism in Bharat, you are immediately, and I have had this said to me
many times, been accused of or told that you are BJP or RSS or something
like that. Now in my view the BJP is a political party.
"But I do profoundly believe that India needs to be able to say with pride,
'Yes, our civilisation has a Hindu base to it.' And for Hindus to be able
to say with pride that they are Hindus."
Mr Tully says he was aware that this was the slogan of the RSS in some
places, but he still believed that it was "right and proper" for both these
things becoming part of India's life.
He opined that the genius of Hinduism, and the very reason of its survival
for so long, was that it does not stand up and fight.
"It changes and adapts and modernises and its absorbs and that is the
scientific and proper way of going about it as well.
Why is Christianity in so much trouble at the moment? Because it is so
difficult for it to adapt," says the celebrated television journalist.
Saying that Hinduism would prove to be the religion of the next Millenium,
Mr Tully added it should be proud that there are 125 million Muslims, who
can do namaaz whenever they like, and that there are Christians who rejoice
that St. Thomas probably came to India and 20 million of whom flood to the
churches.
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