Amid a raging debate on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks, Union Minister and senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday slammed attempts to create controversies whenever there is a reference to the word ‘Hindu’. ‘Hindu is a not a religious concept. Hindu is a cultural identity,’ the Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs minister said at an event here days after Bhagwat said India is a Hindu nation and Hindutva is its identity.
‘If Hindu is a religion, then why this (The) Hindu newspaper?.. If Hindu is a religion, then why Hindustan Times newspaper and why Hindi ‘akhbar’ Hindustan? And why Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT)? then why Hindustan Aeronautics Limited? then why Hindustan Shipyard?
‘I can give 125 examples like this. These are not the names given by (PM) Narendra Modi or Venkaiah Naidu or somebody. This has been there in our traditions,’ Naidu said.
‘If Hindu is a religion, then why this (The) Hindu newspaper?.. If Hindu is a religion, then why Hindustan Times newspaper and why Hindi ‘akhbar’ Hindustan? And why Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT)? then why Hindustan Aeronautics Limited? then why Hindustan Shipyard?
‘I can give 125 examples like this. These are not the names given by (PM) Narendra Modi or Venkaiah Naidu or somebody. This has been there in our traditions,’ Naidu said.