January
5,
2003
Harkishan
Singh
Surjeet,
General
Secretary
of
the
CPI(M)
has
issued
the
following
statement:
The
highly
objectionable
remarks
made
by
the
Dy.
Prime
Minister,
Mr.
L.K.
Advani
at
Gandhinagar
while
addressing
the
BJP’s
state
executive
needs
to
be
condemned
in
no
uncertain
terms.
In
a
further
attempt
to
promote
the
BJP-RSS
brand
of
secularism,
Mr.
Advani
has
sought
to
weave
a
web
of
lies
and
distortion.
In
this
effort,
he
not
only
seeks
to
misinterpret
the
commonly
accepted
notion
of
secularism
as
the
separation
of
religion
from
politics
but
drags
in
Jawaharlal
Nehru
and
other
symbols
of
the
national
movement
to
justify
the
BJP-RSS-VHP
vision.
What
is
more
deplorable
is
Mr.
Advani’s
denigration
of
the
national
flag.
He
has
termed
the
Ashoka
Chakra
being
embossed
in
the
middle
of
the
flag
as
“unfortunate”
as
he
considers
it
to
be
a
symbol
of
Bhuddhism.
After
attacking
the
Congress,
which
represented
the
mainstream
of
the
national
movement,
the
communists
and
secularism,
now
an
attempt
is
being
made
to
denigrate
national
symbols
and
the
national
flag
itself.
It
needs
no
reiteration
that
the
RSS
not
only
kept
itself
aloof
of
the
freedom
struggle
but
divided
the
people
by
sowing
discord
and
spreading
communal
poison.
Advani’s
remarks
are
a
reflection
of
the
intention
of
the
BJP
to
stick
to
its
“Hindutva”
platform
and
continue
with
its
virulent
campaign
not
only
for
the
coming
local
body
elections
in
Gujarat
but
throughout
the
country,
buoyed
by
the
success
it
received
in
the
Gujarat
assembly
elections.
The
necessity
to
conduct
a
sustained
and
effective
struggle
against
the
communal
ideology
has
to
be
all
the
more
understood
by
the
secular
forces.
Secular
forces
will
have
to
remain
alert
and
conduct
an
uncompromising
struggle
against
the
Hindutva
agenda
which
masquerades
as
“cultural
nationalism.”