VHP Rebukes Hamid Ansari Over Right-Wing Communalism Remarks

VHP spokesperson Surendra Jain dismissed the former Vice President’s claims as a direct insult to national traditions. Speaking to ANI, Jain argued that the very freedom of Ansari to criticize the majority community serves as proof of the country’s inherent tolerance. He pointed to the proliferation of mosques across India as evidence against the existence of systemic religious intolerance, while accusing Ansari of a pattern of dissent that includes his past opposition to the Supreme Court’s Ram Janmabhoomi verdict.

Ansari’s remarks occurred at the India Islamic Cultural Centre in New Delhi during the 3rd AG Noorani Memorial Lecture. Drawing from the late author’s 2019 book, 'The RSS: A Menace to India,' Ansari cited a historical warning from Jawaharlal Nehru. According to records kept by former Foreign Secretary Jagat Singh Gundevia, Nehru once cautioned that the primary threat to the country was not communism, but the rise of Hindu right-wing communalism. Ansari framed these observations as essential context for understanding modern challenges to civic nationalism, positioning himself once again at the center of a heated debate over the secular identity of the state.