Participating in a panel discussion in the Raisina Dialogue, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav claimed that German dictator Adolf Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini were the “products of democracy”
Taking a dig at the Opposition parties over their agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), he said that those who lost in the “democratic process” converted the “streets into the democratic platform” and engaged in violence.
Without naming anyone and taking a jibe at the protesters he said, “When someone loses in the democratic process and makes roads into the democratic platform, involves in violence and say the government is not listening, that is not the democratic spirit.”
Saying that the CAA was passed in the “most democratic manner”, he added, “The government is duty-bound to respond to criticism without violence. Some are getting depressed and claiming that Indian democracy is going to the dogs, that you have to keep aside. In India, governments are changed very easily. Nobody is going to sustain in a democracy for a long time,” further saying, “Or else you give democracy to a given country, take it from me, Osama Bin Laden posthumously can become the President. You need to nurture a value system in that society.”
He also said that the new CAA rules were “non-discriminatory” and allowed outsiders to become citizens after migrating from different years of stay here. On being asked by a member of the audience whether India was moving towards an “undemocratic democracy”, he said that India has a vibrant Constitution and “we are all wedded to it.”
Madhav further said, “Where is democracy in India actually progressing? The very fact that this question is being raised proves that Indian democracy remains vibrant, it has its own checks and balances.” It was then that he spoke of Hitler and Mussolini saying, “From then to today, there are liberal democracies in the world. Democracies mature over time.”
Speaking about India has always promoted democratic values in the region, Madhav said that democracy should not be used as a “political stick or political weapon” against any other country.
However, this isn’t the first time Hitler and Mussolini have become part of the political party slugfest. In January last year, Rahul Gandhi had addressed PM Modi as “Fuhrer” attacking him over rising levels of unemployment; while the BJP retorted saying that the Gandhi scion had “inherited Mussolini’s short-sightedness” for he had a myopic understanding of issues.
Even American actor John Cusack in a tweet mentioned the BJP’s ties to fascism after Cass Sunstein, the former administrator of the White House Information and Regulatory affairs congratulated BJP for its work in India, asking Sunstein admired – demonetization, dehumanization or violence and terror.
Modi rss bjp
Literaly admire hitler Mussolini – direct ties to WW2 fascism
What exactly do you admire – demonetization. Dehumanization
Violence and terror ?— John Cusack (@johncusack) January 13, 2020
Also, ever since the CAA has come into force, it is being compared to Hitler’s Nuremberg Race Laws, an Indian version of fascism, set out to create a hierarchical society and the alleged formation of a “Hindu Rashtra” to single out the minorities and the marginalized.
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