Former DC Sasikant Senthi
New Delhi: In a recent interview with the BBC, Sasikanth Senthil, a former IAS officer and the newly elected Congress MP from the Tiruvallur Lok Sabha constituency, shared his views on the Hindutva agenda and the political strategies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Senthil expressed concern that the primary objective of Hindutva is to restore the Varna system, a hierarchical structure of social classes in Hindu society. He argued that while Muslims are often used as a political tool to mobilize voters and win elections, the real targets of this agenda are the Dalits and backward classes who have made socio-economic progress over the past 50 years.
“The focus on Hindu majoritarianism by the BJP is misleading,” Senthil said. “Their ideology is fundamentally opposed to the concept of equal rights for all Hindus. They cannot tolerate the fact that individuals who once worked in the fields are now participating as equals in the parliament.”
Senthil emphasized that the portrayal of a Hindu majoritarian state in India is a myth, contrasting it with other majoritarian regimes worldwide. “This version of Hindu majoritarianism is a façade,” he stated, suggesting that the true aim is to undermine the social advancements made by marginalized communities.
As a former bureaucrat who resigned from the Indian Administrative Service citing concerns about the state of democracy in India, Senthil’s transition to politics has been closely watched. His statements are expected to spark further discussion about the direction of political discourse in the country.
