“We are all Sanatanis,” Nagaland Minister for Higher and Technical Education, Temjen Imna Along said here today while adding he’s a practicing Christian.
Speaking at the sideline of a programme here organised by the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarti Parishad, Along said, before the tribals converted to Christianity and other faiths everyone was practicing an animistic religion.
Along was referring to the Sanskrit word Sanatan which means anything which is “eternal” and integral to a living entity and anyone who believes in Sanatan is a Sanatani.
Refusing to draw into RSS chief’s Mohan Bhagwat’s recent statement that “everyone is a Hindu” who dwells within the geographic confines from the Himalayas to the north to the Bay of Bengal to the south, Along said the "context" needs to be understood first.
“Hinduism is too vast a subject to be described here,” the Nagaland Minister, who is also the BJP state President of Nagaland, said adding, whichever faith we follow “we are all Indians.”
Earlier, during the programme, Along asked the gathering if there are any foreigners in the audience, when there was no response he raised the slogan "Bharat Mata ki Jai."
He later said that many hesitate to say they are Bharatiya because it’s a Hindi word, but have no problem saying they are Indian. Urging the students to be “inclusive in diversity,” Along said many are trying to be exclusive.
“Each of our identities is unique, but that cannot be taken into exclusiveness... diversity should lead us to inclusiveness…only then a nation would survive,” he said to the students.
Urging the students to be “proud of their roots,” Along said India’s strength has always been its education sector from ancient times, but with the advent of invaders like the British and others this ancient civilization with its rich culture and heritage was attempted to be destroyed.
“The British tried to bring in newer narratives,” he said while urging the students to be proud of their rich history, tradition and heritage. (eom)
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