There are people who create hate among communities... to divide and rule: Sri Sri

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: In a surprising turn of events, staunch Sangh supporter and selfstyled godman Sri Sri Ravishankar has criticised the Modi regime, citing what he sees as imperfections and emboldening of right-wing extremist elements. In an interview with the Financial Times, he admitted that India was not entirely peaceful under the BJP-led Union government.

However, he stopped short of withdrawing support for the regime, which he is tied to by "ideological convictions". When asked if India was more peaceful under Modi, he contended that there is less terrorism since the strongman came to power.

However, he qualified it with, “I won’t say all is very rosy. There are some people who are doing all this rhetoric, which is so painful. And there are people who create hate between the communities, wanting to divide and rule.”

He was presumably referring to Sangh and BJP leaders hate speech, calls for boycotts and lynchings, among other forms of violence against minorities, without really being specific. The savvy spiritual guru even criticised the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) which led to widespread protests in the country.

On CAA, he said, “There were many wrong steps." He also pushed back against criticism of his comments on the Babri Masjid dispute. He had claimed that India would spiral into a Syria-like civil war if a Ram Mandir was not built on the disputed site on which a 500-year-old mosque once stood. “It wasn’t a threat, it’s only airing a concern,” said Shankar.

“You know, when people want to twist your words, they can just twist,” he added. Ravishankar, who has, in the past, professed support for the RSS tried to assert his cosmopolitan credentials. “We are an international organisation. We are not limited to Hindutva,” he said. “We don’t talk on the boundaries, country or cultural boundaries. No, we say the whole world is one family. Our whole philosophy, idea, is very different,” he added.