At a time when public discourse on Sanatana Dharma has intensified, multilingual actor Prakash Raj has said that those who speak aggressively on upholding Sanatana Dharma are not Hindus.
“Those who speak aggressively on upholding Sanatana Dharma and Hindutva are not Hindus. They project themselves as contractors of Hindutva. We must tell them that they are speaking for furthering their political ill-intentions. People must understand it and I hope they will,” he said, during his interaction with writers, artistes and activists at S.M. Pandit Rangamandir in Kalaburagi on Sunday evening.
Terming the right-wing ideologues as a predicament for the development of scientific temperament, Mr. Prakash Raj said that they always discourage the concept of equal education to all because they want to keep people in ignorance.
“They don’t allow scientific thinking to spread. They want to retain poverty and illiteracy. They never demand equal education because, they know that if people get educated and come out of poverty, they will start questioning,” he said.
Equal education
In his interaction with journalists earlier, Mr. Prakash Raj referred to the BJP’s initiative One India One Election and said that India currently needs equal education and equal opportunity.
“What we need is one India and equal education and one India and equal opportunity. This is what India needs,” he said.
“I, as an artist, must speak out. It is my repayment to society for raising me. It is the artist who has to speak out. I am pro-people. I am with people. If I speak truth, I am labeled anti-national. If they don’t project me as anti-national, they won’t sustain. I feel pain when I see young people holding knives and swords chanting Jai Sri Ram. We must understand who brainwashed them,” Mr. Prakash Raj said, while answering a question.
Expressing apprehensions over deepening communal divide in society, Mr. Prakash Raj said that only humanism will remain and everything else will vanish.
“Becoming Vishwa Manava [universal human being] is the only way for our welfare. What Basavanna and Ambedkar said is not meant for just giving lengthy speeches from a stage. Their preaching is meant for adopting it in our lives. India, the ship in which we are sailing, is sinking. The captain knows when to jump and how to swim. We need to save the ship to save ourselves,” he said.
Obliquely referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Prakash Raj said that let that one man become Vishwa Guru and let us all become Vishwa Manava (universal human being).
