The Congress once styled itself as the custodian of every Indian – every faith, every creed. Somewhere along the way, it put one faith on the deferred list.
In the name of secularism and social balance, the party has treated the Hindu ethos like old furniture – too large to discard, too shiny to polish.
Selective secularism on display
Congress leaders beam at Christmas choirs, attend iftar with visible enthusiasm, and wax eloquent on Eid. But when it comes to Hindu festivals, the party collectively develops a strange restraint – as though lighting a diya might dim its secular glow.
When temples are encroached upon, Congress looks away. When Hindu practices are mocked in academia or art, it prefers not to notice. But when any other faith is mentioned, the same leaders rush to express sensitivity – hashtags, scarves, and photo-ops included.
Appeasement masquerade
The Sachar Committee report, commissioned under the UPA, began as a study of deprivation. It soon became a costume for political virtue. From that moment, appeasement stopped being an accusation – it became the language of governance.
Somewhere between slogans of inclusion and schemes of entitlement, the Hindu majority was quietly told: ‘You are fine as you are – now wait your turn.’
Systemic sidelining of the majority faith
Cultural amnesia: Welfare must sound moral, so every plan now begins with ‘minority’. Hindu traditions are treated as background music – familiar, but not to be noticed.
Resource skew: There is no parallel programme for poor Hindus. The same hardship is judged differently, depending on which prayer one says at dawn.
Narrative hijack: Ask for temple reform, and it becomes religious control. Ask for heritage protection, and it becomes communal assertion.
Political signalling: When a Congress prime minister declared that minorities have the first claim on resources, it was not a slip – it was a statement of hierarchy.
The panel that rewrote identity politics
The Sachar Committee was meant to study disparity, not rewrite identity politics. But Congress used it as moral cover for a new arithmetic – selective compassion yielding predictable votes.
The majority community, which once trusted the party’s vision of India, began to sense that its faith had become wallpaper – visible, yet neglected.
‘We will come back to you later’
Congress likes to call itself secular, but its version of secularism seems to mean: celebrate everyone’s faith, except the one that built the civilization.
Like a host who serves all guests but keeps the main course for later, Congress has perfected the art of feeding everyone except the one who brought the food.
The Hindu faith did not vanish under Congress; it was benched. Each omission, each cautious silence, each selective celebration said the same thing – we will come back to you later.
The Sachar Committee was only a prop in this long theatre of neglect. Congress read it, applauded itself for compassion, and carried on serving its chosen guests.
As a result, the faith that once stood at the center of India’s civilizational story was gently ushered offstage, the lights dimmed, the applause muted. Perhaps that is how the grand old party kept faith – by keeping one out of sight.
