a contextual missiology of the spirit - eTheses Repository ...

epresentative even while violating all religious tenets.’ 28 The resolution sparked
furious responses from people from various walks of society. The Hindu
condemned it as an open threat to minorities, and stated that it was improper on
the part of RSS to pass such a resolution:
Security is the fundamental right of every citizen guaranteed by the Constitution.
It is the responsibility of the state to preserve and protect this right, which does
not depend on anybody's goodwill. Of course the minority community should
have the goodwill of the majority but the reverse is also equally true. There
should be a sense of mutual trust and cooperation among all the sections of
society. Secularism has been one of the essential elements in the basic structure
of our Constitution which lays down that 1) the state has no religion; 2) all
citizens however have the fundamental right to follow and propagate their own
religion; and 3) it is the duty of the state to protect the life, liberty and property
of all citizens, provide security to them and enable them to exercise their
fundamental rights. The state will not discriminate between the citizens on the
grounds of religion and language. 29
However, as reported by The Hindu, K.S. Sudarshan, the RSS chief, seems to
have changed his position since then, probably as a result of serious reactions to
the RSS resolution. He is reported to have said: ‘India does not have any
minorities as 99 per cent of the people who live here have their ancestors
28 Editorial, ‘Intimidatory Tactics,’ The Hindu, 21 March 2002, under ‘Opinion,’
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/03/21/stories/2002032100211000.htm (accessed 13 Nov 2006).
29 Dubhashi, ‘Meaning of Secularism.’ The Hindu published a number of responses by many
people on those days following the RSS resolution.
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