Anil Antony, son of former Union minister and Congress veteran AK Antony, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on April 6. Following his move from Congress to BJP, OpIndia’s Editor-in-Chief Nupur Sharma interviewed the leader on Twitter Spaces to learn that he has been respecting and admiring the working of the ruling government even when he was in Congress.
“I have been working for the Congress for the past 3-4 years. But I must say when it comes to national security, foreign policy, economy, even technology integration, my views are totally in line with the BJP government,” Antony said.
The new BJP entrant said during his candid interview that India is a diverse, rich country with a great civilization. He stated that he was happy being part of the party which works towards reclaiming the old civilization and India’s rich heritage. “Talking about temples in specific, there are several here in India as the country houses more than 80% of the Hindu population. Reclaiming the holiest sites like Ayodhya, Kashi, and Mathura is justified. It would be unfair to say that these sites cannot be reclaimed,” he said adding that the sentiments of the majority population cannot be suppressed.
I spoke to @anilkantony about a host of issues, Congress, his ideological positions on cultural issues, why he switched and his father’s 2014 report on Congress’ minority appeasement
— Nupur J Sharma (@UnSubtleDesi) April 10, 2023
(The recording is perfectly clear. Do listen in)https://t.co/gFRQ8BZYFw
While talking about the Sabarimala issue, Antony said that the faith of the devotees must be respected and no other outsider is supposed to interfere in the matter. “Swami Ayyappa is believed to be a Brahmachari God and women of a certain age are not permitted to enter the temple. This is because people who worship the Lord have faith in the fact that women shall not be allowed. There are people who worship the Lord for some reason and they are the real people who need to be asked about this issue. We can’t decide. The issue is for the management of the temple to decide in consultation with devotees of Ayyappa,” Antony said.
Delivering the verdict on the Sabarimala Temple case, the Supreme Court of India in the year 2018 decreed that women of all ages should be allowed entry into the temple. The Court then ruled that women are in no way inferior to men and relationship with God cannot be defined by biological and physiological factors. By delivering this verdict, the apex court struck down Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965, which restricted the entry of women between the ages of 10 and 50 into the Sabarimala Temple.
Antony indicated that people fighting for entry into the temple are neither religious nor do they respect the temple regulations. “They just think that they are fighting for some cause of gender equality. People fighting against the temple never visit the temple and would never visit any temple under normal circumstances. Respecting the views of the faithful is the justifiable thing to do,” he stated.
When asked about the Malabar Hindu Genocide, Antony said that the matter came back into prominence as the country recently marked 100 years of the incident in the year 2021.
“This is a complex issue. It has a revolutionary aspect, communal aspect, and class aspect to it. But it was pure barbarism that happened at that time. Several Hindus were killed, temples were destroyed, and women were raped. So, it was complete barbarism. Many prominent thinkers back then including Veer Savarkar, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, and former Congress President Annie Besant stated that this was a communal incident. And I share the same view. Gandhi also felt the same but he kept quiet due to political reasons. He was working for the Khilafat movement and let’s say he didn’t want to alienate the Muslims,” Antony said.
I think it is important to talk to leaders who join BJP from other parties about their ideological positions so we, as people and voters, know exactly where they stand. Anil Antony was candid enough to answer all my questions. Wish we had the time to chat more. Perhaps another…
— Nupur J Sharma (@UnSubtleDesi) April 10, 2023
The leader meanwhile also slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for defaming Veer Savarkar, his ideologies, and also the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He said that back in the past, Pandit Nehru himself had invited the RSS to be part of the Republic Day parade, P V Narasimha Rao had written so many fairly, friendly letters with the RSS, also Pranab Mukherjee had gone to RSS headquarters and lauded it to be one of the largest social and cultural organization.
“RSS was never seen as evil. There were differences but the organisation was respected. Now the current Congress has become a radical left-wing organization. It sees anything other than the left as an evil that needs to be eliminated. The Congress in its ideology has reached on some other spectrum,” he added.
The leader further revealed that earlier he had some differences of opinion with the RSS but now he has no differences as he has learned a lot about the organisation. He opined that the organisation and the BJP have important roles to play in the country’s positive transformation. “The Congress keeps on considering RSS as an evil and it has changed in its ideological spectrum,” he reiterated.
Anil Antony, son of former Union minister and Congress veteran AK Antony, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 6th April 2023 – the 44th foundation day of the BJP. He joined the BJP in presence of Union Minister Piyush Goyal. “As an Indian youth, I feel it is my responsibility and duty to contribute to the Prime Minister’s vision of nation-building and national integration”, said Anil Antony after joining the party.
The first part of this interview can be read here.
