On one of Hinduism’s most sacred days, Ram Navami, a video of Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar openly declaring his contempt for Hindu faith and temple worship has gone massively viral on social media, reigniting outrage against the Congress party’s deeply entrenched culture of Hindu-phobia at its highest levels.
What He Said
In the video, Aiyar states with complete candour: “I”I never liked the Hindu religion and its rituals. So, take me to a mosque — I will go there happily. At home, there is worship (puja-paath), and I sit there with them. But I only see a stone there. I cannot see God (Khuda) in it.”
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This is not a misquote. This is not out of context. This is a senior Congress leader, a former Union Minister who served under Manmohan Singh and remains a prominent party voice, voluntarily, proudly, and publicly declaring that Hindu places of worship inspire nothing in him but indifference, while mosques fill him with joy.
A Pattern, Not an Aberration
It would be tempting to dismiss Aiyar as an eccentric outlier within Congress, but his track record tells a different story. This is the same man who:
Called Narendra Modi a “chaiwala” in open contempt before the 2014 elections and was suspended, only to be quietly reinstated; he had earlier called AB Vajpayee ‘nalayak‘
Visited Pakistan in 2015 and reportedly dined with the ISI chief, earning the permanent tag of “Pakistani Mani Shankar Aiyar” from his critics
Called for Pakistan’s help to remove Modi from power for talks to resume
During the Gujarat election campaign in December 2017, Aiyar called PM Modi a “neech kism ka aadmi” (a man of low character).
The Congress party has never once issued a formal repudiation of Aiyar’s worldview on Hinduism. His statement on temples and idols has been known for years, and the party’s silence has always been its answer.
Congress’s Selective Secularism – Exposed Again
What makes Aiyar’s statement particularly damning is its asymmetry. He does not say he is an atheist who sees no God anywhere. He specifically says he goes to a mosque with joy while temples give him nothing but stones. This is not secularism. This is not even agnosticism. This is a targeted, deliberate rejection of Hindu religious sentiment from a man who spent decades in the highest corridors of Congress power.
For a party that wraps itself in the Constitution and claims to represent all Indians equally, having a senior leader publicly declare that Hindu worship is meaningless, while expressing warmth toward Islamic places of worship, is the definition of textbook selective secularism.
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