Coaching institute Vision IAS' tutor Smriti Shah also said in her class that Hindu Rashtra's feeling gives rise to Hindus' violent behaviour.
Two videos have gone viral on social media in the last three days. They have attracted attention, as both belong to a prestigious coaching institute in Delhi, which trains students for prestigious civil services.
The coaching institute in question is Vision IAS. Its tutor Smriti Shah is telling her students in a class that 'Bhakti Cult' in Hinduism started as a response to the liberalism of Islam.
In a video clip that has gone viral, she could be heard saying that when Islam started coming to India in the 7th century, it generated a huge response as it talked about liberalism and a society free from the evils of discrimination and oppression. She further added that 'Bhakti Cult' was started as a response to it.
In another video, she could be heard saying that the feeling of Hindu Rashtra gives rise to the violent behaviour of Hindus. She also says that the feeling of Hindu Rashtra gives rise to the antagonism of Hindus towards religious minorities.
What has shocked many is the blatant disregard for the Bhakti movement in the country and the inherent Hinduphobia in Smriti Shah's teachings.
In a late-night statement, Vision IAS justified the arguments of tutor Smriti Shah. Terming tutor Shah an "esteemed faculty and member," Vision IAS said, "The discussion in point is only focused on one possible reason for the rise of the Bhakti cult and that too in a particular time period."
Commenting on the episode and the statement of Vision IAS, Advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha said, "This is a statement and not an apology! Posted at 2:30 with Comments Closed, Vision IAS missed apologising for 'esteemed' where- She referred to Bhakti Cult as Pejorative and another video where she used Hindu Rashtra jibe and labelled Hindus as violent & attackers."
Editor-in-Chief of Sudarshan News Suresh Chavhanke has been consistently raising his voice against what he calls 'UPSC Jihad'. Commenting on the Vision IAS episode, he said, "If it's not UPSC Jihad, then what it is? When will it stop?"
In September last year, Sudarshan News channel had telecast a news programme titled "Bindas Bol-UPSC Jihad", in which it had accused that Muslims were infiltrating the government services with the help of coaching institutes which were funded by terror money, and there was concerted effort to undermine the Hindu religion.
A section opposed the telecast of the episodes of the programme. The controversy reached the doors of the Supreme Court, where Sudarshan News requested the court to uphold the freedom of the press. The Union government had allowed the news channel to air the episodes with caution.
Social activist Amit Srivastava said, "So it is the policy of Vision IAS to consider lsIam as egalitarian cult, with no caste and social class. They have ignored all Shia-Sunni, Deobandi-Barelvi, Ashraf-Pashmanda divisions which is way more violent and discriminating. They are only complying normalised narrative at UPSC."
