JAIPUR: Acclaimed writer and a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, NayantaraSahgal, on Saturday reinforced her sustained attack on the “ideology ofHindutva,” dubbing it an extension of Hitler’s and Mussolini’s philosophy,while also emphasising that the country’s Dalit movement is the “strongestand most organised voice” against the current trials of time.

Speaking at the Zee Jaipur Literature Festival, where she had delivered thefirst keynote address, the Commonwealth Prize winner and lifelong advocateof freedom of expression, said that the “master race” that is now trying tobe “produced in India” comes from “the ideology of Hitler and Mussolini.

“When the atmosphere in the country is what it is today, there are only twooptions: One, to get drunk and the other to write a novel and that’s what Ihave done,” she said. Sahgal’s last novel “When The Moon Shines By Day” isa satire on an age when there are acute restrictions on freedom ofexpressions as characters in the novel come face-to-face with subjugationby the state.

“It seems to me that the Kshatriya mentality has taken over the country andis trying to decide what we do. I sense a very war-like situation in thecountry, not only with Pakistan but also with internal enemies,” she said,before describing that the internal enemies are “others” — those whodisagree with the current dispensation.

Responding to an interjection from an audience member, she contended that”Hindutva is a problem to me because I am a Hindu. I am not only a bornHindu and practising Hindu. We rejected a religious identity atIndependence because we are a deeply religious society of many religions.Our founding fathers ensured that the practitioners of every religion havepride of place in the country”.

“Under that banner of Hinduism, attacks are carried out on freedom ofexpression. Scientists, artists, filmmakers and everybody who do not agreewith them are attacked and killed,” she added.

Terming herself an “admirer of the ongoing Dalit movement,” Sahgal alsosaid that the voice of Dalits is the most organised and strongest voicetoday. She further stressed that the basic difference between Hindutva andHinduism is that the former believes in violence.

Sahgal has been a regular at almost every other literary event in the pastsix months and at each event, she has carried on with similar relentlessattacks on Hindutva.