Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Fascist and divisive forces in India can only be defeated at the hustings when all parties having secular leanings join hands burying their differences and egoist tendencies in the larger interest of the country, a noted philanthropist, educationist, thinker and ideologist has said. Talking exclusively to Saudi Gazette, Dr. Mahmood H. Rehmani, who is also a renowned ophthalmologist and eye surgeon, said the failure of different secular parties in Uttar Pradesh virtually gave the reins of power to the right-wing Hindu party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on a platter. Dr. Rehmani is based in Kanpur, a large industrial city of the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. "Bihar was a good lesson for anti-fascist forces. But they (secular parties) did not follow it in Uttar Pradesh and see the result. There was a landslide for the BJP, whereas it could have easily been forced to bite the dust like in Bihar," Dr. Rehmani, on a private visit to the Kingdom, said. The well-known eye surgeon, who is as renowned in his field is as much known for his shrewd and perceptive political vision, contested but lost the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) election under the nascent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) banner in 2014. Dr. Rehmani, considered a close confidant of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, lends his thoughtful and incisive advise to the party on all matters, especially education and health issues. He decried the central government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on many hurdles it is putting in the smooth functioning of the AAP administration in Delhi. "The center is forcing the Central Bureau of Investigation and all other investigative agencies to nail the Delhi administration under one pretext or the other as it is afraid of the good work Kejriwal government is doing in Delhi," he said. But when his attention was drawn to the drubbing the party had in the municipal corporation elections and in by-polls in some assembly constituencies, Dr. Rehmani said the problem with the AAP chief is that he has relied too much on politically ambitious persons instead of selfless workers at the grassroots level with no hidden or overt political agenda. These people, he said, are creating manifold problems for Kejriwal. Moreover, he said, AAP failed to effectively put the message across the electorate of its achievement and progressive plans in Delhi. "He (Kejriwal) is an honest man; doesn't believe in hanky-panky and therefore has several foes; both within the party and outside," Dr. Rehmani said. Talking about the failure of the BJP to fulfill its promises, Dr. Rehmani was hopeful that the government would collapse because of its deceit, deception and double-dealing. "For me, and most of the Indian population, BJP's "achchay din" (good days) are now over because of its dishonesty. What happened to their promise of jobs to all the youth, the pledge to unearth the black money and return of the illegal money stashed in Swiss banks? Farmers are committing suicide, small time traders are suffering. Besides all this, fringe elements in the Hindutva brigade are killing, lynching innocent people in the name of cow protection. People are slowly getting disillusioned and soon we will see cracks appearing in the seemingly invincible BJP fortress," he said. To cash in on the disgruntlement of the masses against BJP's autocratic, neo-fascist, divisive and pro-rich policies, the onus is on all secular parties to come on one platform and "unitedly resist the forces that are wreaking havoc on the secular fabric of our great country," he said.
