PM Modi installing Sengol in Parliament part of symbolism of new India: CPI(M)

It goes against the grain of a secular democratic republic, it said.The Communist Party of India Marxist said the Sengol is traditionally a sceptre given by the head priest to a newly-ordained king to rule righteously and added that it is totally out of place in a democratic republic where citizens elect their governments.It is also against the secular character of the republic wherein a religious symbol is placed in a prime position in Parliament.

The CPI(M) has said the sight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding a ''Sengol'' and leading a procession of religious men to install it in Parliament is part of the ''symbolism of a new India, which is a mimicking of a Hindu rashtra''.

In the latest editorial of its mouthpiece, ''People's Democracy'', the Left party has said this goes against the principles of democracy.

''The spectacle of Prime Minister Modi holding the Sengol and leading a procession of adheenaams (priests and heads of mutts) to install it behind the speaker's chair on the morning of May 28 is part of the symbolism of a new India, which is a mimicking of a Hindu rashtra. It goes against the grain of a secular democratic republic,'' it said.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said the Sengol is traditionally a sceptre given by the head priest to a newly-ordained king to rule righteously and added that it is totally out of place in a democratic republic where citizens elect their governments.

''It is also against the secular character of the republic wherein a religious symbol is placed in a prime position in Parliament. May 28 was selected for opening the new Parliament building as it was also V D Savarkar's birth anniversary. This also served to build the narrative of a new India,'' the party said.

It said the claim of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders that the ''Sengol'' represents ''dharma'' (righteousness) was itself badly dented that day when just a few hundred metres from the new Parliament building, women wrestlers were ''brutally dragged away by the police and arrested''.

''The symbols of the new India ushered in by Narendra Modi -- the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya, the Central Vista and the new Parliament building -- are all hallmarks of a new authoritarian Hindutva state. History has been distorted and manufactured to suit this new narrative,'' the Left party said.

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