Claims he asked Hindus to show killer instinct against people of other faiths

A new book on Swami Vivekananda which claims that the spiritual leader had allegedly asked Hindus to show a ‘killer instinct’ against people of other faiths, has raised eyebrows.

The book titled Swami Vivekanand has been listed as miscellaneous reading material by the Maharashtra Education Department. Authored by Shubhada Athawale-Pathak, the book has been published by Bharatiya Vichar Sadhana, which is affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

A paragraph, which appears on Pages 12 and 13 of the book, reads, “Swami Vivekananda always expressed displeasure over the decreasing number of Hindus in the past few decades. He had also made a point about bringing all those Hindus who were converted by Muslim and Christian aggressors back to their original religion. Our ancestors fought to save the religion in the past. According to Swami Vivekananda’s theory, if non-Hindus continue to trouble, then we should show the killer instinct.”

An educationist with the State government said that it was a matter of debate if Swami Vivekananda ever made such a statement as the paragraph doesn’t mention any references. He said, “By claiming that these thoughts originated from Swami Vivekananda, it glorifies the concept of ghar wapsi and the attacks on Muslims today.”

In December 2017, the State government decided to buy new books worth ₹41 crore as miscellaneous reading under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The selection of books was under scanner after several of them were found to have obscene content. In addition, the department ordered more books on Prime Minister Narendra Modi than Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Education Minister Vinod Tawde was unavailable for comment.