Modi Vs Rest In Perpetuity- JNU Is Mordor
By Mousumi Roy
24 February, 2016
Countercurrents.org
Our patriotism has drifted over into nationalism. I am very patriotic, but not nationalistic. In fact, the whole mantra of "love it or leave it" I find repulsive.
India has suddenly woken up to the fact many Indian are seditious and traitors nearly 70 years after Independence. There voices dissent and disagreement mean nothing more than that. Psuedo-Secularism, secularism did not work where's being labelled anti-national doing the trick. Teesta Seetalvad, for example, is equivalent to Satan in the right wing. JNU is Mordor. Complaints about JNU are very common in the right wing social media, building it upto some kind of sinister laboratory where people plot the breaking up of India. In Tamil Nadu, in the past 5 years so many wrong charges and false cases have been filed that people are frightened of the govt's false charges. This has had a chilling effect. That was Jayalalitha's goal and she achieved it. Now Modi is well on his way, probably, taking a leaf from Jayalalitha's book...
I do not at all support anyone who raised slogans of "India Ki Barbadian". However there is no evidence who raised these slogans and definitely Kanhaiya did not. On the contrary every evidence shows he emphasizing protecting India's constitution. Slapping sedition charge against him, attacking him and the press in the premises of the court and torturing him in the cell suggests a sinister design.
Expressing differences on Afzal's hanging is not anti India, raising slogans that were raised was provocative, unpatriotic but definitely not an act of sedition. If protesting the hanging of Afzal Guru is really anti-national then why did BJP agree to form the government with PDP which questions his hanging and calls him a martyr? It is obvious that BJP is running with the hares and hunting with the hounds. Dissent is not the same or equal to an expression of sedition or being a traitor. That kind of thinking is what ensured power to the Nazi Party in Germany. Is a repeat of history what we are looking for in India with the promotion and encouragement of Hindutva? Unless the officials (police) who file false charges are punished heavily, this will continue to happen.
Nothing wrong in Hindu rashtra. But everything wrong with Hindutva Rashtra. Savarkar thus defined Hindutva ("Hindu-ness") or Hindu as different from Hinduism. This definition kept the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) outside its ambit and considered only native religious denominations as Hindu. If in Hindu Rashtra everyone is to be treated equally then what is the sense of changing Democracy to Hindu Rashtra? When we talk about the country and the constitution I prefer Secularism. True secularism means allowing everyone the freedom and the space to practice their own beliefs. Some people to say my religion is better than yours or that your religion is a subset of mine. Leave people to make personal choices. Focus on universal values. Country may have any name. It doesn't matter. To change the name from India, Bharat to Hindusthan is not easy. it requires lot of exercises. If the majority supports no harm. But again we have remove fears in the mind of those who oppose. I think changing name of the country is a very trivial issue. Let's all work to tackle other issues like reducing poverty, education, employment, channelising youth power, providing clean drinking water, sanitation, healthcare and many more.
Where are the results? Modi is a great PR person and a media manipulator. Like Hitler, he talks about development and promotes and protects fringe elements within the Sangh Parivar. Share market, Bullion Market, Rupee is down, prices of pulses and vegetables are up, investors' confidence shaky. For cleaning Ganga crores have been spent but no result is seen. Whatever cleaning is seen is done by volunteer organisation and not by the Govt. I don't blame Modi or BJP for all these. But he promised voters Sun and Moon. In the last One and a half years of his rule he ought to have done something. So far, he has indulged in travelling abroad and attending election rallies reiterating 'Jumlas.' He is a man of action. he has the required mandate. Why he is unable to deliver at least 25% of what he promised. A society drawn to capitalist consumption and Hindu nationalism has relatively less appreciation for egalitarian and secular values. However it is also clear that when anti corruption movement begins people do start looking for a new leader with egalitarian views. Delhi and Bihar are example. In Maharshtra in the last just One and a half months 123 Farmers committed suicides. This is a very good example of Governance . JNU is the latest example .
People have a tainted view of the emergency days and of the fight against the corruption of the congress days. Habeus Corpus is a safeguard against illegal detention of people. Unfortunately due to emergency provisions the Habeus Corpus was defeated then, the Janata Government made sure through constitutional amendment that this will never happen again. Until the courts pass stricture on an adventure started by ABVP and aggravated by Smriti Irani and Rajnath Singh, right minded Indians will keep holding a candle vigil in front of the devil's workshop. Even during V. P. Singh government it brought down a non congress government in the issue of not allowing Mr Advani to reach the Ram Mandir and provoke communal division of India. So the bottom line is- BJP's commitment to follow the RSS dream of Hindu Rashtra got in the way of its commitment to fighting the congress in 1979 and again in 1989. The bottom line is congress resurfaced twice and both the times because of RSS's Agenda for establishing a Hindu Rashtra. It is just that now Modi has come out in open to consolidate the Hindu Nationalism. He is polarizing India. He is sowing seeds of hatred. He is letting fringe elements in the party play havoc with the plural character of India.
I sometimes wonder what Must be going through Mr Modi's Mind when he bows his head in front of Gandhi Samadhi or statue as a part of protocol. I consider RSS ideology a virus of the mind with lethal consequences. That is why I do feel the same sense of urgency in eradicating this virus as any other life threatening virus. It was RSS which undertook Border duties when China invaded India in 1961 & RSS contingent was invited by Nehru to take part in Republic Day parade, Commies were jailed for sympathising with China. There are hundreds of times of natural calamities, where RSS has done selfless service for the nation while Armchair Intellectuals were busy sleeping. I have high respect for Nanaji Deshmukh. I don't hate RSS. I do however consider the Hindu Rashtra concept and the seeds of hatred against Minorities and Gandhi sowed by the RSS for decades dangerous. If we are honest, will not deny that. But even today we will find RSS workers' Facebook pages filled with venom for Muslims and Gandhi.
Mousumi Roy is an Author, writer- and is a visiting professor of International Relations.