Commentary
By Kaushal Kishore*
Again the top news is centred around Mahatma Gandhi today. He has been the centre of top attention in the parliament of the religion engaged in the hate politics at Haridwar, Raipur and other places. The bhagwa brigade introduces itself advocating the hatred and violence against the second largest majority of India while describing Gandhi. The man abusing Bapu at Raipur, Kali Charan Maharaj was arrested by the police from Khajuraho and sent to jail. Sadly the local police was unaware of it indicating lack of good faith. The Home Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Narottam Mishra has reacted strongly on this abouse of the protocol. Tamradhwaj Sahu, the Home Minister of Chhattisgarh further exposed the rising tensions between the two neighbouring states. The open public support for Kali Charan is yet another reality that started with this theatre. Infection of the Omicron varient and this series of inflammatory speeches and propaganda war are the parallel deals of the day.
The fringe group of Right Wing demanded for Hindu Rashtra at the national capital. After that a three days long series of sessions were organised at the holy city of Haridwar to initiate the hate campaign. Genocide of Muslims and Christians that the Dharma Sansad endorsed is against the spirit of the Indian Constitution. Here, the police seems to be engaged in their protection instead of the legal action. Some of the cops are openly supporting them. Former Navy Chief Admiral Ram Das along with a hundred retired officers wrote a letter to the President and Prime Minister to act against it. Saket Gokhale and Martina Navratilova are yet other public figures known to raise the voices. As such the social media is also divided into two camps today.
Uttarakhand Police seems to be engaged in politics instead of listening to the call of duty. The lodging of cases and the speed of investigation suggest that they are waiting for the change of dispensation in government. This inability of the disciplined force is a tale of serious internal issue. It leads to greater threat to peace and security on the large scale. Today the Director General of Police of Uttarakhand is unable to do anything against this gang of criminals, however, he wants to do so. He has promised to take strict action against the sadhus and cops advocating violence in the viral videos.
At the same time, yet another threatening voice of Akbaruddin Owaisi is heard at Kanpur rally. He seems to be one of the top proponents of the hate politics dedicated to send the Yogi to his Muth and Modi into the hills. Now such groups of people are rather active to counter it. No one is ready to be left behind when it comes to adding fuel to the fire of hatred. The conflict between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress ruled states is apparent. So far as the vote bank appeasement policy is concerned, even the Left ruled states are more or less similar. The leaders seem to follow the mob, instead of motivating them to realise their mistakes and move towards the right and just as if democracy turned into mobocracy. In this situation, Gandhi is relevant to help the people.
From the head of the province to the head of the nation are silent on the state of affairs. But the wise man is also heard from the same dais at Raipur. Ram Sunder Das has denounced this so-called parliament of religion and also mentioned the condition of India in the last days of Gandhi. It’s necessary to recollect the historical fact that Nehru and Patel also adopted the policy of keeping a watch instead of the imprisonment, however Nathuram Godse and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar were very closely associated with each other. But that history cannot be considered as future. The idea of punishment for descendants of those who stood by British is illegitimate. Similarly, it’s not appropriate to punish today’s Muslims for the atrocities committed on Hindus by their forefathers. The public figures like Ram Sundar Das can play significant role to counter the falsehood and ignorance. The peace-loving people need to come forward for communal harmony.
The former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said that the minorities have the first right on the resources of the country. After a long time, Dharam Das got an opportunity to announce his assassination on this forum. Such marginalized people were never glorified earlier. Today a campaign to that effect is going on. This is the neither in favour of the religious class nor the country. At this juncture, when the chief functionary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Mohan Bhagwat, is teaching lessons on communal harmony, these elements have other ideas. The tension on borders is also increasing these days, and the collective outcome of these efforts are explosive.
The forces taking advantage of this discord are equally active. There is the propaganda in Chinese media that they have unfurled their national flag at the Galwan Valley on the New Year. In fact, new year in China is celebrated on different occasions every year, and this time that series of festivities will start from February 1. After three days, the Indian army responded to that propaganda that the soldiers of the Dogra Regiment posted at the Galwan Valley have unfurled the tricolour on that occasion. A propaganda war is yet another reality in these trying times.
The internal rift has generated much heat this election season. The enemies have expressed their intentions to occupy the Indian soil on the borders. After the vaccination of more than a billion people, the epidemic is beginning to spread rapidly. It has created a demand for the booster dose of vaccine in the market. Bapu had advised to develop immunity to fight against infection. Dreams of Hind Swaraj can be realised in the Tibet in order to ensure the world peace. Savarkar and Gandhi were against the idea of partition of the country, and this fact cannot be denied.
*Kaushal Kishore is the author of The Holy Ganga (Rupa, 2008) and Managing Editor of Panchayat Sandesh, a monthly organ of All India Panchayat Parishad. The views expressed as personal.
