Was Bharat Jodo Yatra Subversive?

Was ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ Subversive? Ram Puniyani As assembly elections in Maharashtra are progressing; the mindset of BJP was expressed in a clear way by the Maharashtra Deputy CM, previous CM and a top BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis. In an interview to TOI, and in several speeches, he blames the downward performance of BJP in 2024 Elections to the Bharat Jodo Yatra. As per him the BJP failed to counter the narrative set by the Yatra. This led to the decline of BJP MP Seats from (2019) 23 to 9 (2024). In this context he approached various organizations (30) affiliated to RSS to set the counter narrative. He also revealed an open secret that when in trouble he consults his parent organization RSS to brighten the electoral prospects of BJP. Just to recall the first yatra, was called the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, which started on September 7, 2022, from the south in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu This was concluded in January 2023, in the north in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. It covered 4,080 kms, across 12 states. The second one called Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra travelled from east to west. This started on January14 from Thoubal in Manipur, which covered 6,713 kms through 15 states before culminating in Mumbai on March 16. As per Fadnavis now Rahul Gandhi is surrounded by Urban Naxals and Ultra left elements and he is less of a congressman more of ultra left ideologue! Right wing Hindu Nationalists true to their Guru M.S. Golwalkar’s formulation (Bunch of Thoughts page 133,) Muslims, Christians and Communists are the internal threats to Hindu Nation, Fadnavis and his ilk will label anything against the agenda of Hindu Rashtra (Nation) as either pampering Muslims or Christians or Urban Naxals or Ultra left today. Urban Naxal word has been coined for all the human rights activists. Ultra left is the word for mostly those working for the rights of all deprived sections of society. Why was Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) conceived and taken out? Clearly the then 8-9 years old Modi Government’s rule had stifled the voices being raised for protection of values inherent in the Indian Constitution. It was the culmination of the social discomfort due to Government policies which were being directed against citizenship rights of Muslims, against the worsening plight of average people. It was conceived to unite India on the lines of what Mahatma Gandhi did while leading the anti-colonial movement. What was the agenda of the BJY? As clear from the title; its aim was to instill a sense of oneness amongst Indians, irrespective of their caste, color, religion and gender? It was airing the demands for most disadvantaged sections of social groups’ rights through various slogans, including the one demanding caste census. The response to this yatra was magical; making people from most strata of life join it or see its spectacle from the sidelines. They perceived that long years of divisive politics and implementation of policies which favored the rich and affluent are harming the unity of the country and the plight of average people. They perceived that this event will restore the situation in a better direction. This yatra stood in stark contrast to the Yatra taken out by Fadnavis’ peer Lal Krishna Advani. That yatra (Advani) was on the emotive issue, around a make believe notion of Hindu temple having been destroyed centuries ago by a Muslim king. Advanis’ yatra saw the bloodshed all the way on its route. And later when its fall out, Babri demolition took place much more violence was witnessed and Hate against Muslims got further entrenched in the society. That Yatra, which Fadnavis welcomed with glee, led to the upswing and strength of the communal party. This Yatra (BJY) was a total contrast. There was no emotive issue. It kept the Indian Constitution at the center and united the Indians on the identity of Indians. Fadanvis is more concerned about the red cover of the book (Constitution), because the contents of this book don’t matter to him. And he also forgot that this red cover edition of the Constitution was presented by the Supreme Leader Narendra Modi to Ram Nath Kovind. There was an apprehension during BJY whether the visible support to the Yatra will change the electoral equations. While not fully but in part, the Yatra has dented the then prevailing electoral dominance of communal parties. To its great credit the statement BJY is impacting Maharashtra election coming from Horse’s mouth (Fadnavis) is the big validation of its impact on electoral politics. So far the dominant discourse was that of prevalent Hindu Right wing nationalism. That has been partly combated by this BJY, while more needs to be done. Challenging the divisive communal discourse, which has been leading to Hate, fear and ghettoisation of minorities is partly challenged but a lot more needs to be done in this direction. What Mahatma had begun in a very powerful way was to give the message of unity of people cutting across religions. That’s what BJY tried and has to take it further. Another important fallout of the Yatra was laying the foundations of social platforms like Bharat Jodo Abhiyan and Eddulu Karnata. These have the potential to boost the values of the Indian Constitution. These groups working for ‘rights’ of diverse deprived and ‘less equal’ sections of society, have been coming together as collectives where they can assist each other in preserving the values of Indian Constitution. These groups are diverse, dedicated and firm on equal rights for all. The concept of rights for all is very troublesome for the Right Wings. In their agenda between ‘rights and duties’ there is a neat division. For them the affluent have all the rights and the deprived have all the duties. This is akin to the feudal kingdom systems where Kings Landlords, priests were endowed with all the rights and lower sections, including women, had all the duties. So was the distribution of and wealth. Thanks to Fadnavis we now know clearly that BJP suffered a setback due to BJA. Thanks to Fadnavis we know more clearly the deeper relations between RSS, Its progeny (which are not in electoral politics) and BJP which is their front on electoral chess Board. It was known but coming from the BJP leader himself, there should be no doubt about it now!

Abusing Hindu Festivals to spark Hate and Violence

Abusing Hindu Festivals to spark Violence and Hate Ram Puniyani Communal violence has been the bane of Indian society with increasing intensity. While in pre colonial era it was an occasional ethnic strife, from the period of British rule, it started to become a regularly occurring phenomenon. The communal historiography, looking at history through the prism of religion of the ruler, introduced by the British was the solid base of emergence of the narratives which formed the ground for emergence of the communal streams, Muslim and Hindu both. These streams devised their own mechanisms to create a ‘social common sense’ and mechanisms to instigate violence in the communities, based on religion. While this phenomenon has seen an exponential rise during the last three decades, scholars, journalists, activist- researchers have made serious efforts to understand the newer mechanism to communalize the majority community and also the newer ways of initiating the violence. A dogged journalist, Kunal Purohit in his remarkable path breaking book, ‘H-Pop’ brings to our notice how popular culture is being shaped by pop songs which are spreading Hatred against the heroes of National movement like Gandhi, Nehru in particular, and against the Muslims. He warns us the Hindutva pop stars are adding intense hatred particularly in the North Indian scenario. On the back of this book comes another important book, ‘Weaponization of Hindu Festivals’ by Irfan Engineer and Neha Dabhade (Pharos Media). Both these activists’- researchers are part of Center for Study of Society and Secularism, which was founded by legendary Asghar Ali Engineer. This center has constantly been monitoring and studying the nature and intensity of communal violence. In the wake of violence being orchestrated around Hindu festivals, particularly Ram Navami, the author duo has focused on the mechanism as to how festival celebrations have been made intimidatory and aggressive to the Muslim community, mostly leading to violence and polarization. As far Hindu festivals and their celebrations are concerned, from centuries they have assumed a sort of culturally integrating factor. The major example of this is that most Hindu festivals were celebrated not only in Mughal Courts but also were jointly celebrated with Muslims. I do recall the Ram Navami procession in my childhood was such a time to be joyous and go round the city in a procession in festive mood. This book is based on the in-depth inquiry into the violence instigated by the religious processions as a part of celebrations of festivals, Ram Navami in particular in years 2022-2023. It seriously analyses the incidents following the inquiry by the teams in which they participated. The violence covered in the book relates to Howrah and Hoogly (2023), Sambahji Nagar (2023),Vadodara (2023), Biharsharif and Sasaram 2023, Khargone (2022), Himmat Nagar and Khambat (2022) and Lohardagga (2022). This book is relevant as its observations can be of great help in preventing the violence by ensuring that the pattern which is coming into being should be prevented for maintaining peace among communities. Irfan Engineer in the introduction points out, “Even a small Group of Hindu nationalists masquerading as ‘religious procession’ could insist on passing through minority inhabited area and provoke some youth using political and abusive slogans and playing violent songs and music, hoping that a reaction, a stone would be thrown at them. The state would do the rest by arresting a large number of members of a minority and demolishing their homes and properties within days without any judicial procedure.” (Page 24) What needs to be understood for prevention is that most of the time these processions, which are well armed; deliberately decide to pass through Muslim majority areas, with loud music and provocative and abusive slogans. It has become a pattern that someone will climb over the mosque and replace the green flag with saffron flag and the crowds down below dance and give a big applause. Such a phenomenon has seen a boost particularly after the 2014 with the BJP government coming to power at center. The Khargone incident is very revealing in this regard. A minster of the MP Government said stones were thrown on the procession, which have come from Muslim Households, so these Households are to be turned into stones. Now these hooligans and organizers of such programs feel that ‘it is their government’ as the popular phrase says, “Sainya Bhaye Kotwal to dar Kahe ka” (If your husband is Chief police officer, why be afraid of anything). In addition to Ram Navami other local religious Yatras (processions), Ganga Aarti, (Prayer for river Ganges),Satsangs (religious meeting) , and other religious programs are being started with similar goals. The example of Kanwad Yatras (holy pilgrimage to collect Ganges water and to be put on Lord Shiva) is another example where the participants become aggressive. To add salt to the injury UP and Uttarakhand Government issued the order that all stalls and eateries on the path of Yatra should write the name of owner on the boards so that the Kanwadiyas (the participants in the pilgrimage) can avoid those owned by Muslims. Fortunately the Supreme Court has put a stay on this order. Such violence is intensifying the prevailing fears amongst Muslim community. It is deepening the polarization and is increasing the atmosphere of fear. The festivals, times to enjoy and celebrate, are being used to instill fear and violence. The book is very relevant as it calls upon the state to take measures by anticipating the moves of communal organizations planning such processions. Carrying arms and use of loud music with songs abusive to minority communities have to be stopped by administration. This is very much within the law, as we have laws to punish those spreading Hatred, the use of DJs can be prohibited. State has a crucial role to play in preventing this ghastly rise of denigrating religious festivals. A proper inquiry and suitable punishment to culprits is a must in addition to compensating the victims. And finally we have to start community programs for unity and amity, through cultural programs and popularization of films and videos promoting harmony. In the foreword, Tushar Gandhi, the great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi emphasizes that we need to reach the messages of Mahatma Gandhi time and over again to bring sanity to our society. This is so pertinent and crucial in present times. --

Promoting Love or instilling Hate and Fear

Promoting Love or instilling Hate and Fear Ram Puniyani India’s anti colonial struggle was accompanied by various diverse social phenomenons. One major of this was the ‘Hindu-Muslim’ Unity, and the emergence of the overall identity of Indians amongst people of all religions. The national, anti-colonial stream promoted this and the best embodiment of this was Mahatma Gandhi, who took three bullets on his bare chest for striving for this. He wrote, “The union that we want is not a patched up thing but a union of hearts based upon a definite recognition of the indubitable proposition that Swaraj (self rule) for India must be an impossible dream without an indissoluble union between the Hindus and Muslims of India. It must not be a mere truce. It cannot be based upon mutual fear. It must be a partnership between equals, each respecting the religion of the other.” In contrast to this the streams basing their nationalism under the mask of religion not only kept aloof from anti colonial struggle but also sowed the seeds and nurtured the plants of Hate and divisiveness. Golwalkar, the second Sarsanghchalak of RSS, wrote, “German race pride has now become the topic of the day. To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic Races—the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well-nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by.” - We, or Our Nationhood Defined (Bharat Publications, Nagpur, 1939). This set the tone for RSS to propagate hate against Muslims and Christians in India. This Hate was the marginal tendency for decades but has emerged as the dominating ‘social common sense’ leading to series of anti-Muslim violence, their intimidation, lynching and what not leading to the phenomenon of ghettoisation, and relegating them to secondary position in society. The process is still on and different RSS-BJP leaders have used all their ‘innovation’ to create more hatred, they have kept adding on to the catchy slogans to demonize the Muslims. ‘They can be identified by their clothes’, ‘Shamshan-Kabristhan’, series of Jihads ‘Vote jihad’ being probably the latest among them. There is a long list of these. To cap it all two of their top leaders have peaked this phenomenon in recent times. One of them is Giriraj Singh who is amongst those leading the pack of Hate promoters. Recently he stated, "If a Muslim/Ghuspetiya (infiltrator) slaps you once, everyone should come together and slap him 100 times....Keep a sword, spear and trident in the house, worship it and if someone comes, protect yourself from him..." One is incidentally reminded of the father of the nation who went on to say that if someone slaps you on one Cheek put forward the other cheek. The two ideologies of Gandhi’s Indian nationalism, amity and love are being totally countered by the ideology of Hindu Nationalism by provoking violence, and hate. The downslide of amity and rise of Hate have run parallel with the divisive politics of sectarian nationalism, particularly after demolition of Babri mosque, followed by series of divisive campaigns. With BJP coming to power at center, the various wings of RSS and foot soldiers of divisive nationalism have felt that now they can enjoy impunity to the fullest extent. Around this time another divisive leader Yogi Adityanath, the introducer of bulldozer (in)justice has also thrown up a phrase ‘Batenge to Katenge’, i.e. Hindus should remain united else they will be slaughtered. This slogan has various dimensions, and the peak organization of Hindu nationalism has approved it. “The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Saturday (October 26, 2024) backed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s controversial remark — ‘*batenge to katenge*’, claiming that Hindus ‘will be slaughtered if divided’ — with RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale saying that the slogan, calling for unity among Hindus, is the lifetime pledge of the Sangh.” This has multiple dimensions. One is that RSS strategists feel that the decline of BJP fortunes in last Lok Sabha elections was due to shift of dalit votes to the INDIA coalition which stood solidly with the concept of social justice and demanding the caste based census. The threat that if dalit-OBC go to INDIA coalition Hindus will be slaughtered! By whom? As per this slogan it will be by the Muslims. On the contrary they have been left in the lurch during the last 75 years. RSS combine may even prop up the non applicable example of plight of Hindus in Bangladesh after the uprising (2024). Pakistan is always an evergreen (pun intended) example of the worsening plight of Hindus there. We must unite as Indians were the central plank of the freedom movement. Indian was the core theme of our unity during anti colonial struggle and it gets reflected in our Constitution. Gandhi, the greatest Hindu of 20th Century, never called for unity as Hindus. Neither the likes of Maulana Azad, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan called for unity as Muslims. For BJP, which is not concerned about the welfare of ‘person standing last in line’, all its ideology, actions and utterances are contrary to what united India. It ridicules Rahul Gandhi’s (RG) call for ‘Mohabbat ki dukan’ (Shop of love) and questions as to why Rahul Gandhi does not meet RSS. Counter question is, why RSS wants to meet RG? RSS knows its politics is based on Hate (Muslims, Christians and those opposed to Hindu Nationalism), while RG is trying to put life back into the Indian National ethos of love and amity as underlined in our Constitution. Why should RG be interested in ideologues against whose ideology he is trying to raise his voice? If RSS wants to RG to meet RSS, it has to drastically change its ideology of division and adopt the values of Indian Constitution, the core of which is unity as Indians and fraternity between people irrespective of their religion. It is precisely for this reason that Nehru, Gandhi’s disciple, never gave importance to RSS, it is for this reason that Indira Gandhi refused to concede RSS Chief Balasaheb Deoras's request to meet her. RSS as per its character wants to derive its legitimacy even from those who oppose its politics .

Mohan Bhagwar: Dussera Speech

Restating the Agenda of Hindu Rashtra: RSS Chief sets the tone for BJP politics Ram Puniyani This 12th October 2024, the Vijayadashmi (Dussara), which is regarded as the foundation day of RSS, as is the practice of RSS Chief (Sarsanghchalak), Dr. Mohan Bhagwat gave a speech. This came in the background of his other significant speech in the aftermath of the slide down of BJP in 2024 General elections. In that speech he had targeted Narendra Modi. Modi had been claiming that he thinks he is non-biological, sent by God. As BJP slid down from 303 seats to 240, Bhagwat stated that “a Man wants to be superman, Then a Dev (deity) then a Bhagwan (God).” This was probably the first election where BJP claimed that it was earlier seeking the help of RSS as it was not that capable, now it is more capable. With this speech Bhagwat brought down the rising arrogance of Narendra Modi and RSS combine (called Sangh Parivar) became hyperactive in election in Haryana, and along with the helpful manipulations of Election Commission, BJP came to power, defying the perception of sure win of Congress party. Now in his Dussara speech he restated most of the policies of BJP, took on the states where the non BJP governments rule and outlined the deeper goals of RSS and the core of Hindutva politics, “Words like ‘Deep State’, ‘Wokeism’, ‘Cultural Marxist’ are enemies of all cultural traditions. Their modus operandi is first to bring educational institutions under their influence. They then try to destroy the thoughts, values and beliefs of the society. They then artificially create problems and inbuilt a feeling of victimhood in people. Then, they fan discontent, they make people aggressive, create an atmosphere of anarchy and instill fear and hatred towards the system, laws, governance in people. This makes it easy to establish one’s dominance over that country,” The less popular word wokeism is used in a derogatory way mostly by right wingers for “the behaviour and attitudes of people who are sensitive to social and political injustice” This is the core sentence of his talk. As such as the Hindu right wing has been dominating the social political scene RSS combine have adopted the modus operandi whereby through shakhas, schools like Sarswati Shishu Mandir, Ekal Vidyalays and word of mouth through its vast network it has influenced the social common sense which promotes conservatism, promotes caste and gender hierarchy. Lately through control of the media by sympathetic Corporate and IT cells of BJP the thinking of a large section of society is being shaped by Hindu nationalist discourse. Now what does wokeism do? It is the longing for a just society. It is against the discrimination on the grounds of caste, religion, color, language and supports the LGBT rights. These rights for equality of all beings are what pinch the Brahminical values, the core of Hindu nationalist politics. To slightly generalize it all the political tendencies parading themselves in the clothes of religion, Taliban, Muslim Brotherhood, politics in the name of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, Christian fundamentalism promote inequality. They do have different expressions depending on the local situations. In another way the founders of Hindu nationalist ideology eulogized Manusmriti for the same, as it subjugates dalits and women. RSS also regards Muslims and Christians as foreigners. And it did covertly support the genocide of Sikhs in 1984. Right wing politics regards wokeism as evil as it is this which looks forward to values of equality, the goal of the journey of social movements in a society. It is precisely for this that democracy is a deeper longing for most movements of the deprived. While the movements of dalits, women and LGBT are looked down upon by Hindu nationalists in India, Women are the major targets in Muslim majority countries where fundamentalist forces rule. As RSS combine is for substituting the values of equality with the values of ‘ancient Golden period’, the values of inequality. The word Wokeism is being used by RSS ideologues for movements and ideas promoting rights of the deprived. While internal dynamics between RSS and BJP is a parivar matter, the basic values of the two remain the same, despite the ego clashes. On most of the other issues as Bhagwat repeated what BJP is practicing. He criticized the non BJP ruling states, “Due to this, today Punjab, Jammu-Kashmir, Ladakh on the north-western border of the country; Kerala, Tamil Nadu on the sea border; and the entire Purvanchal from Bihar to Manipur is disturbed,” The cat is out of the bag when he puts Ladhak and Manipur in the same category. Manipur has seen the worst type of violence against Kukis, and women in particular. The apathy of the BJP Government in the matter is more than disturbing. As far as Ladhak is concerned we have seen the best of the movements to protect the environment and demand for equal citizenship, as causes worthy for the struggle. And what a peaceful struggle it has been? The remarkable leadership of Sonam Wangchuk will be etched in the letters of gold. And how RSS progeny BJP has ignored the whole Ladhak movement, is a dark chapter of India’s contemporary history. His mention of R.G. Kar Medical college tragedy and keeping mum on the atrocities against women wrestlers, the rising atrocities on dalit girls is to say the least is most partisan. Once this gentlemen had proclaimed that rape happens in India (Urban) areas and not in Bharat (villages). Most of such cases in BJP ruled states have taken place in villages or small towns. A report released by the ministry of social justice and empowerment tells us” Uttar Pradesh with 12,287 reported cases, followed by Rajasthan with 8,651 and Madhya Pradesh with 7,732 cases of atrocities against Dalits in the year 2022 show a disturbing trend…) The gem from his speech comes when he asks the Hindus to unite and be strong, as the weak are not able to defend themselves. Are we all not united as Indians? Is there any problem in unity as Indians as per Indian Constitution? But to expect otherwise from Bhagwat will be illogical as their faith in Indian Constitution is also a mere show for electoral benefits.

Ahead of Elections :Cow as Rajyamata-Gomata:

Cow as Rajyamata: Savarkar as non-Vegetarian Ram Puniyani Cow has been playing an important emotive issue in Indian politics for the last three decades or so. Cow is propagated as a Holy animal. She has the status of mother for many and Hindu Nationalist politics has used this to the hilt in polarizing our society. Hindutva ideologue, Savarkar brought to fore the term Hindutva as ‘whole of Hinduness’ and not just Hindu religion. This was the premise on which RSS formulated its politics and the goal of Hindu nation, which it has been pursuing relentlessly from the last close to a century. Last three decades have been very beneficial for the RSS politics as the emotive issues raised by this organization are dominating the political scenario in the country. This came to the fore yet again recently (October 2024). On one hand the ruling coalition of Maharashtra led by BJP; declared Cow (only indigenous breed, called as Desi Gay in popular parlance) Rajyamata-Gomata (state mother- Cow mother). This surely has been done with an eye on forthcoming Maharashtra election. In Maharashtra as per popular perception BJP seems to be having not a very strong chance. In recently held Parliament elections it fared badly and since then it has resorted to such antics, which are polarizing to the core. As a matter of chance around the same time one Karnataka Minister made a statement that Savarkar, the father of Hindu nationalist ideology; was not against cow slaughter and did not regard Cow as sacred but a very useful animal, “At an event in Bengaluru organized to mark Gandhi Jayanti, Dinesh Gundu Rao claimed that Savarkar was not only a meat-eater, who consumed beef, but also propagated the practice publicly.” The Congress minister, Dinesh Gundu Rao said that Savarkar, despite being a Brahmin, did not adhere to traditional dietary restrictions and was a modernist, “Savarkar was a Brahmin, but he ate beef and was a non-vegetarian. He did not oppose cow slaughter; in fact, he was quite a modernist on that topic." That Savarkar ate meat is well known. In one of the famous visits of Gandhi to Savarkar in London, when he was raising support for his work in South Africa, he visited Savarkar. Savarkar was preparing his dinner. He was frying prawns, and offered them to Gandhi who declined as he was a strict vegetarian. Savarkar also stated that Cow should not be worshipped. Author Vaibhav Purandare stated that, “Savarkar held the view that the cow is only a bullock’s mother, and while there is no record of him eating it, he was not averse to eating beef,” the writer of ‘Savarkar: The True Story of The Father of Hindutva’,… at the Bangalore Literature Festival. Purandare said that Savarkar’s position was rather complicated on the issue of cow protection as he was of the opinion that if one deliberately killed cows to spite Hindus then it was a problem…However, he believed that if it was just for the sake of eating because you like it, then it is okay,” added the writer. As far as Cow and holiness is concerned a lot has been written about the sacrifice of cows during Vedic period. Swami Vivekananda in his various writings points out that Cow was sacrificed in the Holy rituals and eating it was not taboo. “You will be astonished if I tell you that, according to old ceremonials, he is not a good Hindu who does not eat beef. On certain occasions he must sacrifice a bull and eat it.” [Vivekananda speaking at the Shakespeare Club, Pasadena, California, USA (2 February 1900) on the theme of ‘Buddhistic India’, cited in Swami Vivekananda, The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 3 (Calcutta: Advaita Ashram, 1997), p. 536.] It is also to be noted that, “…it is corroborated by other research works sponsored by the Ramakrishna Mission established by Swami Vivekananda himself. One of these reads: “The Vedic Aryans, including the Brahmans, ate fish, meat and even beef. A distinguished guest was honored with beef served at a meal. Although the Vedic Aryans ate beef, milch cows were not killed. One of the words that designated cow was aghnya (what shall not be killed). But a guest was a goghna (one for whom a cow is killed). It is only bulls, barren cows and calves that were killed.”[C. Kunhan Raja, ‘Vedic Culture’, cited in the series, Suniti Kumar Chatterji and others (eds.), The Cultural Heritage of India, Vol 1 (Calcutta: The Ramakrishna Mission, 1993), 217.] Ambedkar’s studies also point in a similar direction, the historian of Ancient India Professor D. N. Jha, based on his scholarly work, Myth of Holy Cow points out that there are verses like Atho Annam via Gau (Cow is veritably food). It was the struggle between Buddhism and Brahmanism that Cow was later given the status of Mother, Holy etc. This was part of the resurgence of Brahminism and attack on Buddhism in India whereby Buddhism was wiped out from India. Later during the freedom movement as the Muslim and Hindu communal politics surged; the pig and cow were used by these political tendencies to strengthen themselves. Throwing pork in the mosque or beef in the temple was used to instigate communal violence which strengthened these divisive tendencies. Lately throwing beef in temples deliberately to provoke violence has also come to the fore. As the Cow slaughter ban has been brought to surface and starting from Akhlaq to Junaid to Rakbar Khan have been done to death on this issue, the fright among Muslim community is peaking. The phenomenon has been tormenting the minority community. Harsh Mander the well-known humanist has floated Caravan- a- Mohabbat to sooth the families of victims of lynching. It is only Muslims who are targeted, the other beef eaters in North Eastern states (Kiran Rijiju conceded he eats beef), Kerala and Goa have been spared. The Maharashtra Government has very cleverly called only ‘indigenous Cows’ as Rajyamata, and not the other cows. India is gradually peaking in beef export. Interestingly in author Vijay Trivedi’s Book on Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Haar nahin Manunga, tells us that once when Vajpayee was eating beef in America (page 236) he was reminded about this by his table partner. Vajpayee smiled it away saying that any way it is not Indian Cow, so where is the problem?

Love Jihad Propaganda to the fore , Yet again

Love and Religious Boundaries: Love Jihad Ram Puniyani This 1st Oct a Barially Court gave life imprisonment to a Muslim man in case of a complaint of sexual assault. In the judgment the justice commented that it is a case of love Jihad, which the police have failed to present that way. The girl was a Hindu. During the court proceedings the girl did withdraw the complaint on the ground that she had to lodge the complaint under the pressure of Hindutva group. The Lordship will have none of it; probably the social propaganda was ruling his verdict. Judge Diwakar in his judgment commented sui generis that Muslim men target Hindu women to get married. The judgment went on, “In simple words, love jihad is the practice of Muslim men to convert women from non-Muslim communities to Islam by pretending to love them and marrying them. Illegal conversions through love jihad are carried out by some anarchist elements of a particular religion or are made to do so or are involved in a conspiracy… A huge amount of money is required for love jihad. Hence, the fact of foreign funding in love jihad cannot be ruled out…” Foreign funding in love jihad is a novel concept; wish the judge had named the country which is sending the money for this. While propaganda around love jihad was the first one in jihad series, now of course there are number of jihads which are popularized, land jihad, UPSC jihad, flood jihad, Corona Jihad amongst others. There are downright communal anchors which specialize in tabulating the types of jihad, if Muslims are in near or remote way to any happening. This is a classic case of trivial issues being magnified to demonize the religious community, which is regarded as belonging to ‘foreign religion’ and is targeted in covert and overt way to be presented as the ‘enemy other’. This creation of ‘enemy other’ lies at root of communal politics, Hindu Nationalist politics, which is dominating the social scenario in India. Propaganda about love jihad is not very old. Just a couple of decades earlier some Christian Bishops from Kerala started this calumny and it was picked up more intensely by Hindu nationalists. Since their propaganda machinery is well oiled from RSS Shakhas, to RSS run schools, sections of media, social media and a parallel social media with IT cell in particular. The propaganda that there is an organization funding the Muslim youth to lure Hindu girls was investigated and was found to be a hoax. Many things have been attributed as the purpose of love jihad. The first one is the demographic one. So far the major propaganda is that Muslims have ‘Four Wives twenty Children’ and they will overtake the Hindu population soon. The love jihad, conversion of Hindu girls through love jihad and producing children has been added on to it. Yet another aspect which has been added to it is that these girls are trained to be part of Islamic State for fighting for them. The core aim of love jihad propaganda has to be linked to the patriarchal values which accompany the nationalism in the name of religion. The phenomenon of rising atrocity on rape and increase in the incidents of rape runs parallel to the rise of communal politics. Teesta Setalvad points out, “Women of targeted communities are singled out as ‘symbols of honor’ of the communities when the horrors and bestiality of violence are unleashed on them. We saw this during the Partition-related violence, 1946–47; Nellie Assam, 1983; Delhi, 1984; Bombay, 1992–93; Gujarat, 2002; and most recently in Manipur, 2023… the reasons are sociological, historical and ideological. We must always remember that the BJP is ruled by the ideological fountainhead, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Hindu Mahasabha— extreme rightwing outfits that are based on a deep-rooted vision of not just a militarized faith but of a misogynist control of women and their sexuality.” One recalls here the reprimand by the Hindu Nationalism’s foremost ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. Commenting a Shivaji’s noble act of returning the daughter in law of Kalyan governor (A Muslim) brought to him by his plundering army Savarkar criticizes Shivaji for not taking revenge but returning her with honor. In the wake of the rising chorus of ‘Love Jihad’, historian Charu Gupta stated this is a mechanism to control the lives of women, “The fake claim by the Hindu right that there is love jihad organization which is forcing the Hindu women to convert to Islam through false expression of love is similar to campaign in 1920 against alleged abductions, whether 1920 or 2009, Hindu patriarchal notions seem to be deeply entrenched in such campaigns, images of passive victimized Hindu women at the hands of inscrutable Muslim; abound and any possibility of women exercising their legitimate right to love and their right of choice is ignored.” It is in this light that one sees the intense activities of Bajrang Dal on occasions like Raksha Bandhan etc, when they go to Hindu households and tell the parents to keep a ‘watch’ on their daughters. The propaganda on the issue has caught up and is affecting different sections of society. There are many cases where the Muslim youth are attacked. Priyanka Todi and Rizwan Khan Story ended in tragic death of Rizwan Khan. Even the reverse of this sometimes becomes true at times when Ankit Bhandari is done to death by the relatives of the Muslim girl he was in love with. The case of Hadiya, Akhila Arunan, converted to Islam is very revealing. She converted to Islam due to interaction with Muslim friends. Later she married Shafik Jahan. Her father was given her custody by the court on the ground that she has been indoctrinated and will be recruited for ISIS work. She went up to Supreme Court where her testimony was heard and was restored with her husband. In Kerala many a Yoga centers have come up to convince the Hindu girls intending to marry a Muslim to bring her back to Hindu fold and abandon her love for the Muslin man. Many a girls have complained of force and blackmail being applied to them. The judgment mentioned above shows as to how this propaganda is affection out society overall, including the judges who are supposed to base their verdict on concrete evidence.

Rahul Gandhi’s Comments in America: True or Malicious?

Rahul Gandhi’s Comments in America: True or Malicious? Ram Puniyani On a recent visit to the United States of America, Rahul Gandhi (RG) had many interactions with the audiences. In one such meeting he asked one of the Sikhs sitting in the audience as to what his name is. He was talking about two poles of politics in India, hinting at the narrow sectarian politics becoming more assertive and aggressive in India. He told the audience that in India, "The fight is about whether he, as a Sikh, is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India or he, as a Sikh, is going to be allowed to wear a 'kada' in India. Or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to a gurdwara. That's what the fight is about. And not just for him, for all religions," the Congress leader had said. Clearly the example of Sikhs was incidental and he was hinting at a broader trend of intimidation of religious minorities in India. Some Sikh and other leaders from BJP pounced on RG putting on him usual anti-national type labels, calling him divisive among others. The simple point of religious and cultural rights and practices of diverse sections of society was deliberately undermined in these criticisms. This occasion, yet again was used by the BJP to further attack RG, who has been a recipient of vitriol from BJP. RG in a tweet clarified his understanding of the vision of India, "As usual, the BJP is resorting to lies. They are desperate to silence me because they cannot stand the truth. But I will always speak up for the values that define India: our unity in diversity, equality, and love," Unmindful of the spirit of RG, Cabinet Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in an article in Indian Express wrote that the only time Sikhs went through a crisis was the decade of 1980s, hinting to ethnic cleansing of Sikhs, in many places in the country, particularly in Delhi in 1984. He called RG’s attitude was like that of MA Jinnah, who was out to divide the country. He had not registered that it was the BJP Government which totally ignored the demands of farmers, many of them Sikhs for months before the anti farmer bills were withdrawn. Meanwhile the Sikhs participating in this massive protest were labeled as Khalistanis. As far a 1984 ethnic cleansing is concerned those leading the pogrom can never be pardoned. The Indian National Congress’s Manmohan Singh, who was Prime Minister for a decade, has apologized for the same and one expects that the guilty of the violence will be brought to book, as soon as possible. The lapse of decades in not punishing the guilty of 1984 crimes is highly condemnable. It is never realized that RSS-BJP did not come to protect the Sikh community which was being brutalized. On the contrary Shamsul Islam, major scholar on rise of fundamentalism in India, points out that RSS also colluded in this ghastly pogrom, “A crucial proof of this criminal collusion in the massacre of Sikhs is a document circulated by Nana Deshmukh, a prominent ideologue of the RSS (now deceased). Titled as ‘Moments of Soul Searching’ it was circulated by Deshmukh on November 8, 1984. (Added, it was also published in George Fernandes edited Hindi Magazine, Pratipask) This should help in unmasking a number of criminals involved in the massacre and rape of ordinary innocent Sikhs who had nothing to do with the killing of Indira Gandhi. This document may also throw light on where the cadres came from, who methodically organized the killing of Sikhs. Nana Deshmukh is seen outlining the justification of the massacre of the Sikh community in 1984.” On these comments against RG there is one more angle. Some Sikh Groups are seeing it as welcome recognition of their Sikh identity. K.Sudarshan. ex-RSS chief, in a statement, had said that Sikhism is a Panth (Sect) of Hinduism and that Khalsa was created to protect Hindus from Islam. In 2019 Mohan Bhawat said that India is a Hindu Nation. There was a strong protest against both these statements. These outpourings also show the RSS mindset. One knows that Sikhism is not just a sect but a religion in its own right; it has its founder, Guru Nanak Devji. Who said, Na Hum Hindu Na Hum Musalmman. (I am neither a Hindu nor a Muslim). Editorials in prominent Punjabi newspapers like Punjabi Tribune and Nawa Zamana criticized the statement of Bhagwat in strong terms. While the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) which is a constituent of the NDA and has been an ally of BJP also gave strong reaction to the statement of Mr. Bhagwat. Giani Harpreet Singh, the acting Jathedar (head priest) of Akal Takht said that he believes the RSS’s actions will create divisions in the country. “The statements being made by RSS leaders are not in the country’s interests…” Contrary to the utterances that Sikhism is part of Hinduism, there is a book by Kahan Singh, ‘Hum Hindu Nahin’. (We are not Hindus) If we see Sikhism’s traditions, there is rich syncretism. The foundation of the Golden temple was laid by Miyan Mir. Baba Farid and other Sufi saints are respected along with Bhakti Saints like Kabir Raidas. Guru Granth Saheb, the Guru of Sikhs, has writings not only of Sikh Gurus but also of Sufi and Bhakti Saints. Its main focus is to shift away from the rigidities imposed by Maulanas and Brahminical teachings of caste and gender inequality. The religions originating from the Sub continent, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism all preach the equality of people and in a way are away from the caste and gender hierarchies. Many Sikh leaders try to join BJP merely for the sake of power, unmindful of the contradiction between humane values of Sikhism and the orthodoxies of Brahmism. As Ambedkar pointed out Brahmanism is the most dominant tendency within Hinduism. This is what led him to renounce Hinduism and embrace Buddhism. Sikhism as such flourished during the so called Muslim period of Indian History. Seeing the strong reaction of many Sikh organizations, now RSS is conceding that Sikhism is an independent religion. RG’s statement in no way is divisive and represents the values of Indian Constitution.