A pack of bigotry wrapped in austerity: An artificial myth called Pratap Sarangi
No doubt, he leads a simple life but one must not get swayed by the artificial narrative that simplicity is all about greatness.
Ironically, Pratap Sarangi, the new poster boy of simplicity and austerity in the national media, leads a simple life to champion the very complex ideas of social violence and bigotry.
The narrative woven around this minister of state in the new Modi government is that he is a poor or an underprivileged man, lives a simple life in a broken hut and owns only a bicycle. Is it true?
For last two decades, I have seen him living in the posh MLA Colony of Bhubaneshwar, the capital city of Odisha, whether he is elected to the assembly or not. I do not know when and how this old broken hut of his village came up to social media!
Nevertheless, Sarangi’s political journey is not as simple as what the national media wants us to believe.
He began his career as a clerk in the Nilagiri College in Balasore district and later become the state unit chief of Bjarang Dal. As the chief of Bajrang Dal in Odisha, Sarangi defended two most violent incidents, which shook the conscience of civil society in the state.
In the first incident, Sarangi strongly stood by Dara Singh, the murderer of Graham Staines. It was Sarangi who vilified Staines as a proselytiser and publicly supported the act of killing by Dara Singh.
In the second incident, his name came up in the Odisha assembly attack case in December 2001. As the president of Bajrang Dal, he led a group of saffron activists who vandalised the state assembly building and violently attacked MLAs there. It was one of the most horrible attacks on the “temple of democracy” and irony died a thousand deaths when Sarangi becomes a MLA in 2004.
His words and actions as the Bajrang Dal chief of Odisha shall not be forgotten by the new narrative. We cannot ignore the terrible facts that here is a man who stood by a murderer and who also led the attack on Odisha assembly.
After getting elected to the assembly, he remained very much that old “Hindutva” guard in the guise of a law maker. In countless television debates, I faced him personally and had the experience of knowing his ideology of violence and bigotry.
Much before Pragyan Singh’s love for Nathuram Godse, it was Sarangi who defended Godse as a patriot. In a public forum I argued against his idea of Godse brand of patriotism. He is also a strong champion of cow vigilantism and strongly stood by the hooliganism in the name of cow protection.
On the other hand, it is true that he is honest and believes in leading a simple lifestyle. Most of the time, he loves to walk on the streets of Bhubaneswar as an ordinary man. He is a lawmaker who does not have luxury cars or a big house. He lives in the MLA Colony of Bhubaneswar modestly.
However, he fought all his elections with adequate party funding. It is completely a fiction to believe that he runs his campaign riding a bicycle. His party ran the most expensive campaign in this election and Sarangi’s campaign was no different.
What is the meaning of simplicity or austerity, if you champion the cause of violence? The murderous idea of cow vigilantism and anti-minority rant cannot be hidden under the clothes of simplicity. In the guise of austerity and honesty, Pratap Sarangi champions the idea of violence, vigilantism and vitriolic idea of Hindutva.
