April 18, 2023

Dear Rama, Narpati, Lord of Men,

I do not see a reason to write you a letter; after all, you are ever present; you are Sarvajna (The All-Knowing, or the One who is aware of everything that exists). But when I write to you, I introspect about my position, hypocrisy and lack of introspection in my community. 

I once encountered the phrase “jo ramta hai wahi Ram hai” in an essay as a student. I enquired with my teacher if this had any links to the vanvas of Prince Ram of Ayodhya. Patiently, he explained that the essayist used the term “Ram” to represent purity in a nirgun (formless) sense. He discussed the idea of travel, literally and metaphorically, to denote transformation (‘ramta’). He also spoke about Kabir and Surdas. The essay and conversation left a mark on my life; I realised that the idea of Ram is not limited to a narrow concept of something singular but a human ideal of purity. 

In years to come, I have learned more about You and the ‘idea of Ram’ from my mother, sister and friends. You are dignity (Maryada) from Amma, while for Akka, You are Stoic, and my Ram was the idea of ‘Ramta‘ (transformation). 

At the same time I was discovering you, a dramatic change was occurring outside of me: in 1990, the Rath-Yatra had transformed your name and entity, Ram, from an idea of maryada to a war cry. A war cry to Hindus who were told of a glorious past and how to correct historical “injustices”.

Lord, Ram.

“You became the poster boy for an entire society fighting socially, legally, religiously and politically to build a mandir for you. They unleashed violence for your temple, but it never struck them, Lord, that you gave away your kingdom for a promise made by your father, you never spoke ill of your Kaikeyye, you parted from Bharat with an embrace, guiding him to succeed. Your life taught the idea of ‘sacrifice’ idea of giving it away is the idea of tapasya.”  

Dear Raghupati, I was rereading Maithili Sharan Gupt’s “Kakiyee ka Anuthap“. Throughout the poem, Kakiyee expresses her regret for her actions and her desire to seek Your forgiveness. Not only do you pardon her, but you also show her love. Your Love for Kakiyee and Bharat was unwavering. I must confess I have tried (often unsuccessfully) for years to adopt this unwavering love. 

I recall so many incidents from your life (we do many versions of your life); I remember how you were ready to accept Vali’s last words when he felt betrayed as he died in your arms; you promised that in a future incarnation as Lord Krishna, you would be mistakenly injured by a hunter named Jara, and Jara would be the reincarnation of Vali. 

Son of Dasharath, You show kindness to Jatayu as he dies in your arms. You accepted offerings of fruits from Sabari, who tasted them before she offered them to you. You see bhakti and love in it. You receive Vibhisana’s request for refuge. However, Sugriva and Lakshmana express doubt about Vibhisana’s motives. You speak of Ravana’s statecraft with respect; you seek no war and send Hanuman for peace; and finally, you fight the battle not to conquer Lanka but for the Love of Sita. You ask Vibhisana to rule the nation of Lanka. You thought Vibhisana would govern justly and fairly; your magnanimity and ability to forgive and extend compassion even to your enemies is a formidable lesson for us. 

The period of exile, or “vanvas,” was a time of introspection and a battle for love. You, the prodigal son, returned to the land of Ayodhya after a life of “tapasya,”; You taught us what bhakti is, for true love is not obtained through asserting ownership but rather through the process of detachment and self-discovery. They, in fact, call you Vanavasa Priya; I interpret it as someone who celebrated detachment (what a thing for a prince to do !!) 

Lord Rama, I recall an incident where Hanuman shielded Luv and Kush from your arrow. Hanuman, the embodiment of devotion and reverence towards you, demonstrated that your bhakti can even reverse the effect of your arrow. 

Love of Lord Rama could even conquer your wrath. 

It reinforced the values of Ram-Maryada, which encompassed dignity, love, and devotion, and its significance has only grown over time.

Yet, I felt we had betrayed you when I saw men kill and then shout Jai Shree Ram. We owe an apology to you. As a nation and religious group, we have lost both dignity and maryada. The Lord who could give up his kingdom and always taught the idea of tapsaya, bhakti and fighting for love has been reduced to a cry for violence, revenge and lawlessness.

Many would say You must come back to correct the ills, but You gave Your story and lesson; as Your disciple, we must claim what You instilled in us, bhakti, an idea of love.

We come to you much like Kakiyee. We come with our “anuthap” (remorse and regret). The only way to make amends is, to begin with, introspection and embrace the values of love and compassion you have taught us.

Lord of Men, Rama, you are also called “Premamaya”, is a term that means “full of love”. We will not allow your name to be misused as a symbol of hate.

A disciple of love and knowledge, 

Venkat Srinivasan

(The writer is a financial professional, also passionate about the arts, academia, and social issues related to development and human rights)

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Written by D Y Chandrachud (Courtesy; Indian Express)

At the very outset, I extend my heartiest congratulations to the winners in all the categories of the awards presented today. Earlier today, I was browsing through the categories in which awards are presented as well as a few stories by previous winners and I must say that I am tremendously impressed by the depth and breadth of the reportage that journalists in our country engage in. To those journalists who have not won today — you are no less a winner in the game of life for yours is a noble profession. To have chosen it at all (especially when more lucrative options are available) and to continue to pursue it despite the many difficulties which arise, is admirable indeed.

As I was reflecting on the profession of law and that of journalism, it occurred to me that journalists and lawyers (or judges, as in my case) share some things in common. Of course, persons of both professions are fierce believers of the aphorism that the pen is mightier than the sword. But, they also share the occupational hazard of being disliked by virtue of their professions — no easy cross to bear. But members of both professions keep at their daily tasks and hope that one day, the reputations of their professions will receive a makeover.

The magnitude of the task that journalists face in their careers was well described by G K Chesterton, who said “Journalism largely consists in saying ‘Lord Jones is dead’ to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive”. Journalists are constantly engaged in the endeavour of simplifying complex information for the consumption of the public, which is frequently unaware of even the most basic facts underlying the issues sought to be exposed. This simplification of information must not be at the cost of accuracy, which further complicates the journalist’s job. This is true, the world over.

The media sparks debates and discussion, which are the first step towards action. All societies inevitably become dormant, lethargic and immune to the problems that plague them. Journalism (in all its forms) is one of the key aspects which prods us out of this collective inertia. The media has always played and continues to play an important role in shaping the course of current events, and by extension, the course of history itself. Recently, the #MeToo movement was sparked in part by the publication of stories concerning the accusations of sexual harassment against prominent figures in the film industry in the US. The #MeToo movement had cascading effects all across the world and was a watershed moment in history. In India, the media’s coverage of the rape of Jyoti, or Nirbhaya, by certain men in Delhi resulted in widespread protests and later, in reforms to criminal law. Even on a day-to-day basis, some news stories prompt questions and discussion in Parliament and in the legislative assemblies of states.

The media is the fourth pillar in the conception of the State, and thus an integral component of democracy. A functional and healthy democracy must encourage the development of journalism as an institution that can ask difficult questions to the establishment — or as it is commonly known, “speak truth to power”. The vibrancy of any democracy is compromised when the press is prevented from doing exactly this. The press must remain free if a country is to remain a democracy.

India has a great legacy of newspapers that have acted as catalysts of social and political change. Prior to independence, newspapers were run by social reformers and political activists in order to raise awareness and also as a means of outreach. For instance, Dr. Ambedkar launched several newspapers such as Mooknayak, Bahishkrut Bharat, Janata, and Prabuddha Bharat to create awareness about the rights of the most neglected communities in India. The newspapers and other publications of pre-Independence India also give us a picture of the detailed history of those times. These newspapers are now a source of knowledge, a historical record of the times when courageous men and women acted against the colonial rulers and fought fiercely for our independence. The newsprint voiced the aspiration of the soul, a yearning for freedom.

Many journalists, both in our country as well as across the world, work in difficult and unfriendly conditions. But they are relentless in the face of adversity and opposition. It is precisely this quality which must not be lost. As citizens, we may not agree with the approach that a journalist has adopted or the conclusions that they reach. I, too, find myself disagreeing with many journalists. After all, who amongst us agrees with all other people? But disagreement must not distort into hatred and hatred must not be permitted to evolve into violence. As you must be aware, the Supreme Court of India has emphasised on the rights of journalists in a number of judgments. In one judgment, the Supreme Court held: “India’s freedoms will rest safe as long as journalists can speak truth to power without being chilled by a threat of reprisal.”

Initially, the outreach of journalism was limited to print media, but this expanded with the introduction of television. I was taking a flight to the United States in 1982 to pursue a Master’s degree in law. Coincidentally, it was the day of the launching of colour television in India. In the recent past, social media has been a game changer for journalists in more ways than one. Online platforms have provided an opportunity to individuals to launch their own online media channels. In that way, online platforms have led to the democratisation of the media. Years ago, it was the paucity of space which was a constraining factor. Now, perhaps, it is the paucity of reader patience. Readers have short attention spans. News is reduced to shorts on YouTube or reels on Instagram.

Our attention spans have seen a steady decline with the advent of social media. It is now the norm for short tidbits of information to be conveyed through 280 characters or in a few seconds. This is, however, an unsatisfactory replacement for long-form or investigative pieces. In fact, there can be no replacement for such reportage. It is also proving to be a challenge for journalists to penetrate the echo chambers that social media has created and illuminate the truth.

Local or community-based journalism has played an important role in encouraging social cohesion and political activism. It has the ability to not only educate citizens but also to raise the little-known concerns and set the agenda for debate on those issues at the policy level. Local journalism shines a bright light on local issues, people, and causes, which many times may not get covered by the media at the national-level. As several studies have shown, the composition of mainstream media is not representative of all communities.

Community journalism opens the avenues for the members of marginalised communities to be a voice for their own issues. The emergence of social media enabled them to create their own space and come up with independent media platforms.

The relevance of the media was best highlighted during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic. Electronic, print and social media facilitated the State to disseminate relevant information to the general public at large even during the lockdown. The citizens were constantly reminded of the various precautionary as well as preventive steps which they were expected to take in order to ensure their well-being. The media highlighted administrative loopholes and excesses. Various high courts and the Supreme Court of India relied on news reports in taking suo motu cognisance of instances of violations of people’s rights during the pandemic.

I was recently asked as to which newsperson I followed with keen interest. My answer did not name a newsperson but a cartoonist – the famed late Mr R K Laxman. Although he was not a journalist, he succeeded in accomplishing the core of the journalist’s mission by holding a mirror up to the powers that be. I am sure most of India will join with me in considering Mr RK Laxman’s cartoons to be incisive and witty commentaries. He was what we call an “equal opportunity offender” — everyone stood the risk of being the subject of his cartoons and most took it in good spirit when they were ridiculed. My favourite anecdote about him was that he thought that the famous UK cartoonist David Low was actually David Cow because of the manner in which Mr Low penned his signature.

I also joked that my favourite journalist (so to speak) was the one in the Hindi movie Nayak, which was a remake of the Tamil film Mudhalvan. Those who have watched either of these know that the protagonist is a journalist who is invited to take the place of the Chief Minister for a single day. He becomes wildly popular after doing this and becomes a politician. I see some young faces in the audience today and I hope that they have not taken up journalism after watching this movie in their youth.

In recent years, we are also witnessing a rising interest in legal journalism. Legal journalism is the storyteller of the justice system, shedding light on the complexities of the law. However, selective quoting of speeches and judgments of judges by journalists in India has become a matter of concern. This practice has a tendency to distort the public’s understanding of important legal issues. Judges’ decisions are often complex and nuanced, and selective quoting can give the impression that a judgment means something entirely different from what the judge actually intended. It is thus essential for journalists to provide a complete picture of events, rather than presenting a one-sided view. Journalists have a duty to report accurately and impartially.

As with every institution, journalism is facing its own challenges. Fake news poses a serious threat to the independence and impartiality of the press in the current society. It is the collective responsibility of journalists as well as other stakeholders to weed out any element of bias or prejudice from the process of reporting events. A comprehensive fact-checking mechanism should be in place to verify all news items before reporting. Media houses are expected to act cautiously while publishing news. Fake news can misguide millions of people at once, and this will be in direct contradiction with the fundamentals of democracy which form the bedrock of our existence. Across the globe, fake news has the capability to create tensions between communities by misleading people. Therefore, to save the democratic values of fraternity which can be damaged, if not destroyed through biased reporting, there is a strong need to bridge a gap between truth and lie.

Another issue affecting the media is that of legitimacy. A diverse and representative newsroom is essential for media institutions to provide well-researched and complex stories that explore a multiplicity of perspectives and voices.

Maintaining a diverse workforce is imperative for the longevity of any media platform. This is not just about providing different perspectives and viewpoints. Media institutions need to ensure that their newsroom culture reflects the diverse news content they are producing. Otherwise, audiences may question their authenticity. Journalism ought not to be elitist, exclusionary or for that matter, a selective profession.

The post ‘Press must remain free if a country is to remain a democracy’: CJI DY Chandrachud appeared first on SabrangIndia.

One witnesses a forceful return of religions’ political hold, which corners our diasporas into a mix of ethnic-cultural-religious syncretic identity, and traps us, as if we were under ‘house arrest’, into our presumed religion or culture. In fact, this is an ahistorical fantasy, which denies us any access to freedom of thought and universal rights.

In these dire circumstances, we welcome the translation into French, the publication and the wide distribution of Bhagat Singh’s 1930 pamphlet “Why I am an atheist” as particularly timely.

As feminists, we already faced the identity sledgehammer argument in our countries of origin: “Feminism is Western; you are traitors to your own country, to your culture, to your origins; you have sold out to the West, to capitalism, to Western imperialism” etc…

However, a research undertaken by feminist activists in the ’90s in so-called Muslim countries shows that women, since the inception of Islam, already demanded the right to education, to freedom of movement, to political representation, to financial autonomy, to celibacy or to the right to chose one’s partner after thorough agreements had been designed in order to draft a contract which was satisfactory to both parties, etc…

From that time onwards, women took action to guarantee all these rights (1) We had to fight hard to get back the ownership of our long lived feminist history, by challenging the Sirens’ song of reactionary identity politics – and as well, one must emphasise here, the Sirens’ song of patriarchy happily covering up in the midst of our Left forces, in our countries.

As revolutionaries as well, we had to confront the identity argument: “Marxism is a Western way of thinking, alien to our culture; you are traitors to the nation; sold out to the West, etc…”

And now once more, we must reclaim and own back our revolutionary history, by bringing together the stories and analysis of the many agnostics, atheists and secularists in our countries. For, as Bhagat Singh says, “All religions, faiths, theological philosophies, and religious creeds and all other such institutions in the long run become supporters of the tyrannical and exploiting institutions, men and classes. Rebellion against any king has always been a sin in every religion. “

In order to reclaim our historical right to atheism, to ground ourselves into our long secular tradition, we must today confront on the ground the Hindutva as well as Daesh (ISIS) and many other – intolerant Buddhists, orthodox Jews, Opus Dei, etc… religious extreme-rights, which, when they are in power, claim their gods granted them the right and duty to physically eliminate all the Untermensch. “Divine Repression”, as Bhagat Singh would say… Be it in India, in Bangladesh, in Pakistan, in Algeria, in Nigeria, or … in Paris and Brussels, many lost their lives, including recently, for having claimed this universal right: to live as a freethinker and to mock the official representatives of established creeds.

Let us pay tribute here to the Bangladeshi and Saudi bloggers, to the Indian writers, to the Pakistani activists struggling against the Blasphemy Law, to the French cartoonists, etc … who fought for our freedom.

Clearly, it is an illusion to hope that the West will be spared by the rise of religious extreme-rights and that their sphere of influence will be limited to the African and Asian countries we came from. In Europe and North America, societies are increasingly dividing themselves along the lines of ethnic or religious antagonistic ‘communities’ which want to be ruled by their own religious laws (“Do not say that it is His law!”, exclaims Bhagat Singh) and their own customs. In the process, they get rid of democracy and universal rights, in the name of an ‘identity’ which only keeps from the past the most conservatives elements – especially regarding women’s rights.

Even in France, the very principle of secularism is now under threat – whether because it is gradually abandoned by political forces, formerly on the Left, who made secularism happen, or whether it is sidetracked by political forces, on the extreme-right.

In these troubled times, translating and publishing in the French language this book by Bhagat Singh reminds all those who, right here, deny us our libertarian history – in the name of an identity they believe is necessarily grounded in religion – and who grant a growing political power to religions’ official representatives, that “The morbid alliance between religious preachers and possessors of power” constitutes a mortal danger.

The writer is Algerian sociologist, founder and former international coordinator of the Women Living Under Muslim Laws international solidarity network (wluml.org), founder and present international coordinator of the international network, Secularism Is A Women’s Issue (siawi.org).

This article was published in French by Editions de l’Asymétrie, as a forward to Bhagat Singh’s “Why I am an atheist”. The author has translated it into English.

The post Remembering Bhagat Singh, Reclaiming the Right to be A Free Thinker appeared first on SabrangIndia.

First published on:  28 Sep 2016

“The communists’ ideologues conveniently ignore the truth that the roots of Bhagat Singh’s ideology lie in the very concept of Hindu Rashtra,” claimed an article by Dipin Damodharan, published on the birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh, September 28, 2010.

Damodharan, as introduced at the end of the article, is a student pursuing Masters in Communication and Journalism (MCJ) at the Calicut University of Kerala. He argues: “To my knowledge, he sacrificed his precious life for a noble cause, for the liberation of Bharat from the invaders, for nationalism. Undoubtedly Bhagat’s legacy belongs to every Bharati. But for the communists (experts in transforming sheep to dog), he died for communism and not for nationalism. They are incessantly advocating Bhagat as their poster boy, for several years they have been using Goebbelsian tricks to claim Bhagat’s legacy.”

The author further argues, “They are injecting fake stories about Bhagat into the blood of youth who are ignorant about Bharat’s history. Discarding the historical facts, the communists become angry with the Sangh inspired organizations for propagating Bhagat’s ideals”.

To justify his claims, the author cites examples like Bhagat Singh was born in a family who were staunch followers of the Arya Samaj, was educated at Dayanad Anglo Vedic (DAV) School and National College of Lahore, was inspired by the sagas of two great patriots Chatrapati Shivaji and Maharana Pratap and finally, they link at his association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Of course, without any reference! To any of us who has read Bhagat’s writings, it is nothing but absurd or, if we go by Damodharan’s own definition — it is an attempt to transform sheep in to a dog.

Bhagat Singh himself, in his most famous writing, ‘Why I Am An Atheist’ clarifies the above absurdities.

Bhagat Singh wrote, “I deny the very existence of that Almighty Supreme being… My grandfather under whose influence I was brought up as an orthodox Arya Samajist. An Arya Samajist is anything but an atheist. After finishing my primary education I joined the DAV. School of Lahore and stayed in its Boarding House for one full year… Later on, I joined the revolutionary party… My previous faith and convictions underwent a remarkable modification… I had become a pronounced atheist.”

Dismissing Dipin Damodharan’s remarks as absurd and ignoring them is not what we should do, as these attempts are not abrupt. They are pre-planned and occupy various forms of mass communication. Communal forces are not letting go of any chance to misuse these heroes for furthering their communal agendas.

Last year (2010), a month before the Ayodhya verdict, the ‘Bhagwa Brigade’ (saffron brigade) gave a public call to recruit 10,000 Hindu youth from Madhya Pradesh (MP) for the mission to establish a Hindu Rasthra.

To do so, they issued a poster and pasted copies of it all over the state of Madhya Pradesh. Notably in the poster, with Sawarkar, Shivaji and others, one finds pictures of Bhagat Singh, Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Subhas Chandra Bose, being portrayed as Hindu revolutionaries! One might not have any objection in portraying Shivaji, Maharana Pratap, Jhansi ki Rani and Chandra Sekhar Azad as Hindu icons, but portrayal of Bhagat Singh, Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Subhas Chandra Bose in the same vein is really objectionable and very disturbing, because of their known commitment to secularism and for being non communal.

Like Bhagat Singh, it was very clear to Subhas Chandra Bose of who he was and what he wanted. In 1929, while delivering a speech at Lahore Students’ Conference, Lahore, he famously said, If we are to bring about a revolution of ideas, we have first to hold up before us, an ideal which will galvanise our whole life. That ideal is Freedom. But freedom is a word which has a varied connotation and even in our country, the conception of freedom has undergone a process of evolution. By freedom I mean all-round freedom i.e., freedom for the individual as well as for society, freedom for man as well as for woman, freedom for the rich as well as for the poor, freedom for all individuals and for all classes. This freedom implies not only emancipation from political bondage but also equal distribution of wealth, abolition of caste barriers and social iniquities and destruction of communalism and religious intolerance. This is an ideal which may appear Utopian to hard-headed men and women — but this ideal alone can appease the hunger of the soul.”

An archive photograph of Bhagat Singh in jail in Lahore. Image: The Hindu

Ambedkar converted to Buddhism  in protest of the jati-varna system of Hinduism, and was very clear about what he stood for. He repeatedly opposed the system of Hinduism let alone the ideology of Hindutva. He had asked his followers to stop the Hindu Rashtra from becoming a reality at all costs.

But again, Hindu communal political parties like the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), spread deliberate confusion about him by misquoting him and depicting him as ‘their’ leader. Last year (2010), on the eve of 6th December (anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition), on the walls on Jamia Nagar, a new kind of poster was seen.

The poster was put up by Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of BJP, and read thus, ‘Yugh Purush Baba Saheb Ambedker ke nirvana divas par Dr. Bheem Rao Ambeker Cricket Tournament-10’, with a relatively larger picture of Baba Saheb (as compared to) other leaders of BJYM, who were shown promoting the event.

The event which was scheduled to take place in Malviya Nagar had absolutely no connection with Jamia Nagar, except that both finish on the same last name! While seeing the poster, one wonders what it has to do with Jamia Nagar. At the same time, the same or any other poster about the event was not seen in neighbouring Jullena or Sukhdev Vihar, which have a dominant non-Muslim population, let alone other areas of Delhi. But of course, it was put up for diverting the attention of the Muslims from the anniversary of demolition of Babri Masjid. Moreover, to my understanding, it was meant to convey a message to the ordinary resident of Jamia nagar (read Muslim) that either, Ambedkar was a leader of the BJP, or at least somebody who sympathised with its ideology and those of its allies, which is absolutely wrong and ridiculous, to say the least.     

Hindutva-waadis are hell bent on distorting facts and influencing the common sense through the medium of mass communication.

On the eve of Valentine’s Day, these forces spread a rumor that on  February 14, 1931, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru & Sukhdev were hanged till death by British government and we celebrate this day as Valentine day! Isn’t it surprising & painful? I am told by a journalist friend of mine from south India that, this is the standard question you have to counter if you say what is wrong with celebrating Valentine’s Day! This, when it is a well-established historical fact that Bhagat Singh, along with Sukhdev and Rajguru were martyred on March 23, 1931 and not on February 14.

The zealots don’t stop there. They have even tried spreading misinformation through Wikipedia, the preferable web dictionary for the net savvy, to know who is who and what is what.

According to a news report that had appeared in The Hindu, ‘the Wikipedia page on Bhagat Singh underwent many editing changes on February 13 and 14, Valentine’s day ’. The date of Bhagat Singh’s hanging had been changed from  March 23 to February 14, 1931. And it was due to such propaganda that an international news website, reported, “While the whole world observes 14th February as Valentine’s Day, not many Indians remember that the day was also when the Indian freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged to death by the Britishers in Lahore, Pakistan”. Similarly, this  February 13, (2011) Twitter was on fire with talk of the February 14 as Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom day next day, and even the editor of a Hindi news channel mourned that everyone was looking forward only to Valentine’s Day. He was shamed into apologising the next day.

We will have many days every year to remember Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru, Ashfaqullah Khan, Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Subhas Chandra Bose and others, on their martyrdom, death, and birth anniversaries. This puts greater responsibility on us—the responsibility of not believing in distorted facts, but to keep alive the belief of what these revolutionaries had lived and died for.

In order to pay our real tribute to the makers of modern India, we should counter the propaganda of communal forces at various levels. The choice is ours, whether we want to contest such vandalism or let it go uncontested until such time as the common masses have no option but to believe, A for Ambedkar – A for Advani, B for Bhagat Singh, B for Bhagwa, S for Subhas Chandra Bose, S for Savarkar…

Are we ready for that?

(Mahtab Alam is an activist and writer. He tweets @MahtabNama . This article was first published in Kafila.org on  March 23, 2011)

The post Freedom from Communalism & Religious Intolerance was Bhagat Singh’s Ideal, Never Hindu Rashtra appeared first on SabrangIndia.

For the past couple of days, electronic and print mainstream media in the country, have been highlighting the public ‘promise’ made by the Archbishop of Tellicherry.  During a protest rally of some Catholic rubber farmers, he offered to “help the BJP” open an account in Kerala in the next election, provided the price of rubber is increased to Rs 300 per kilogram.  In doing so, the Archbishop, has done great disservice to Christ and the Constitution of India. This on several counts which include: no hierarchy or clergy is expected to take sides with any political party (though, in fitness of things they are duty-bound to expose the wrong that is taking place); the BJP has proved to be an anti-minority party, the attacks on Christian personnel and institutions continue all over the country; not long ago, farmers from all over the country protested for over a year against the anti-farmer laws being introduced by the BJP. There are no records that show that the Archbishop took up cudgels on behalf of the small farmers of the country (including those in his diocese); he has also not  condemned the minority-bashing which is  taking place in the country today! 

The Archbishop’s ‘promise’ has naturally drawn plenty of flak from all sections of society but particularly from those who cherish the secular and democratic fabric of the country!  The minuscule Christian community – which officially comprises just about 2.3% of the country’s population, has been hogging the headlines, recently and for all the wrong reasons! In the past, several Christians who took part in the freedom struggle, were members of the Constituent Assembly and who contributed significantly to the visionary Constitution that has guided the nation. Christians have been at the forefront of education – educating the ‘creme de la crème’ and others of the nation, providing medicare to those who were sick and above all, reaching out to the poorest of the poor, the excluded and the exploited, through selfless service which empowered the subalterns with an empowered sense of justice, dignity and equity and ensured their rightful place in society. All these works continue today, but they seem to fade into insignificance, with the new narrative which is throttling our nation . 

The last few years have witnessed a dramatic change with the political ethos and morality of the country at its nadir. Several politicians from across the spectrum today demonstrate an unbridled lust for power. Serving the people selflessly – is apparently no longer the top priority for many of them; to gain power by hook or by crook) and to stay in power, is all that matters! Many of the politicians do not care about the consequences and of the harm they are doing to the democratic structure, the diversity and the secular fabric of the country. 

The new narrative is made manifest with the systematic polarization which the country currently is painfully going through. The votaries of the ‘Hindutva’ ideology, which in nature is fascist, fundamentalist and fanatic – are at the helm of this. Besides the ideology does not have any allegiance to the Constitution. They have one clear aim to make of India a Hindu – nation state by 2025(when the parent organization, the RSS, completes hundred years of existence). A full page advertisement in Hindi in several Varanasi based Hindi dailies on 15 March 2023 entitled ‘Call to become Sanyasi’ says “ Those who have resolved to establish Hindu Sanatan Dharm as National and World Religion ” with a nine day rigorous  training programme beginning March 22 and ending on Ram Navami, is a clear sign of things to come. 

A visible strategy to realise this exclusive and anti – national agenda is the targeting of minorities- particularly Muslims and Christians – through a continual process of demonisation, denigration and discrimination. They often succeed with their manipulative ploy. Venomous hate speeches are on the rise; those who indulge in them do so with impunity knowing fully well that the ruling regime will provide them with all the immunity and protection needed. The anti – conversion laws which have been passed by some States, though still in the hearing stage in the Supreme Court provide vigilantes, in an unhealthy nexus with local police to take law and order in their own hands. routine prayer services are disrupted and attacked; false cases of so- called ‘forced’ conversion are made: priests and religious sisters are arrested and even denied bail on the flimsiest of reasons. There are instances when Hindutva elements have demanded exorbitant sums of money from priests, threatening them with false cases, if the money is not received. 

On the other hand, some Christians including hierarchy, clergy and laity are far from being authentic witnesses to the person and message of Jesus; there are instances of financial scams, sexual misconduct, and other improprieties, which make both individual and institution extremely vulnerable and pliable. There are examples of how the ruling regime has hammered powerful Christians to submission, the underlying posturing is that ‘nothing will happen to you, if you join (or are with) us; if you do not do so, then we will destroy you.’ When a person has lost all credibility, the  so-called ‘Christian’ has no choice but to  succumb to the blackmail and  the threats of the powers that apparently control their destinies. 

People often wonder why MLAs and MPs who have been elected under the banner of a political party easily ‘cross the floor’ and join the ruling regime. The answer is obvious! Besides, the ruling regime has plenty of black money to buy up politicians from opposition parties. The recent political imbroglio in Maharashtra, which is awaiting a Supreme Court verdict, is a case in point! Many Christian politicians are also easy prey:  we have the classic example of ‘Catholic’ politicians, in the Goa Assembly elections having absolutely no qualms of conscience to leave the party they were elected from, to join the ruling party. 

The recent elections in the three North Eastern states of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura calls for great introspection.  The Christian population of Nagaland is estimated to be around 90% and that of Meghalaya around 75%; Tripura has a much smaller Christian population of about 4%. Today, however in all these States, the BJP is calling the shots, setting the political agenda and in fact, ruling (despite getting just two seats in Meghalaya) .The reasons for this seismic political change are several. Many of the politicians (despite being Christian) are corrupt; this is no State secret and which the BJP can exploit to their advantage. Then the BJP also used the Christian card, singing ‘Alleluias’ and ‘Praise the Lord’ in their campaigning. The BJP was happily legitimising the eating of beef in the north-east; whereas in most parts of India they and their ilk, lynch and kill minorities even if the latter just happen to   ferry a cow in a vehicle. Then of course, the Sangh Parivar has its whole armoury of money, muscle, mafia, media and manipulations. 

Sadly, several of the Christian politicians (and surely some people too) were trapped into playing the ‘religion’ card whether it was campaigning with Christian rhetoric or organising a patently unconstitutional swearing -in ceremony for the newly elected legislators of Nagaland. Having a pastor pray and a choir sing a Christian song has only made it easier for the BJP to give legitimacy for Hindu rituals at Government functions and thus to effectively destroy the secular fabric of the country. Of course, several Christians, (who hardly bother about Constitutional propriety and the severe repercussions such so-called ‘Christian’ acts would have on the future of the country) went ‘ga-ga’ when they watched clippings of the Nagaland swearing- in ceremony; there was a similar response when the CM of Meghalaya went to Vailankanni; those who cheered him did not care a hoot for the fact that CM has literally sold his state to a fascist regime. 

The big news a few days ago, is that the BJP is going all out to woo the Christians of Kerala during Easter season. The Archbishop of Tellicherry’s public statement came only after some of the BJP functionaries met him.  Several efforts have also been made in the past. The last elections however, in God’s own country was an overwhelming defeat for the BJP. The ground realities are different now; the BJP has the upper hand in the face of growing scandals among sections of the Kerala Christians. Some Christians (including some hierarchy and clergy) are warming up to the BJP. Besides opportunism, everyone knows why!!! 

Few Christians in the country stand up and speak up for the values of the Gospel which are so beautifully enshrined in the Constitution of India.  The nation today is suffering as never before! Communalism, Casteism, Criminalisation of politics, Corruption and Consumerism are rampant. At the receiving end of a brutal, unjust and inhuman system are the excluded and exploited, the migrants and labourers, the minorities: Muslims, Christians and others; human rights defenders and those who cherish freedom of speech and expression and a free press; those who defend the right to preach, practise and propagate one’s faith; those who are victims of venomous hate speeches and attacks, of demonization and discrimination. Those who have false cases foisted on them – with Government (Constitutional and quasi) bodies breathing fire on them. Then we have the fisherfolk of Kerala and others who have been displaced by megaprojects and the mining mafia (who destroy our precious natural resources); those who are concerned about the ecology (Josimath is a classic case) and environmental justice; the LGTBQIA community; the small farmers and land-holders; the small investors who have fallen prey to a corrupt regime which has been hijacked by crony capitalists like Adani. The Adivasis who are denied their jal, jungle aur jameen, the Dalits and other vulnerable sections of society. There are many more; the list is endless! How many of our Christians (particularly politicians) or the Church as a body, spoken out against all these evils taking place in the country today? 

Interestingly, in February 2012 at the 30^th CBCI Meeting in Bangalore on the theme ‘The Church’s Role for a Better India’, the Catholic Bishops stated, “We sensed in our hearts our country’s yearning for a Better India. Our country has been noted for its deep spirituality, its saints and sages, its rich diversity of cultures and religions. People yearn for the ideal enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution of India of a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic which will secure for its citizens Justice, social, economic and political; Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; Equality of status and of opportunity; Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation. But this yearning has remained largely unfulfilled. Economic development has brought about increasing inequities, an ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor with consequent tensions spilling over into violence. We see around us a betrayal of the poor and marginalized, the tribals, dalits and other backward classes, women and other groups who live in dehumanising and oppressive poverty. We witness rampant exploitation of children. There is disappointment with those in public life for whom ethical concerns matter little. The Church does not wish to rest on her laurels. She recommits herself to being a prophetic Church, taking a decisive stand in favour of the poor and marginalized “We envision an India with more attributes of the Kingdom of God such as justice and equity with its consequent fruits of love, peace and joy.”   

Today, times are far worse! Will our Bishops today demonstrate the much-needed prophetic courage and speak up for truth and justice and for the values of the Constitution, in the same manner they did in 2012? 

Those who call themselves ‘disciples’ of Jesus have no qualms of conscience to hobnob (to sup and more) with fascists fundamentalists and fanatics, who brazenly destroy the sanctity of the Constitution and the secular, pluralistic fabric of the country. These ‘disciples’ find it easier to indulge in a politics of convenience and compromise. They support Hindutva terms like ‘love jihad’ and ‘drug jihad’; they do not to take on the Government and police, if schools/institutions are attacked by the Sangh Parivar or if religious sisters are harassed and hounded out of a train. They are afraid to call for the revocation of the CAA amendments, the UAPA and other sedition laws; or for the total repeal of the draconian anti-conversion laws; they are frightened  to support the protesting farmers or workers or for that matter, the unconstitutional abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A where Kashmir is concerned. For these Christians standing up to the ruling regime is just not possible. They prefer the more ‘diplomatic’ and ‘cautious’ approach: ‘silence’ they say is important for the ‘greater good.’ Some of them selectively use scriptural texts to justify their fears, ignorance and exclusiveness!  All these are sinful! 

Jesus and his gospel without compromise are about exactly the opposite. Jesus says “fear no one; I am with you!” When Christians have no courage to take a stand for justice and truth, because those who rule us may take away our possessions, privileges, power, position whatever – we are in fact sending a stronger message which is contra-witness: that our faith in Jesus is shallow, mere lip-service; that we really do not believe in him; that our treasures are with the rulers of this world! Ignorance is never a value: Jesus himself warned us about our inability to “read the signs of the times.”  If we don’t stick our necks out -one will perhaps still lose everything, but also one’s own credibility! Christians of India must wake up now, stop selling one’s soul, betraying Jesus and the Constitution of India! 

In ‘Evangelii Gaudium’, Pope Francis reminds us that, “The dignity of the human person and the common good rank higher than the comfort of those who refuse to renounce their privileges. When these values are threatened, a prophetic voice must be raised.” Is anybody listening?

(The author is a human rights, reconciliation and peace activist/writer)

The post Selling One’s Soul – The betrayal of Christ and Constitution appeared first on SabrangIndia.

“I (god) am in all beings. Whatever be the name or color, all have the same ability, same respect. All are my own. No one is superior or inferior…based on scriptures, what the Pundits say is a lie. By getting entangled in this imagination of superior and inferior castes, we have lost our way. This delusion has to be done away with.“ These are the words of Dr. Mohan Bhagwat, the Sarsanghchalak of RSS, and the parent organization of BJP and plethora of organizations working for the goal of Hindu Nation. He was talking on the occasion of Saint Raidas celebrations.

Swami Prasad Maurya, the leader of downtrodden castes latched on to it and re-emphasized his call for revision of Ramcharitmanas, of Tulsidas, where there are humiliating passages for dalits and women both. On the other side the conservative Shankaryaryas and others opposed this saying that caste is created by God Himself and Bhagwat should not blame Brahmins for this. Clarifying to save his face Bhagwat went on to say that by Pandits he means scholars and not Brahmins.

Surely this is the latest articulation from the Hindu nationalist stable to woo over the dalits in particular. RSS has been in constant dilemma, on one side to maintain the pre modern status quo of caste and gender on the other to win over these sections for its agenda. The articulation of RSS regarding caste has gone through various stages. One of the factors which prompted the formation of RSS was the struggle of downtrodden to break the shackles of Landlord-Brahmins. The ‘Non Brahmin Movement’, aimed against the Landlord-Brahmin combine was the major factor in some of the elite coming together to form this organization.

RSS’s initial understanding was presented by its second Sarsanghchalak, Madhav Sadshiv Golwalkar. He upheld this varna-caste system by eulogizing Manu Smriti and presenting the past as the Golden period as the laws of this book “We or Our Nationhood Defined’, were ruling the roost. As per him it is this Holy Scripture there is a caste system and this system is based in scientific principles. Organiser, the unofficial RSS mouthpiece presented it thus, ‘If a developed society realizes that the existing differences are due to the scientific social structure and that they indicate the different limbs of body social, the diversity (i.e. caste system, added) would not be construed as a blemish.’ (Organiser, 1 December 1952, p. 7)

Later another major ideologue of RSS, Deendayal Upadhyay, who was also the President of BJP, put forward the ideology of ‘Integral Humanism’. Many of those from the Sangh stable stated this is what guides their politics. As per Integral Humanism ‘In our concept of four castes (varnas), they are thought of as different limbs of virat purush (the primeval man)… These limbs are not only complementary to one another but even further there is individuality, unity. There is a complete identity of interests, identity, belonging… If this idea is not kept alive, the caste; instead of being complimentary can produce conflict. But then that is a distortion.’ (D. Upadhyaya, Integral Humanism, New Delhi, Bharatiya Jansangh, 1965, p. 43)

 These were articulations which consolidated the base of their politics among sections of Hindus. In the next phase, when this consolidation was established RSS went into propagating that all castes are equal. In this direction they published three major books.

These books written by RSS ideologues argue that Islamic atrocities during the medieval period resulted in the emergence of untouchables and low castes. The books are “Hindu Charmakar Jati”, “Hindu Khatik Jati” and “Hindu Valmiki Jati”.

The Sangh leaders claimed that these castes had come into existence due to atrocities by foreign invaders and did not exist in Hindu religion earlier. According to Bhaiyyaji Joshi, another RSS leader, ‘shudras’ were never untouchables in Hindu scriptures. ‘Islamic atrocities’ during the medieval age resulted in the emergence of untouchables, Dalits. Joshi further elaborated, “To violate Hindu swabhiman (dignity) of Chandravanshi Kshatriyas, foreign invaders from Arab, Muslim rulers and beef-eaters, forced them to do abominable works like killing cows, skinning them and throwing their carcasses in deserted places. Foreign invaders thus created a caste of charma-karma (dealing with skin) by giving such works as punishment to proud Hindu prisoners.” And now comes the latest phase where the caste system is blamed on Pandits.

As such the foundations of the caste system are very old and untouchability came as an accompaniment of the caste system. The Aryans considered themselves superior, they called non-Aryans krishna varnya (dark skinned), anasa (those with no nose), and… they were considered non-human or amanushya. (Rig Veda: X.22.9) There are quotes in the Rig Veda and Manusmriti to show that low castes were prohibited from coming close to the high castes and they were to live outside the village. While this does not imply that a full-fledged caste system had come into being in Rig Vedic times, the four-fold division of society into varnas did exist, which became a fairly rigid caste system by the time of the Manusmriti.

Untouchability became the accompaniment of the caste system sometime around the first century AD. The Manusmriti, written in the second–third centuries AD, codifies the existing practices which show with utmost clarity the type of despicable social practices that the oppressor castes were imposing upon the oppressed castes.

Whatever the truth be, RSS after consolidating its base now wants to win over large sections of dalit-OBC to its agenda. As such earlier also it had set up Samajik Samrasta manch (Social harmony Forum) to work among Dalit-OBC and Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram to co-opt the Adivasis. Their well spread out network has made inroads into these sections of society from decades and it has yielded rich electoral dividends, apart from trying to make these sections as a part of Hindutva fold. Their work in these areas revolves around promoting Brahminical religiosity and Seva (Service, Charity)

Now the electoral politics is becoming more challenging as the deprivations of the downtrodden sections are becoming clear about the RSS agenda, and so the new formulation of origin of caste. They can do now it as their core constituency is consolidated and such utterances are not going to shake that while they adopt newer language to woo over the dalits-OBC in particular.

Related:

Mohan Bhagwat: Distorted History-Sectarian Agenda

The post ‘Old Wine in New bottle’: Bhagwat on Caste appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Festivals in India weren’t events of a religious nature, but rather cultural celebrations. The divisive discourse concerning religious festivals was introduced by the colonial rulers, which has now become institutionalised with time. Today, in India, if a Muslim celebrates Holi or Diwali, he may be excommunicated by members of his community. The same holds true for a Hindu who chooses to celebrate Muslim festivals. In fact, the issue of festivals and celebrating them has also led to communal riots in the country.

We were not always like this. On the occasion of Holi, I will argue that until a few decades ago, Muslims considered it an Indian festival rather than a Hindu one, using poems by Nazeer Banarasi.

On Holi here is a look at how Urdu poet Nazeer Banarasi wove the festival of colours into his verses

Nazeer Banarasi, who practised Unani medicine, was born in Varanasi in 1925. This eminent Urdu poet has written extensively about the nation, its festivals, and politics. In his poems one can sense the flavour of Varanasi’s culture. Not only he has written at least four poems describing how the festival of colours was celebrated, but he has also employed it as a metaphor and simile in his other works.

During the Chinese aggression in 1962, he addressed the nation to celebrate Holi of a different sort. He writes:

Nayi Tarah Holi Manao To Aayen

Vatan Ke Liye Khuun Bahao To Aayen

(I will come, if you celebrate Holi in a new fashion

If you shed your blood for the nation, I will come)

Banarasi has compared Holi to laying down one’s life for the nation, thus envisioning a new way to celebrate the festival.

In another poem titled ‘Mana Len Pehle Holiyan Diwali Phir Manayenge’, he urges the youth of the country to take up arms against the Chinese aggressors and play Holi with the enemies’ blood. He asks:

Lahu Se Phaag Khel Kar Gharon Ko Jagmagayenge

Shikast De Ke Dushmanon Ko Qumqumen Jalayenge

Mana Len Pehle Holiyan Diwali Phir Manayenge

(Houses will be illuminated after we play colours with blood

We will light up the lamps after defeating the enemies

First let us celebrate Holi and Diwali will be celebrated afterwards)

Holi and Diwali assume the shape of metaphors, which enable the poet to reach a larger audience.

Nazeer Banarasi has also written many devotional poems in praise of Lord Krishna. In one such poem, ‘Hume To Shyam Ne Holi Khila Ke Luut Liya’ (Krishna robbed us through Holi), he writes:

Hai Shaam Holi Ki, Lagta Hai Dil Pe Teer Pe Teer

Gulaal Khaak Udata Hai Aur Dhool Abeer

Chhadega Rang Pe Na Mere Koi Nazeer

Har Ek Rang Se Rangeen Bana Ke Luut Liya

Mujhe To Shyam Ne Holi Khila Ke Luut Liya

(It is Holi evening, arrows pierce the heart

Coloured powder has replaced the soil

Nobody can match my majestic complexion

He robbed me after colouring me better than any colour

Shyam robbed me after playing Holi with me)

As is evident, Radha is talking about Lord Krishna. Banarasi uses the setting of Holi to visualise divine love.

Apart from the use of Holi as a figure of speech, Banarasi has written a few poems solely describing festivities. In a poem titled ‘Holi’, he calls it a day to forget enmities:

Kahīñ Paḍe Na Mohabbat Kī Maar Holī Meñ

Adā Se Prem Karo Dil Se Pyaar Holī Meñ

Gale Meñ Daal Do Bāñhoñ Kā Haar Holī Meñ

Utāro Ek Baras Kā Ḳhumār Holī Meñ

(Look, there should not be dearth of love on Holi

Show affection through coquetry and love with your heart on Holi

Embrace with your arms on Holi

End the intoxication of the whole year on Holi)

Milo Gale Se Gale Baar Baar Holī Meñ

(Hug each other again and again on Holi)

Burāī Aaj Na Aise Rahe Na Vaise Rahe

Safāī Dil Meñ Rahe Aaj Chāhe Jaise Rahe

Ġhubār Dil Meñ Kisī Ke Rahe To Kaise Rahe

Abiir Uḍtī Hai Ban Kar Ġhubār Holī Meñ

(Wickedness will not remain in any form today

Piety remains in the heart in whatever form

How the impurity will stay in any heart

Impurities fly away with the colours on Holi)

In another poem ‘Ghazal Me Holi’ (Holi in a poem), he says:

Jab Dil Na Milne Paaye To Milne Se Fayda

Dil Ka Milan Zaruri Hai Holi Milan Ke Sath

(If hearts don’t meet, what is the point of meeting

The meeting of hearts is necessary after a Holi meet)

For him, Holi is an occasion to renew relationships and forget enmities.

In another poem titled ‘Holi Jawani Ki Boli Me’ (Holi in the words of youth), he describes it as an occasion of amusement.

ye boTī parī ban ke uḌne lagegī

zarā gholiye phir se gholī na hogī

(This cannabis will fly away like a fairy

Stir it again, it might not have dissolved)

As a resident of Varanasi, Nazeer Banarasi considers Thandai, which is made from Bhaang, an integral part of the celebration.

Banarasi is just one of the many Muslim Urdu poets from the 20th century who revered Hindu deities and Indian festivals. These writings are a reflection of the composite culture of India. As divisive politics tries to pit religions against each other, it is our duty to look back at our glorious past of mutual respect and brotherhood. To sum up, here is a poem which presents the spirit of India as Banarasi imagined it:

Mandir Me Gajar Baj Jata Tha Masjid Me Azaan Ho Jaati Thi

Jab Chandni Raato Me Hum Tum Ganga Ke Kinare Hote The

(Bells of the temple rang and the Azan was called from the mosque

When on a full moon night we used to be on the banks of Ganges)

—–

Saquib Salim  is an independent socio-political commentator and historian

Courtesy: New Age Islam

The post Nazeer Banarasi: Muslim Urdu Poet From The 20th Century Who Celebrated Indian Festivals Like Holi appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On February 13, a mother and her daughter were burnt alive during an encroachment clearing drive in Dehat village of Kanpur; the incident that killed a 44-year-old mother and her 21-year-old daughter had triggered massive tension between police and the villagers. A few days earlier, on February 7, in Karnataka’s Koppal district, a Dalit woman was beaten with slippers and abused by an upper-caste man when she entered his property to get her cow back. The animal had apparently strayed inside the man’s land. Early in January, a thirty-year-old Adivasi woman belonging to the Oraon tribe was allegedly raped and killed by forest department officials in Bihar’s Rohtas district while she was gathering firewood in a forested area near Rohtasgarh Fort. Not long ago, the photos of over one hundred Muslim women, including journalists and activists, were displayed on an app saying they were for sale, to humiliate and intimidate them. In September 2020, the gang-rape of a 19-year-old Dalit girl in Hathras UP tore at the conscience of the nation. Sadly, a few days ago on March 2, a court in UP acquitted three of the four accused men; the fourth was found guilty only of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and under sections of the SC/ST Act but not of rape!

All these heinous crimes against women were reported by some media, in a matter-of-fact way, as though such violations are expected. The tragedy is that these incidents are not one-offs; they are representative of a systemic wrong that exists in a highly patriarchal society, structured on caste, which thrives on a chauvinistic mind-set. According to a 2018 survey by the prestigious Thomson Reuters Foundation, India is the most dangerous country for sexual violence against women. The status of women in India is abysmal: the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked India at 135 out of 146 countries in its Global Gender Gap (GGG) Index for 2022. India’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)  in its latest report shows that, crime against women rose by 15.3 per cent in 2021 from the previous year, with 4,28,278 cases registered last year following 3,71,503 cases in 2020. The NCRB report also shows that the rate of crime against women (number of incidents per 1 lakh population) increased from 56.5 per cent in 2020 to 64.5 per cent in 2021. All this is certainly a crying shame for a country, which today holds the Presidency of the G-20, and is also desperately trying to propel itself to be the world leader- with plenty of cover-ups and cosmetics!

As another International Women’s Day (IWD) dawns, there will be the usual round of cosmetic programmes, the plethora of speeches reeking in tokenism; male speaker after speaker will wax eloquent with that typically patronising attitude towards women. The sad and cruel reality is that precious little seems to change. In India, most women continue to be condemned to live as second-class citizens in patriarchal and male-dominated societies. Male domination continues in all the major religions!

Interestingly the campaign theme for IWD 2023 and beyond is to #EmbraceEquity. The concept notes states that, “Equity isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have. A focus on gender equity needs to be part of every society’s DNA…Equity means creating an inclusive world…Each one of us can actively support and embrace equity within our own sphere of influence…. We can all challenge gender stereotypes, call out discrimination, draw attention to bias, and seek out inclusion. Collective activism is what drives change. From grassroots action to wide-scale momentum, we can all embrace equity. Forging gender equity isn’t limited to women solely fighting the good fight. Allies are incredibly important for the social, economic, cultural, and political advancement of women…. Everyone everywhere can play a part”.

Significantly, February 14 was also the anniversary of the ‘One Billion Rising’ movement. It is the biggest mass action to end violence against women (cisgender, transgender, and those who hold fluid identities that are subject to gender-based violence) in human history. The campaign, which launched on Valentine’s Day 2012, began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than one billion women and girls. The Theme of the campaign for 2023 is ‘Rise for Freedom’. The campaign states that, “this year we call on the world to rise for freedom. freedom from patriarchy and from all its progeny…. capitalism, impunity, poverty, oppression, division, exploitation, shame, control, individualism, greed, violence…and in this rising…create the new culture.”

True there have been (and are) several women who have had the courage to embrace equity and to create this new culture. The list is endless but includes the likes of Savitribai Phule, widely regarded as the country’s first woman teacher. She died on March 10, 1897.She is credited with laying the foundation of education opportunities for women in India and played a major role in the struggle for women’s rights in the country during the British rule. She was a poet too; her poems were against discrimination and of the need for education. For most of her life, she campaigned vigorously against untouchability, the tradition of sati, child marriage and other social evils, which affect women. In one of her poems she writes, “end misery of the oppressed and forsaken…break the chains of caste.” Along with her was Fatima Sheikh who was India’s first female Muslim teacher Together Savitribai and Fatima spearheaded an educational revolution in the 1800s. Fatima Sheikh played an essential role in starting the country’s first girls’ school. In 1848, Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule were asked to leave their home due to their anti-Brahmanical views. At that time, educating women and the lower caste was considered a sin. Along with her brother, Usman Sheikh, Fatima Sheikh gave refuge to them and started the school from the same building. Sheikh even undertook a teacher’s training course along with Phule to assist her in managing the educational institution.

In our midst today, we have Justice B V Nagarathna who is making waves in the Supreme Court!  Recently, she pronounced two dissenting judgements; both were verdicts of 4:1. The other four who opined were all male judges! Justice Nagarathna has however been unflinching and undeterred: her views have certainly not gone unnoticed Both the print and the electronic media (including the majority pro- establishment ones ) have provided the space and given the necessary coverage to her views There are several editorials and op-eds singing paeans to her judgements – with legal luminaries, academics and other intellectuals vying with each other to critique her judgements and at the same time provide grist to the mill. The Supreme Court is still a male bastion. Being a lone woman on a bench with four other men, is perhaps not very easy. It requires grit and determination to think differently!  Justice BV Nagarathna has undoubtedly proved that her ability to stand up to men who call the shots, is no flash- in- the- pan! She already seems to have broken the glass ceiling!

Then we have the horrendous tragedy of twenty-one years ago, which engulfed Gujarat.  Bilkis Bano experienced it all. Following the burning of the S-6 compartment and tragic death of 59 persons (mainly ‘kar sevaks’) on February 27, 2002, all hell broke loose, the next day, in several parts of Gujarat. Sensing trouble, a group of seventeen persons fled their native village of Radhikpur in Dahod district. The group comprised Bilkis, her three-year-old daughter Saleha, her mother and fourteen others. They took refuge in another village Chhaparvad hoping they would be safe there. On March 3, however, they were attacked by about 20-30 people armed with sickles, swords, and sticks. Among the attackers were the eleven accused men, just set free. Bilkis, her mother, and three other women were raped and brutally assaulted. Of the seventeen Muslims, eight were found dead, six were missing. Only Bilkis, a man, and a three-year-old child survived the attack. Bilkis was unconscious for at least three hours; after she regained consciousness, she borrowed clothes from an Adivasi woman made her way to the Limkheda police station to register a complaint. The Head Constable there, according to the CBI, “suppressed material facts and wrote a distorted and truncated version of Bilkis’ complaint”.

Bilkis has relived the horror of that tragedy several times over as she unwaveringly narrates the brutality, she was subject too. In great pain she says, “All the 4 men of my family were killed brutally. The women were stripped naked and raped by many men. They caught me top. My 3-year-old daughter, Saleha, was in my arms. They snatched her and threw her into the air with all their might. My heart broke as her little head shattered on the rocks. Four men caught me by the arms and legs and many others entered me one by one. When satisfying their lust, they kicked me and beat my head with a rod. Assuming that I was dead they threw me into the bushes. Four or five hours later I regained my consciousness. I searched for some rags to cover my body, but couldn’t find any. I spent a day and a half on a hilltop without food or water. I longed for death. Finally, I managed to find a tribal colony. Declaring myself as a Hindu I sought shelter there. The men who attacked us used foul language; I can’t repeat it ever. In front of me they killed my mother, sister and 12 other relatives. While raping and killing us, they were shouting sexual abuses. I could not even tell them that I was five months pregnant because their feet were on my mouth and neck. I have known the men who raped me for many years. We sold them milk. They were our customers. If they had any shame, they would not have done this to me. How can I forgive them?”

Her dogged and relentless pursuit for justice ensured that eleven of the perpetrators of this dastardly crime were sentenced to life imprisonment. In a clear travesty of justice on August 15, 2022, they were all given remission to their sentence and set free! Bilkis’ struggle still continues: as she fights so that these criminals are sent back to jail. In a public statement on August 17, 2022, she said “Two days ago on August 15, 2022 the trauma of the past 20 years washed over me again. When I heard that the 11 convicted men who devastated my family and my life, and took from me my 3-year-old daughter, had walked free, I was bereft of words. I am still numb. Today I can only say this- how can justice for any woman end like this? I trusted the highest courts in our land. I trusted the system, and I was learning slowly to live with my trauma. The release of these convicts has taken from me my peace and shaken my faith in justice. My sorrow and my wavering faith is not for myself alone but for every woman who is struggling for justice in courts. No one enquired about my safety and well-being, before taking such a big and unjust decision. I appeal to the Gujarat Government, please undo this harm. Give me back my right to live without fear and in peace. Please ensure that my family and I are kept safe”. Blikis continues to wait for justice!

It has not been easy for Savitribai and Fatima, for Nagarathna and Bilkis and for several other women who have dared the system and worked towards change! These are women who have risen against all odds, ploughed the lonely path and courageously decided to embrace equity. These epitomise the immortal words of Maya Angelou, the American civil rights activist and poet:

Out of the huts of history’s sham, I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain, I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear, I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear, I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave, I rise!

Yes, Women and Men too, must Arise Now and Embrace Equity!

(Authored on March 6, 2023 by the writer, a a human rights, reconciliation and peace activist/writer)

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In his recent tour abroad (August 2018) while addressing the International Institute for Strategic Studies Rahul Gandhi stated that “The RSS is trying to change the nature of India. There is no other organisation in India that wants to capture India’s institutions… It is similar to the idea that exists in the Arab world of the Muslim Brotherhood. The idea is that one ideology should run through every institution and one idea should crush all other ideas,” and that “Muslim Brotherhood was banned after Anwar Sadat’s assassination; RSS was banned after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination… And the most interesting one — women are not allowed in either of these organizations,” In response to this BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra retaliated and  “the likes of President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee…have a RSS background and Gandhi’s comparison of the organization with an Islamist outfit is “unforgivable”. . 

Some from RSS stable went on to say that one who has not understood India cannot understand RSS. Over the decades, there have been various analysis of the nature of RSS politics. Academics and political scientists have tried to unravel the real politics behind its activities. RSS is not just a political organization, it is a supra political organization, where its political wing BJP is but a small component of its total activities manifested through myriads of its organizations. Sudhanshu Mittal from BJP in an article states that RSS affiliated organisations all have greatly contributed to the nation.

Hundreds of such organizations are active in different sections of society. While not talking of the manipulative role of these organisations, let’s see what some of these have not been doing which is needed and is relevant for social groups. One such point comes to one’s mind about RSS affiliate Bharatiya Kisan Sangh for example. India is witnessing the torment of farmers in the form of suicides, which reflects the deeper agrarian crisis. Have we ever heard the voice of this organisation as to how to protect the agrarian sector, how government policies are flawed leading to the critical situation in village? The same question can be raised about agenda of these organisations among Adivasis. While one hears a lot about rising anti Christian violence in these areas, one knows that RSS affiliates don’t raise their voice against the displacement and marginalization of Adivasis or the recognition of land rights to India’s indigenous peoples.  

RSS also claims to be having involved in lots of charity work, its claims generally dominate the media, saying that RSS volunteers are the first to reach the site of any (natural or manmade) calamity. Interestingly, the Muslim Brotherhood is also prompt and active in the area of charity work. But in both the cases RSS and Muslim Brotherhood, Charity is the superficial point of contact with society, while the core agenda is to impose particular type of social relations, those of a structured inequality within society. At the core; the project of both RSS and Muslim Brotherhood is to bring in a social system which is opposed to democratic ethos of equality of and for all. Surely RSS and Muslim Brotherhood are no clones; still there are some features which are common as their political agenda is similar. Despite all this big paraphernalia of RSS; its core agenda remains Hindu nationalism, it regards the values of Indian Constitution as being Western and is aiming to push the society back to the values given Holy Scriptures of dominant castes. Let’s now see what Islamic brotherhood wants? On parallel lines it has stood in opposing the democratic values of equality, calling the very democratic institutions as Western and so the need to promote Islamic values, which as interpreted by them stand for inequality of gender and social groups.

Both are the exclusively male organizations, harping on the past as a golden era, sharp in their opposition to modern (dubbed Western by them) values. This should be the defining point in comparing any organisation. It is also true that while RSS has trained Pracharaks who in turn float different organizations, rooted in the RSS’ core agenda, which have different formal structures.the Muslim Brotherhood probably encompasses most of the activities under its own umbrella. Here one can add that the Christian Fundamentalism which came up in US in the decades of 1920s had many similar features. In post colonial societies in particular; organisations deriving their legitimacy in the name of religion; to begin with; have come up in opposition to the rising values of Equality. In India when the Indian National Congress began in 1885, it aimed at an inclusive nation hood cutting across all the religious communities. It also aimed at equality of all.

In contrast Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha-RSS took birth inspired by the feudal, landlord sections, joined in by the elite and middle class sections, harping on ancient golden era, the Holy Scriptures and the grand rule of Kings belonging to their religion. RSS in a more astute or clever way floated myriad organizations to ensure a smooth division of labor and indoctrination, cooption of different sections of society for its agenda of Hindu Rashtra and also for opposing the inherent values of Indian Constitution. So that’s about the similarities with the organizations like Muslim Brotherhood and RSS.

Sambit Patra reacting to Rahul Gandhi’s statement called it unforgivable and cited that the likes of Kovind, Vajapyee and present Prime Minster Mr. Modi have an RSS background. One appreciates the listing provided by Mr. Patra. What is shows is so obvious, what it does not cite is that the likes of Godse who killed Mahatma Gandhi, Dara Sing; the one who killed Pastor Stains and Pramod Mutalik whose Sri Ram Sene attacked young women visiting pubs also have RSS background or are associated with them. While Muslim Brotherhood has been labeled as terrorist organization in some countries, two of RSS’ pracharaks are in jail for Ajmer blast. 

Surly both these exclusively male organizations have a lot in common, have the common goal of opposition to the democratic ethos, both use a dominant religious identity to enhance their agenda. The form of these two organisations and their expressions, however, do differ.  

Related:

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UP cancels Adani’s tenders even as RSS’ Organiser inspires a social media onslaught alleging a conspiracy against ‘Adani brand of nationalism’

Yet again, hate-filled speech delivered by RSS man, Ishwar Lal: Rajasthan

Hindu society at war, natural to be aggressive says RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Organiser

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It was on this day, 71 years ago that Benito Mussolini, the proud founder of fascism was summarily executed after being captured by the partisans, on April 28, 1945. For the 20 years that he ruled Italy, it was only two as elected prime minister of the Fascist Party. By 1925 he gave himself the title of Il Duce[1] leading the National Fascist Party.

The Fascists have been accused of committing many grave offences for which they would have had much to answer for in an international court of criminal law.  But as Mussolini’s most erudite biographer and expert on modern Italian History, Denis Mack Smith has put it, “No Italian was ever brought before the Nuremberg tribunal, and local Italian courts preferred wherever possible to ignore or exonerate…and black out what was painful in the past.”[2]

The execution was brutal. In 1940, Mussolini took his country into World War II, siding with the Nazis in Germany and met with defeat. By 1945, he was reduced to being the leader of a German puppet state in northern Italy and was faced with the Allied advance from the south and an increasingly violent internal conflict with the partisans. In April 1945, with the Allies breaking through the last of the German defences in northern Italy and a general uprising of the partisans taking hold in the cities, Mussolini lost control and power that he had so brazenly used. He fled Milan on April 25, where he had been based, and tried to escape to the Swiss border. He and his mistress, Claretta Petacci, were captured on April 27, 1945 by local partisans near the village of Dongo on Lake Como. Mussolini and Petacci were shot the following afternoon, two days before  Afolf Hitler committed suicide.

Mussolini succeeded in his aim of making Italy feared and hated in the world. Blood-letting for him and his vision of a militaristically strong Italy, was ‘normal and desirable.[3] Eventually he brought economic ruin and civil war to Italy. Obsessed with territorial expansion –the menacing expression of Mussolini’s nationalism led him to make an armed landing on the Greek island of Corfu, as early in his political career as 1923. There were huge casualties, duplicity involved in justification for the attack and finally humiliation when Italy was forced by international opinion to withdraw.

It was in 1923 itself that Mussolini, united, his Black Shirts[4] with the Blue Shirts[5] of the National Fascist Party. "Fascist Italy" is the era of National Fascist Party rule from 1922 to 1943 with Benito Mussolini as head of government. The fascists imposed totalitarian rule and crushed the political and intellectual opposition, while promoting, in the name of economic modernisation, transfer of public resources to privatised corporate interests. A narrow definition of traditional social values, and a rapprochement with the Catholic Church also marked their reign.[6] “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power”, Mussolini in Doctrine of Fascism.

"The Fascist regime passed through several relatively distinct phases," says Payne (1996). The first phase 1923–25 was nominally a continuation of the parliamentary system, albeit with a "legally organised executive dictatorship." Then came the second phase, "the construction of the Fascist dictatorship proper from 1925 to 1929." The third phase, with less activism, was 1929–34. The fourth phase, 1935–40, was characterized by an aggressive foreign policy, warfare in Ethiopia, which was launched from Italian Somaliland and Eritrea,^[2] confrontations with the League of Nations sanctions, growing economic autarchy, and semi-Nazification. The war itself (1940–43) was the fifth phase with its disasters and defeats, while the rump Salo regime under German control was the final stage (1943–45). 

Italy was allied with Nazi Germany in World War II until 1943. It switched sides to the Allies after ousting Mussolini and shutting down the Fascist party in areas (south of Rome) controlled by the Allied invaders. The remnant fascist state in northern Italy that continued fighting against the Allies was a puppet state of Nazi Germany, the "Italian Social Republic", still led by Mussolini and his loyalist Fascists. Shortly after the war, civil discontent led to the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946 on whether Italy would remain a monarchy or become a republic. Italians decided to abandon the monarchy and form the Italian Republic, which is the present form of Italy today. Much damage had been done by then, however.

After being shot dead, the bodies of Mussolini and Petacci were taken to Milan and left in a suburban square, the Piazzale Loreto, for a large angry crowd to insult and physically abuse. They were then hung upside down from a metal girder above a service station on the square. Initially, Mussolini was buried in an unmarked grave but, in 1946, his body was dug up and stolen by fascist supporters. Four months later it was recovered by the authorities who then kept it hidden for the next eleven years. Eventually, in 1957, his remains were allowed to be interred in the Mussolini family crypt in his home town of Predappio. His tomb has become a place of pilgrimage for neo-fascists and the anniversary of his death is marked by neo-fascist rallies.

Three distinct and different strains of Indian political opinion and ideological thought are linked in public discourse to Benito Mussolini. The most controverted are Netaji Subas Chandra Bose’s flirtations with the Axis Powers and his blinkered views on Italy’s Fascism and Germany’s Nazism. As discussed and contested is the Hindu supremacist’s open admiration for the fascist and nazi ideologies. Last but not the least, the Hindu right’s diversionary response is to selectively quote from Mahatma Gandhi’s views on Mussolini. Gandhi had visited Italy and seen part of the work; his later observations on the Italian dictator are however ignored.

Indian historical studies on Subhas Chandra Bose's flirtation with the Axis powers, first Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy and next Tojo's Japan, either condemn him or evade aspects of the association. Bose’s crucial phase in Germany that preceded the trial(s) of the Indian National Army at the Red Fort in New Delhi are glossed over. Here, students of history could benefit from Romain Hayes' work, based on extensive research.[7] It is both nuanced and fair; it examines Bose’s views on democracy and the fallout with Gandhi and Nehru. Here we are left with the actions of a man, Bose, who, while incapable of being anybody's stooge could be an  opportunistic, albeit fierce, nationalist. Hayes is unsparing in his censures of Bose's moral blindness to the crimes of his deliberately chosen allies.
 
Gandhi and Mussolini in popular perception and narration is a relationship that has been deliberately confused. Every so often, be it supporters of fascists in Italy, or the Hindutvawaadis in India, the photograph of Gandhi visiting Mussolini and his oft quoted words re-enter and re-circulate in the public domain.

In 2000, a well researched paper by the Italian scholar Marzia Casolari has revealed, on the basis of archival evidence, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh's (RSS) links with and admiration for Mussolini's fascist regime under the title“Hindutva's foreign tie-up in the 1930s”, Economic & Political Weekly, January 22, 2000.

Based on this researched article, The Hindustan Times  has carried an article by Bharat Bhushan titled The Other Italian Connection (February 18, 2000) in response to which Sangh ideologue,
K.R. Malkani (February 23) had, in the same newspaper tried to obfuscate the connection by saying that the RSS was founded before Moonje visited Italy, that its heroes were Indians, and that Gandhi also met Mussolini. Dilip Simeon, historian had then further responded saying that “It was the militaristic mind-set of fascism, not its specific heroes that inspired Moonje. All ultra-rightists had their own "national" heroes. Mussolini seized power in 1922, and his impact was evident by the time the RSS was founded in 1925. And whereas Moonje was greatly impressed by Mussolini, Gandhi told the latter that his state was "a house of cards", and took a dim view of the man – "his eyes are never still". Moonje’s trip was not an innocuous replica of Gandhi’s.
 
Casolari says in her research that,
 
“One can easily come to the conclusion that, by the late 1920s, the fascist regime and Mussolini had considerable popularity in Maharashtra. The aspect of fascism which appealed most to Hindu nationalists were, of course, both the militarisations of society and what was seen as real transformation of society, exemplified by the shift from chaos to order. The anti–democratic system was considered as a positive alternative to democracy which was seen as a typically British value.

“The first Hindu nationalist who came in contact with the fascist regime and its dictator was BS Moonje, a politician strictly related to the RSS. In fact, Moonje had been Hedgewar’s mentor, the two men were related by an intimate friendship. Moonje’s declared intention to strengthen the RSS and to extend it as a nation–wide organisation is well known. 

“Between February and March 1931, on his return from the Round Table Conference, Moonje made a tour to Europe, which included a long stop–over in Italy. There he visited some important military schools and educational institutions. The highlight of the visit was the meeting with Mussolini. An interesting account of the trip and the meeting is given in Moonje’s diary and takes 13 pages. 

“The Indian leader was in Rome during March 15 to 24, 1931. On March 19, in Rome, he visited, among others, the Military College, the Central Military School of Physical Education, the Fascist Academy of Physical Education, and, most important, the Balilla and Avanguardisti organisations. These two organisations, which he describes in more that two pages of his diary, were the keystone of the fascist system of indoctrination — rather than education — of the youths. Their structure is strikingly similar to that of the RSS. They recruited boys from the age of six, up to 18: the youth had to attend weekly meetings, where they practised physical exercise, received paramilitary training and performed drills and parades.

In 1934, Moonje started to work for the foundation of his own institution, the Bhonsla Military School. For this purpose, in the same year he began to work at the foundation of the Central Hindu Military Education Society, whose aim was to educate them in ‘Sanatan Dharma’, and to train them “in the science and art of personal and national defence”…

“…Moonje’s Plans for Militarising Hindus:
Once Moonje was back in India, he kept the promise made in his diary and started immediately to work for the foundation of his military school and for the militant reorganisation of Hindu society in Maharashtra.
 
Ironically, among the Allied western powers too, there were the fair share of those leaders who admired Mussolini and Italy under him. At one time, Churchill expressed his admiration for Mussolini. Public opinion in Great Britain and France was divided about fascism. The Duce kept in close touch with foreign newspaper editors, most prominently William Randolph Hearst and Lord Rothermere. Rothermere famously wrote to thank Mussolini “ for his great services to civilization and humanity.” Hearst even praised the ‘astounding ability” of this “marvellous man.” On June 26, 1925, Mussolini, Il Duce by now, had a letter in his name published in the The Times, London. Here he insisted that fascism in Italy had no intention of curtailing liberties!

This cover of the American news weekly, Newsweek, says it all. Peculiarly, the British fioreign office, under Austen Chamberlain (1924-1929) pinned its hope on Mussolini ultimately becoming respectable and civilized. Four times he went to Italy with this vainly held belief. It was these attentions by foreign leaders that gave fascism the veneer of respectability. One image is painted in historical memory: Lady Chamberlain asked for Mussolini’s fascist badge and pinned it on her dress for a photograph.

 
This great skill of Mussolini’s –used by Tinpot and other dictatorial regimes all over the world since, including in South Asia — was in the manufacture and communication of such myths. Propaganda and the propaganda machine have been invaluable to the fascist project. The inability of the older generation of Italian liberals to distinguish between the reality and illusion of fascism, in Italy in the 1920s, not just allowed Mussolini to ride to power by taking his propaganda at face value; a similar inability to distinguish reality from spin doctored imagery, even today, in 2016, allows a justification of authoritarian regime(s).
 
A historical study and analysis of Italy then is also, incidentally a study of the effectiveness and the dangers of propaganda. Fascism then largely succeeded in isolating Italy from the rest of Europe. Not only was the press used in its service as was the radio, but the educational system was also manipulated to build up a series of convenient myths. Through these falsified histories and myths Mussolini silenced criticism, crushed dissenters and dissent.
 
This author’s extensive analysis and study of Indian history and social studies textbooks used in schools revealed shockers from the state of Gujarat in 1999. Textbooks that had been used (and continue to be used) in that state since 1989 have an apologetic rendering on Fascism and Nazism.
 
The Standard X Textbooks say,
“Ideology of Fascism: The views regarding the State administration adopted by the topmost leader of the Fascist Party, Mussolini came to be known as the Ideology of Fascism (Principles of Fascism). According to this ideology the State is sovereign. An individual exists for the State. An individual does not have freedom over and above the State. Here, everyone is absorbed within the State. Since the party firmly believed in Militant Nationalism, it opposed Internationalism. National interest and progress were its basic aim. The Party believed that the total power of the nation should be wielded by a leader endowed with Divine power. This party was a staunch opposer of democracy and individual freedom and also of communism. Thus Fascism was totally opposed to Democracy”.
(Gujarat state social studies text for Std. X)
 
“Ideology of Nazism: Like Fascism, the principles or ideologies for governing a nation, propounded by Hitler, came to be known as the ideology of Nazism. On assuming power, the Nazi Party gave unlimited total and all embracing and supreme power to the dictator. The dictator was known as the ‘Fuhrer’..Hitler had strongly declared that ‘the Germans were the only pure Aryans in the entire world and they were born to rule the world’. In order to ensure that the German people strictly followed the principles of Nazism, it was included in the curriculum of the educational institutions. The textbooks said, ‘Hitler is our leader and we love him’. 

“Internal Achievements of Nazism: Hitler lent dignity and prestige to the German government within a short time by establishing a strong administrative set up. He created the vast state of Greater Germany. He adopted the policy of opposition towards the Jewish people and advocated the supremacy of the German race. He adopted a new economic policy and brought prosperity to Germany. He began efforts for the eradication of unemployment. He started constructing Public buildings, providing irrigation facilities, building Railways, roads and production of war materials. He made untiring efforts to make Germany self-reliant within one decade. Hitler discarded the Treaty of Versailles by calling it just ‘a piece of paper’ and stopped paying the war penalty. He instilled the spirit of adventure in the common people. 
(Gujarat state social studies text for Std. X)
  
This is before the advent of Dinanath Batra’s textbooks, now compulsory reading for over 4,00,000 students in Gujarat and a proportionate number in Haryana. Welcome to our very own brand of supremacist propaganda in the state system of education.

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