by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews, News, Politics
Ramachandra Guha
By Saket Suman,
New Delhi : Historian Ramachandra Guha, who has penned a monumental 1,100-page biography of Mahatma Gandhi, says that he finds double standards in the respect that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), accord to the Father of the Nation nowadays.
“The RSS particularly is very ambivalent about Gandhi. When Gandhi was alive, the RSS actively disliked him. They were absolutely opposed to equal rights for Muslims. In their list of heroes, Gandhi ranks very low… Through the 50s and 60s, they paid very less attention to him and his teachings. From the late 60s onwards, his name started appearing in their programmes,” Guha told IANS in an interview here.
His book, “Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World” (Penguin/Rs 999/ 1,129 pages), charts Gandhi’s story from the time he left South Africa to his dramatic assassination in 1948. While the vast majority of the book is dedicated to chronicling Gandhi’s life, times and controversies, Guha spends 30-odd pages in tracing the presence of “Gandhi in Our Time”, the book’s epilogue.
“There are clearly some aspects of Gandhi’s philosophies that are unacceptable to the RSS. And Mr (Narendra) Modi may have picked them up as an RSS worker. Today, he invokes Gandhi from time to time but it is not clear whether it is instrumental, tactical, or a clear departure from how the Sangh Parivar views Gandhi. At best, I would say that the Sangh Parivar views Gandhi with ambivalence, and when he was alive they did just the same,” said the 60-year-old historian, known for highly acclaimed books such as “India after Gandhi” and “Gandhi Before India”.
In the last section of his book, Guha notes that the RSS and the BJP profess respect for Gandhi in public in the context of his formal standing as the Father of the Nation. “At the same time, they seek to diminish his stature by elevating their own heroes,” he points out, before sharing examples such as the installation of V.D Savarkar’s portrait in the Central Hall of Parliament in 2003 during the BJP’s first spell in power at the Centre.
He noted that most of the attacks on Gandhi on social media today come from the Hindu-right. Guha said that Gandhi would particularly be “disappointed by polarisation of religious sentiments” and “the victimisation of minorities”.
“I think Gandhi would disown even the Congress party of today because he clearly did not believe in dynastic politics,” Guha quipped.
The St. Stephens graduate, however, noted that Gandhi’s philosophies and values are alive in many social, environmental and feminist movements.
“His philosophies are alive in many citizen-action programmes but certainly not in politics,” he maintained.
Guha said that there was no particular pull for the historian in chronicling Gandhi’s life in such detail, and with extensive research that demanded sourcing archival materials from museums and libraries in several countries, apart from the fact that “for any historian of modern India, Gandhi is certainly the most influential and most controversial figure”.
He shared that even in his earlier works on the environmental movement and India’s democracy, Gandhi’s influence was visible.
“I thought I must settle my account and write a full-fledged biography of him. It is about Gandhi’s life, times and controversies and I think may be after a few years I may write a book on what Gandhi means today to different kinds of people and why does he still evoke so much opposition, not only from the Right but also from the Left.
“Essentially, it is a detailed account of Gandhi’s life, based on some rare archival records. I learnt a lot myself about Gandhi, his times and our country during the course of researching and writing this book and I hope younger readers will also learn something from it,” Guha said.
The book is due to be released on September 11 in the Capital.
(Saket Suman can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : The Congress on Saturday said that the very basis of the polity is threatened by the ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and their affiliates which have created an environment of distrust, fear and intimidation threatening to tear apart the country’s social unity and harmony.
It also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government of being of being “intolerant” of any criticism and remaining in “arrogant denial”.
“In pursuit of its insidious and divisive agenda, they have inflamed communal passions and hyper nationalism,” said the political resolution adopted at the party’s two-day Plenary here.
“The RSS-BJP is misrepresenting, distorting and misusing religion to exploit the sentiments of the people and capture political power,” it said adding, “The toxic mix of religion and politics, poses a challenge to our pluralistic society and inclusive democracy.”
Slamming the RSS, it said, “RSS, which claims to be a social and cultural organisation, masquerades as sole representative of the Hindus.”
The resolution also claimed that the Indian tradition and the essence of Hinduism has been all encompassing, upholder of humane values and our composite culture. “It is distinct and must not be confused with Hindutva, which is essentially a political ideology.”
Attacking the BJP and the RSS for not participating in the national freedom struggle, the resolution said “The RSS and BJP, claim to be custodians of nationalism and patriotism. It is ironical since they are ideological descendants of the non participants of the freedom struggle,” it said.
“Congress – a Party, which led the freedom struggle with its leaders and workers making great sacrifices, therefore, needs no lessons from the RSS-BJP on nationalism and patriotism,” it said.
The Congress also called upon the people of the country to defend and uphold the spirit of ‘Sarva Dharma Sambhav’ and India’s ancient wisdom as encapsulated in ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam’.
The Congress resolution emphasised that forces of communalism and violence have no place in a civilized society.
“No cause can justify terror and violence against innocent civilians and no religion gives that sanction. Congress condemns communalism and terrorism in all its manifestations and reaffirms its resolve to fight such forces,” it said.
The Congress Plenary, unequivocally commits to defend the fabric of social unity, secularism and constitutional democracy.
The party accused BJP and RSS of misrepresenting and misusing religion to exploit the sentiments of the people and capture political power and said that it needs no lessons from them on “nationalism and patriotism”.
The political resolution expressed concern over the assault on foundation principles of the Constitution.
“India is confronted today by a systematic assault on the foundational principles of our Constitution and the values of Indian republic, by the outfits and organisations affiliated to the ruling RSS-BJP combine,” the resolution said.
It also said that the lifeline of Indian democracy is “inclusion and secularism”.
The Congress also charged the government with undermining established norms of governance and subversion of educational, cultural and historical institutions, facilitating their capture by BJP’s ideological affiliates.
“RSS infiltration of every Institution, administration and the universities, poses a threat to pluralism and Indian Democracy. The centralisation of authority, arbitrary and partisan decision making, has cast a dark shadow on Parliamentary democracy,” it said.
Accusing BJP of misusing the constitutional offices to acquire power, it said, “The BJP government, has brazenly misused the constitutional office of Governors and resorted to unethical means to destabilise elected Governments, hijack popular mandates and foisting governments by manufacturing majority.
“The BJP government is insensitive and disrespectful of the above. This calls for strong condemnation,” it said.
The Congress also condemned the BJP for brazen abuse of power and misuse of Central government agencies for targeted political vendetta to harass, humiliate and persecute its political opponents.
“The BJP governments in the states have unleashed persecution and atrocities against the Congress workers.
“The Congress Party warns the BJP and its government, that its undemocratic methods and acts to curtail liberty, freedom of expression and violation of fundamental rights of the citizens as enshrined in the Constitution will be strongly resisted,” it added.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused the BJP and the RSS of trying to inflict a communal riot upon the state by secretly throwing meat in religious places.
She urged the police to form community development committees in every locality to catch the offenders and to engage the local people in keeping an eye on such incidents.
“They have started a new conspiracy recently. They are giving money to some people and asking them to throw meat in temples and mosques. This is a conspiracy, a deliberate attempt to inflict a communal riot by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh),” Banerjee said during an administrative meeting in Jhargram.
“They are doing this to start riot between the two communities. I am sure they would try the same trick during Ram Navami. I do not need to see who is Hindu and who is Muslim. I am in favour of everyone. An offender is an offender.”
Banerjee said she has instructed the inspectors in-charge in all police stations to be alert.
“We have seen this happening in two places in the North 24 Parganas district in quick succession. Some BJP-RSS activists were arrested in the incident in Habra. That’s why I am taking their name. If Trinamool Congress activists had been arrested, I would have mentioned them as well,” said the Trinamool Congress supremo.
“Involve the local public. If someone catches such offenders, award him or her with a prize money of Rs 1,000. I will provide jobs to some and money to others if they successfully intercept such offenders.”
—IANS
