Prem Singh
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(Asian independent) “Sometimes as I reached a gathering, a greet roar of welcome would great me: Bharat Mata Ki Jai – Victory to Mother India! I would ask them unexpectedly what they meant by that cry, who was this Bharat Mata, Mother India, whose victory they wanted? My question would amuse them and surprise them, and then not knowing exactly what to answer, they would look at each other and at me. … At last a vigorous Jat, wedded to the soil from immemorial generations, would say that it was the dharati, the good earth of India, that they meant. What earth? Their particular village patch, or all the patches in the district or province, or in the whole of India?” And so question and answer went on till they ask me impatiently to tell them all about it. I would endeavour to do so and explain that India was all this that they had thought, but much more. The mountains and rivers of India, and the forests and broad fields, which gave us food, were all dear to us, but what counted ultimately the people of India, people like them and me, who were spread all over this vast land. Bharat Mata, Mother India was essentially these millions of people, and victory to her meant victory to these people. You are parts of this Bharat Mata, I told them, you are in a manner, yourselves Bharat Mata …” Jawaharlal Nehru, ‘Discovery of India’)
On the occasion of World Environment Day, celebrated annually on 5 June, a dispute arose between the Kerala state government and the Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar over the offering of a floral tribute to the portrait of Bharat Mata at an event held at the Raj Bhavan. The controversy arose over the issue that the picture on which flowers were to be offered in the programme was the one which has the ‘portrait’ of RSS’s Bharat Mata. Agriculture Minister Mr. P. Prasad and Education Minister Mr. V. Sivankutty were also scheduled to attend the event. However, when Agriculture Minister Mr. P. Prasad learned that a floral tribute to Bharat Mata’s portrait had been added to the scheduled program, he withdrew from the event. He stated that Raj Bhavan had prepared a minute-by-minute program for the World Environment Day celebrations but it initially did not include a floral tribute to Bharat Mata’s portrait. On the eve of the event, a new program was sent to them which included the offering of a floral tribute to Bharat Mata’s portrait.
Mr. P. Prasad, a first-time MLA and leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI), said that he inquired about this with the Raj Bhavan office and asked them to send him that image of Bharat Mata to which the floral tributes were to be offered. It was an image used by the RSS, which has no official recognition. Hence he informed the Raj Bhavan that they cannot offer floral tributes to that image. However, the Raj Bhavan responded that the image would not be removed.
Mr. P. Prasad stated that since independence, neither the Constitution nor any government in power has ever accepted a particular image of Bharat Mata as the official or authorized version. He further said that the portrait about to be used at the event did not carry the Indian flag but that of a political organisation, and therefore, it could not be honoured during a government event. The Minister stated that any political organization and the Governor are free to offer floral tributes to their favourite image of Bharat Mata at their private events, but this cannot be done at state government events.
He further clarified that we all in politics have a political viewpoint, but those in constitutional positions have restrictions on how they express it. The Minister also questioned why the Governor is taking a rigid stand on this issue, when no former state governor, not even the country’s presidents, have done so in the past? Those holding constitutional positions cannot turn government programs into political events. State Education Minister V. Sivankutty expressed the opinion that the Raj Bhavan and the Governor are above politics, and that Arlekar should step down.
Nevertheless, the Governor did not care about the state government’s support or boycott. He allowed the RSS-sponsored Bharat Mata image at the Raj Bhavan event. However, after learning of the Raj Bhavan’s stance, the state government moved the event to the Secretariat’s Durbar Hall. The Raj Bhavan continued with its program separately. After the event, the Governor declared that no compromise would be made with Bharat Mata under any pressure. Clearly, he considered the RSS-sponsored Bharat Mata image to be the correct, and even, authorised one.
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The tradition of defining and interpreting “Bharat Mata” dates back to the era of the freedom movement. This tradition extends to the freedom fighters of 1857 who led an armed rebellion against British imperialism. The tradition also extends to underground revolutionaries, leaders who organized mass movements, and the Indian people who participated in those movements. Writers, artists, and scholars from all Indian languages have played their part in this discourse through their writings and representations in different categories and genres. Philosophical leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Ram Manohar Lohia have enriched the discourse on the nature (swarup) of Bharat Mata through their writings and speeches. This has led to the creation of diverse images of Bharat Mata in the Indian public consciousness which has led to the creation of numerous paintings of Bharat Mata.
Such paintings have been created by both renowned artists and children. These paintings range from religious myth-inspired images—imagining Bharat Mata as a goddess—to secular images. Children of the country also enthusiastically dress up as Bharat Mata on special national festivals/occasions. It can be said that in this entire scenario, the image of Bharat Mata, dressed in tricolour attire and holding the tricolour flag against the backdrop of the country’s map, has received undeclared national recognition. This image of Bharat Mata symbolizes the country’s geographical structure, abundant natural resources, and the existence of all its citizens, along with the consciousness of sacrifice and independence.
The RSS’s Bharat Mata holds the saffron flag of its organization, not that of India. In the RSS’s image, a jewelled Bharat Mata stands supported by a lion with a map of ‘Akhand Bharat’ in the background. It is not that of India or the Indian subcontinent. A RSS follower, a ‘devotee’ of this Bharat Mata, had no objection to the imperialist slavery of pre-independence time, nor to the neo-imperialist slavery of today. The Governor of Kerala used this image in a program held at the Raj Bhavan; and when he said that there can be no compromise on the issue of Bharat Mata, he essentially stated that the RSS’s Bharat Mata is the real Bharat Mata of the country. That is, if the RSS is holding political power in India, then the image of RSS-sponsored Bharat Mata will be used at government events!
It is not surprising that the RSS sided with the imperialists against the freedom struggle, or that it explicitly rejected the Indian Constitution, the national flag, and the national anthem. These are well-known facts of history. What is surprising is that even 100 years after its inception, it has not been able to grasp the hollowness of its patriotism. Perhaps it has lost the ability to understand that by imposing an image of Bharat Mata which overlooks the spirit and the history of sacrifice and freedom simply on the strength of political power, it is essentially insulting the post-British Raj Bharat Mata and trying to push its descendants onto the same path. Such a prolonged state of inertia cannot be considered healthy for any individual, group/organization, society or the country.
Despite some reluctant efforts, the RSS has been unable to break out of this inertia. There appear to be two main reasons for this. Firstly, all discourses and ideas of nationalism in modern India arise from the conflict with British imperialism whereas the RSS’s ‘Hindu nationalism’ is rooted in a conservative mind-set. It cannot connect with the diverse manifestations of the Indian Renaissance. Secondly, the RSS’s treatment of the ideologies of the freedom movement and the personalities associated with them is that of hijacking. Its intention is to use them to support the entrenched mind-set of ‘Hindutva’ or ‘Hindu nationalism.’ Its treatment towards various sects/schools of Hinduism, other religions, and Dalit and tribal communities is similar. To break the inertia, it would be essential to develop the ability to engage in healthy dialogue with diverse sources of thoughts. All human beings and organizations built by them bear this potential. It should be a matter of consideration for the RSS that it should not become an exception to this obvious human truth.
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Arlekar has been creating similar controversies both before and after this event. In fact, most governors appointed by the present BJP government at the centre behave in a similar manner. They constantly clash with non-BJP state governments, defying the dignity of their position and constitutional decorum. Where does this courage come from? The ‘secular’ and ‘social justice’ leaders within the NDA have not objected to Arlekar’s assertion that the RSS will not compromise on its image of Bharat Mata. The President, the guardian of the Constitution, saw nothing wrong with this blatant act. Nor did the Supreme Court find anything wrong with the Governor’s violation of protocol at the Raj Bhavan. Despite Arlekar’s open challenge, opposition parties did not make it a major issue of protest. The opposition Kerala Congress considered its duty fulfilled by criticizing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for not speaking out on this issue as if it were an issue unique to the state of Kerala. Even scholars, writers, and artists have not expressed their serious concern.
So, has the RSS’s Bharat Mata been accepted as the Bharat Mata of the entire nation? This has been the atmosphere in the country for the past decade. At events organized by educational/literary/artistic institutions and government departments, RSS leaders, thinkers, and officials chant “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” without occasion or need. I would like to recall an incident from about a year and a half ago. A program honouring writers at Bhopal’s Rabindranath Tagore Private University was being broadcast on Madhya Pradesh Doordarshan. I knew a Sahitya Akademi Award-winning Hindi writer and the guest editor of the Sahitya Akademi’s journal, Indian Literature, who were present there among the guests. Therefore, I watched the program with interest. The chief guest and special guest, the Governor and the Education Minister of Madhya Pradesh, made everyone chant “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” at the beginning and end of their speeches. Along with writers from Indian languages, some foreign India-lovers (Bharat premi) were also present in the program. This is happening throughout the country.
The obsession with devotion to Bharat Mata has grown over the three and a half decades of neo-imperialist subjugation. It is said that this is the test of patriotism. Mohan Bhagwat constantly preaches that young people must chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai to demonstrate their patriotism. Courses are offered to inculcate and foster patriotism in children. This devotion to Bharat Mata transcends the pain of losing self-reliance, independence, sovereignty, and constitutional decorum. It carries no risk, because it demands just worship and praise, not sacrifice. In this era of neo-imperialist slavery, the ruling class wants such a Bharat Mata. The RSS has held the patent on such a Bharat Mata since the beginning. It has the opportunity, which it is exploiting to its fullest.
Finally, I would like to say that CPI leaders Mr. P. Prasad and Mr. Binoy Viswam have presented their views on this issue in a very restrained, polite, logical, and strong manner, despite the Governor’s dogmatism.
(The writer associated with the socialist movement is a former teacher of Delhi University and a fellow of Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla)
