Ram Puniyani
(Asian independent) Kangana Ranaut, the actor and MP was the first who spelt her understanding about India’s Independence when she stated that India became Independent in 2014; when Modi came to power. It was the first time that BJP got majority on its own strength. The hint was India was a slave country earlier; slave of ‘foreign rulers’ or was ruled by Governments which wanted to pursue the path of secular, democratic values. She meant that with Modi in power; full Hindu Nationalism will be unleashed. Not to be left behind recently another actor Vikrant Massey claimed that India got freedom in 2014, when ‘we’ got free expression of Hindu identity.
To cap it all now the new date has been thrown up for the real freedom of the country by none other than RSS Sarsanghchalak, Mohan Bhagwat. While addressing in Indore he stated that 22 January 2024 was the day when we got Independence, “the date should be celebrated as “Pratishtha Dwadashi” as the true independence of India, which had faced “parachakra” (enemy attack) for several centuries, was established on this day. The ideals and life values presented by Lord Ram, Krishna, and Shiva are included in the “self of India” and it is not at all that these are the Gods of only those people who worship them, he said.
Bhagwat further said that the invaders destroyed the temples of the country so that the “self” of India also perishes. Projecting Ram Temple Pran Pratishta (Life installation) as the panacea of all our social problems he further added, “I used to ask those people that despite talking about socialism after independence in 1947, giving slogans of ‘Garibi Hatao’ (eradicate poverty) and worrying about people’s livelihood all the time, where did India stand in the 1980s and where have countries like Israel and Japan reached?” The RSS chief said he used to tell these people that “India’s livelihood path goes through the entrance of Ram temple and they should keep this in mind.”
Bhagawat’s constructs are taking the story further and he wants to legitimize the criminal act of demolishing the Babri Mosque. Overarching the diverse cultural and religious traditions he wants to present only Lord Rama as the sole cultural symbol of this country. Even in the broad spectrum of Hinduism there are Lord Shiva, Lord Shrikrishna, Goddess Kali among others. Then we have the glorious traditions of Lord Mahavir, Gautam Buddha, Nanak and Kabir as the part of the great canvass, which India is.
While the population genetics studies clearly show that Aryans were also the migrants, before them there were other natives here. And diverse people coming here can either be seen merely as aggressors walking the path of ways of Kingdoms. Chola Kings ruled in Srilanka, or Alexander tried his best to win over India. Different dynasties and people like Shaka, Hun, Ghulams, Khalji and Mughal rules were ‘part’ of the subcontinent. This is seen by sectarians as an attack on ‘our’ civilization while those who struggled for Independence of India from the British saw it as an intermixing of historical process; leading to the foundational diversity of the country. Jawaharlal Nehru most aptly describes it as, “some ancient palimpsest on which layer upon layer of thought and reverie had been inscribed, and yet no succeeding layer had completely hidden or erased what had been written previously.”
As per RSS chief the aggressors wanted to demolish our soul by demolishing our temples. The temple destructions in Medieval and late early India were purely for the sake of power and wealth. The earlier attacks and conversions of Jain and Buddha places of worship were due to reaction from Brahminism. To demonize particularly the Muslim rulers, this formulation of temple destructions and many other myths have been propped up. Two examples will suffice while Aurangzeb destroyed nearly 12 temples; he also gave donations to nearly hundred Hindu temples. The eleventh century ruler of Kashmir, Raja Harshdev, appointed a special officer to uproot the idols of Gods and Goddesses, which were made of Gold and Silver or studded with diamonds and rubies.
Bhagwat and his ilk see the country through a narrow Brahiminical prism. It was during the colonial period that Indian boundaries emerged. It was the Colonial period which was a period of slavery. The previous conquers who ruled settled here and became a part of our national and cultural life. The British ‘Policy of Divide and rule’ planted the notion of earlier rulers being the plunderers and temple destroyers. The previous rulers who ruled did not take away our wealth outside, while the British plunder project led to impoverishment of India. The slavery was imposed by the British and the struggle against them was the freedom movement which culminated in Independence on 15th August 1947, with our Constitution being implemented on 26 January 1950.
Those deviating from this date are the followers of nationalism under the garb of religion, who are uncomfortable with the values of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity of the Constitution which emerged from the freedom struggle.
He needs to introspect what the countries like Japan and Israel achieved through demolishing old holy places and building the one’s of their religion. He also needs to know that after the Ram Temple movement has picked up India’s growth and unity has seen a downward trend. There is a consistent fall in the various indices related to health, nutrition, educational status with increase in poverty levels.
The massive foundations for economic, educational, scientific and industrial prosperity were laid much before the divisive politics of Ram Temple got a boost in the decades of 1980 and 1990s. Bhagwat’s statement totally ignores the massive anti colonial movement. The reason for this is that those who stood for Hindu and Muslim nationalism were not the part of it. In a way his statement is a great insult to all those who sacrificed their live for the freedom of the country from the clutches of colonialism, the period of our slavery.
