Prof AN Sadhu
The Bharat Jodo Yatra has just completed after it reached Lal Chowk, Srinagar, where the National Flag was hoisted and a large gathering of people was addressed in the falling snow and bitter cold, adding greater significance to the event. Significance, in the sense that it did appeal the people and drew them out of their cosy homely environment to be the part of this concluding phase, notwithstanding the chilly weather. In fact, all along the route from south to north, the response was great which added to the acceptance of the fact that it was a relevant exercise and need of the hour. Anything sponsored by a politician or a political party is assessed differently by different people within the political domain or outside it, either by compulsion or suspicion. But from an objective point of view, every initiative touching the people of the country, it is warranted that a comprehensive view be taken and no assessment be carried out on a single political parameter. That a politician has been spearheading the march, therefore, it must be rundown as a futile or a frustration exercise, is a compulsion of the political opponents but that such an exercise also brings under focus a reflection on the state of affairs can also not be overlooked. Sometimes it is likely that these reflections may be a coloured view but at times such exercises may also sensitize the people to rub their heads and take an objective view of the nation’s scenario and vent their feelings.
Yartas like this have been undertaken in the past as well. So, the BJY, is not an innovative model in taking a political milage. The common man in India is no naïve as would not understand the purpose of such a yatra. It appears, the man, in the streets, has not joined it because of his liking for INC or because of being a party worker, but something different has inspired him to join this march and walk a few miles with its organisers. All those who joined seem to be apolitical but true nationalists. Those who joined the earlier marches cannot be taken as less nationalist. For a common man, it is always nation first but those who cry aloud, may have additional motives as well to serve in the disguise of nationalism. The BJY needs to be examined and assessed from a common man’s point of view. A common man innocently builds an image of a peaceful and developed country that ensures peace and progress to him and his progeny, in an atmosphere of stability and harmony. It is in this spirit the people, by and large, have found it as relevant and inspiring to awaken the countrymen to press upon its leaders to focus on the problems of the common man and not limit its domain to political gains alone.
During the last 9 years, things have been happening differently. The moot point in marking this difference is to analyse whether this difference is a design or a need of the hour. It obviously is a big intellectual debate and a comprehensive overview will not fall within the scope of this write-up. Nevertheless, some aspects of the present dispensation can be looked into for drawing some inferences from the present political arrangement. The first inference is obviously the emergence of a political ideology based on ‘Hindutva’. Have the pundits of this ideology enunciated the strengths of this approach in terms of political and economic dimensions, capable of addressing the problems of the citizens without bias on race, religion, ethnicity and region? Not much seems to have gone into this exercise. It is only now that the party has thought of an outreach programme to convince the electorate of its fairness, logic and necessity. The people of the country should not be vey touchy about the expression ‘Hindutva’ because it is not a communal expression; it is infact, an expression that falls in line with the composite culture of ancient India based on “Vasudhev Kutumbkum”. Hinduism and secularism go together. History stands testimony to the fact that Hindus assimilated all religions over the last millennium. That this character of rich Indian civilization got lost during the thousand years of alien intervention, warrants that a comprehensive programme be launched to dispel the apprehensions which may have cropped up out of misunderstanding as also out of the actions launched by the administration without doing the groundwork. In whatever way, the ideological format is taken by the common man, there always is scope of communicating it to a commoner in a biased way by the vested interests. To dispel those misgivings no serious effort has gone into it. The second inference relates to the status of opposition in the present political dispensation. During these 9 years the opposition has become weak and disarrayed and to the extent the opposition becomes weak the democracy goes shaky and it does not mature to the desired level. Everything that happened during the last seven decades has not gone right is indisputable but the foundations laid for building modern India cannot be underestimated. Launching an exhaustive programme of accusations against the earlier regimes does not yield any results. It is said that reviewing the past always yields regrets and therefore, the focus should be on present with an intent of shaping a secure future. History is full of administrative and political blunders, not all committed intentionally and therefore and it is not a sensible approach to waste time and effort on highlighting the previous mistakes. Demoralising and intimidating the opposition is tantamount to weakening of democracy.
BJP, as is claimed, is a party with forte and commitment and to exhibit it publicly, its government abrogated the article 370 and is using bulldozers at present aggressively. Added to this the government has also decided to levy property tax with effect from April 1, 2023, which is not just. Every rational thinking citizen will always stand by the government when it does anything in the interests of the nation. However, the interest of the nation can always not be safeguarded only by taking hard decisions touching the lives and sentiments of the people. Not doubting the intentions of the ruling class, the common man is compelled to express his agony inflicted on him not by his actions but by someone else’s and these should not go unheard. That abrogation of Article 370 was required to bring about fuller and final integration of J&K with the nation, is fine. But the division of the mighty and prestigious northern state should not have become a supplementary to this exercise. This not only belittled its importance but also undermined the commendable work done by the competent and nationalist Dogra rulers and its valiant generals. J&K is not only strategically placed but its rich history and socio-cultural contributions to Indian civilisation is significant in many a ways. Its size did not need to be reduced. There also is an undercurrent of resentment against the failure of the government to tackle the problem of unemployment and inflation. The taxes imposed on the people on one or the other pretext are operating very harsh on low-income groups and the middle class. The common man in the country feels hard-pressed and conscientiously or otherwise is harbouring a feeling of alienation. If these shadows of alienation become larger, these are likely to camouflage the achievements of the governments and widen the gaps within the society and also within the regions of the country. It is this feeling and intent that might assign the relevance to the type of Yatra as BJY. A common man has nothing to do with politics but he does get tempted to align with an effort that gives vent to his feelings.
India is a country with wide diversity of social, cultural lingual and geographical dimensions but it also has a history of thousands of years of unity and harmony. Any exercise – may be unintentional – that has the portent of generating an apprehension of discrimination and maltreatment will weaken that ethos of unity and diversity and shake the very foundations of Indian civilization and heritage. Yes, the country has gone through bad phases of history. The historical distortions have obliviated its richness of thought and action which needs correction to showcase the real format of Indian culture and philosophy.
India is on the threshold of a big leap forward and enjoys a place of prestige in the international comity. Notwithstanding the fact that forces inimical to rising graph of India, both politically and economically will try to upset the cart, the country has to ensure its internal stability on all fronts, to forestall any pitfalls likely to damage the interests of the nation. The world is passing through a crucial phase of history where economic slowdown is stark, the war hysteria is high and the race among the mighty nations for supremacy is on, India should not be trapped to allow its huge market to nourish world economies without getting adequately compensated to keep its march on. Internally the country should narrow down the gap between the islands of affluence, on the one hand and oceans of deprivation comprising of its low income groups and people below the poverty line on the other. The simmering of unrest should not go unnoticed. The BJY may be taken as a timely indicator and not discarded as merely a political stratagem. Internal conflicts harm the nation more that would be done by external mischiefs.
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