WHITHER BHARAT?

A Rejoinder to Rakesh Chibber’s ‘Historian’s Rant’ (His blog, which he invited me to read, is reproduced at the end of my rejoinder).

Dear Rakesh,

Whereas, I have no wish to enter into a discussion on the merits and demerits of either Guha or his writings/speeches, I definitely have a few things to say about some of the things that you have written in your above mentioned blog.

It has become fashionable to criticize Nehru. Yes, Nehru made a few monumental mistakes, which scarred the psyche of the Nation for years, till we were able to erase it with an outstandingly crushing victory in 1971. I am happy to have been an active participant of that operation. What, however, can never be overlooked is Nehru's vision in giving the Country the solid base of its heavy industries, without which an impoverished country like ours, made to live on imports from England, from mill made cloth from Manchester to heavy industrial products from Birmingham, would never have been what it is today. 

NDA I started the process of spinning crores, by selling just a few of these assets, to reduce their financing deficits. Ask an economist and he will tell you the same.

Today we insinuate that he grew to be a banyan tree, not to provide shelter but to disallow anything else to grow under it. Someone recently passed a remark that the banyan of ‘Nehruism’ has get eaten hollow by white ants and shall soon be uprooted, allowing the people of the Nation to grow freely. A joke. 

Never known a banyan to be attacked by white ants. Its roots grow deep.

Ironically, just yesterday, the PM of India, in the BJP's national conclave, is reported to have advised his party-men to reshape the party into a banyan tree, to give shade to all kinds of people, from all walks of life.

Soldiers have been progressively devalued since independence. Nehru and Indira are blamed for their sense of insecurity. What insecurity is bugging the present dispensation to speed-up that process of devaluation exponentially. The present Govt seems hell bent to grind the soldier to dust, nose down, under the sole of its dirty shoes. Strong words, but metaphorically true.

In the run -up to the last parliamentary general elections, no less than the PM candidate of the Party in power since,   repeatedly berated the then UPA govt  for not giving the soldier his due. He then solemnly promised to give them the true OROP, within 100 days of coming to power. After the election, those promises were said to be 'Election Jumla' and the soldiers were blamed for being simpletons to believe in the ‘Jumlas’. A cruel joke at the expense of not only the soldiers, but also the veer naris.

What did the RM say as recently as a few days back, to the invited few, (veterans), "This far and no further. The Govt has done enough". A cruel joke again.

A few of us still sing praises of the Chappan Chaati, (As he, more than once, called himself), while abusing the others in his party, who are accused of letting him down by denying the soldiers and the veer naris their rights. A man who projects himself as the strongest leader on the Earth, pretends to be helpless before his own colleagues! A joke of the Century.

The fact is that there is a well thought-out, unholy and structured plan, rapidly unfolding itself before the Nation.

Chappan Chaati says, "I will talk only of development and unity in diversity"; the others are commanded to do everything in the diametrically opposite direction. All failures would then be pinned on the ‘others’ and the 'Chappan Chaati', will remain unsullied and the darling of the Nation, to be voted back to power again and again and again. Masterly Plan !

I am unable to agree with your idea about our 'Hindu' ancestry.  

Our social and cultural heritage is not less than 10,000 yrs old. Read Tilak. The word 'Hindu' was not even coined till comparatively recently. In this matter, let me quote Swami Shraddhasudhasharananada :

"The fact is that BOTH the words "Hindu" and "India" have foreign origin. The word "Hindu" is neither a Sanskrit word nor is this word found in any of the native dialects and languages of India. It should be noted that "Hindu" is NOT a religious word at all. There is no reference of the word "Hindu" in the Ancient Vedic Scriptures, the Upanishads or the Vedanta.

It is said that the Persians used to refer to the Indus river, (Presently flowing partly in India and partly in Pakistan), as 'Sindhu'. The Persians, however, could not pronounce the letter "S" correctly in their native tongue and mispronounced it as "H." Thus, for the ancient Persians, the word "Sindhu" became "Hindu." The ancient Persian Cuneiform inscriptions and the Zend Avesta refer to the word "Hindu" as a geographic name rather than a religious name. When the Persian King Darious 1 extended his empire up to the borders of the Indian subcontinent in 517 BC, some people of the Indian subcontinent became part of his Empire and Army. Thus for a very long time the ancient Persians referred to these people as "Hindus". The ancient Greeks and Armenians followed the same pronunciation, and gradually the name stuck.

The word "India" also has a similar foreign origin. Originally, the native Indians used to address the Indian subcontinent as "Bharat". As a matter of fact in Mahabharat,which is one of the two "Itihasa", we find reference of the word "Bharat". As per legend, the land ruled by the great King "Bharata" was called Bharat. This too was much before coinage of the word Hindu."

In  recent times, we have, spun a religious web around the word 'Hindu'. Even more, the land of Bharat, my Bharat Mahan, has now become the land of 'Bharat Mata'. 

The original, (And the very first), pictorial description of Bharat Mata, drawn by Abnindra Nath Tagore, has since been reshaped into ‘Ma Durga’. Personally, most of us love that description because of the power it represents, but a section, (Not all), of Muslims prefer to refer to their country as 'Father Land', just as our Aryan brothers, (Germans), across the continents, prefer to refer to. This section of Muslims has a problem in referring to the country as a 'Motherland'. If they are happy saying, 'Jai Hind', why force them to bow to Mother India's depiction as Devi Durga and make them shout Jai Bharat Ma? Why call them anti-national? 

We in the Defense Forces say, 'Jai Hind'. 

The time is not far when a missive from the Parivar will change that too to 'Jai Bharat Mata' !!

Going by the present logic being touted by the fanatics of the Parivar, all those, especially the politicians, who can't sing the National Anthem, must be booked as anti-nationals.

Incidentally, I am aware of a strong and unabated subterranean current of propaganda, to declare the present National Anthem as a poem written by Tagore  in praise of the British King of the time and, therefore, unfit to be the National Anthem of our Republic and, therefore, to be replaced with Bande Mataram. My chest swells by a few inches while singing the latter song, but even more so while singing the National Anthem, which I do in an uninhibited manner, whenever and wherever I hear its chords, vocal or instrumental, without caring a hoot about who around me thought what.

The present trends are disturbing. The visible wave of intolerance, apparent in a number of attacks, by vigilantes, on unsuspecting individuals, without any action by the authorities, is  reprehensible too.

Tolerance is not a Hindu custom but was built into our culture 10000 years ago, when the Aryans came over to our doorstep moving Southwards from thousands of Kms up North and cohabited with the then residents of Bharat, who were strong in philosophy, unlike the Aryans, who were strong in rituals, and formed a composite culture, enshrined in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Vedanta, Srimad Bhagwat Gita and countless other philosophies, (Read Tilak).

The Parivar, whose 'Guruji' has eruditely written volumes in praise of Hitler and the Nazi led holocaust of the Jews, (He wrote that India and Indians have a lot of good things to learn from the Nazis), are hell bent upon imposing their version of culture, where you are a nationalist only and only if you agree with them. Otherwise you are branded as an anti-national. This portends great danger to the unity of our diverse Bharat.

We the soldiers, the protectors of the Nations safety and security must fight, till our last breath, to see this danger off.

'Mera Bharat’ is Mahan not because of a few vocally fissiparous people of our Country, going around today, spreading poison, but because we still have largely retained the 'Unity in Diversity'. 

Let's fight tooth and nail to preserve that unity.

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HISTORIAN’S RANT

By Rakesh Chibber

On 17^th March 2016,  I came across a news item on the Zee News Online that an ‘Eminent Historian’ of the country Mr Ramchandra Guha, who also alternates as an expert on cricket, spoke at t he inaugural session of a literary festival in New Delhi. As per Zee News Mr Guha, the historian, had this to say and I quote:

“The rising of Hindu nationalism in the country is not new. It happened immediately after Partition and during Ram Janmabhoomi movement, and both were orchestrated by the Rashtriya Swayamsevek Sangh (RSS). It has severely affected the secular, cultural and political fabric of the country, and I hope that the situation shouldn`t escalate to that level.”  He also noted that Hindu fundamentalism is more threatening than Islamic terrorism in India. “The reason is within India, Hindus are 85 per cent. I am terrified at the thought of Hindu majoritarianism, because that is what we were not”, adding that Islamic terrorism is a dangerous phenomenon in the global scenario.

He goes on to talk about how the most dangerous politicians in the country were Amit shah and Azam Khan and “BJP is the most anti-intellectual party and they failed to produce a single scholar in Gujarat after being in power for many years. You can`t have spokespersons as Anupam Kher, Praveen Togadia or Smriti Irani, who will only drive discourse further into the mud. As long as the RSS has the role in the political dispensation, you will never get right-wing intellectuals, but you get right-wing ideologists,”

While Mr Guha is entitled to his views on politics and politicians as per his political leanings, what got my goat, so to speak, was his rather condescending remark that “Everyone has their own role. Soldiers have their place and students have their own. The attack on universities is worrisome,” insinuating thereby that soldiers were not students or had not been students and should not interfere in the so called academic pursuit of the students of our universities. In his scheme of things “Scholarship has a place in moulding the consciousness of the nation. The tendency to belittle scholars, scholarships and universities is unfortunate. Though one should not exaggerate how widespread it is, what is happening around JNU is worrisome”.

Mr Guha who is regarded as a Historian has authored books like `India After Gandhi`, `Makers of Modern India`, `Patriots and Partisans` and `Gandhi Before India` and felt that “the situation was not as hopeless as portrayed by media, but it could be more hopeful, as the interest in books is also increasing” while referring to the controversy at the Jawaharlal Nehru university. Guha’s new book `Democrats and Dissenters` is likely to hit the stands in October, as per Zee News.

Mr. Guha considers himself as a Historian, and his area of Historical research is restricted to India of 20^th century and specifically the history shaped by the two great Indians of that century i.e. Mr. MK Gandhi and Mr. JL Nehru. I must confess here that other than reading India after Gandhi, I have not read all his historical researches, but have heard him speak on Television and You Tube and have read a number of his articles which are published in the Main Stream Media as Op Eds. 

From what I have read it comes out quite clearly that Mr. Guha is a diehard Nehru Fan, and for him Nehru could do no wrong and the initial direction given by Nehru to the country is the reason India is such a great country. He is an out an out Congress supporter though he writes at times on the inadequacies of the present Congress leadership. Although he tries to project himself as a balanced political commentator, but I am afraid his political biases are pretty evident. He is a heavily left leaning ‘intellectual’ who dismisses any so called ‘Right Wing’ thought as inadequate and pedestrian, and in keeping with the contempt the left leaning historians have for anything saffron, he considers himself as the champion of ‘Left liberal thought’ and the self appropriated title of  protectors of ‘Secular ideals’. 

I have no problems with Mr. Guha’s leftist thinking as long as he restricts himself to criticizing the Right Wing politics and it’s champion the RSS, but I do take umbrage to Mr. Guha intruding in my space i.e. the Armed Forces and my religious belief. And therefore, I shall restrict my rejoinder to these two aspects.

Mr. Guha has been a long critic of imposition of Armed Forces Special Powers Act and has written extensively on the subject, to the extent of making some unsavory comments on the functioning of the Armed Forces. 

In one of his articles on Manipur he wrote about ‘the massive and at times overbearing presence of the Army’ and how the locals despised the Assam Rifles. While Mr. Guha is free to air his views about the Indian Army’s functioning, I find it rather appalling that Mr. Guha should deny me and the other veterans of the Indian Armed Forces the opportunity to air our views on the goings on in a University, of which some of us have been recipient of the graduation degrees. 

Equally appalling is the thought in the so called Left Liberal World that soldiers should do soldiering and not interfere in what goes on in the other institutions of the country, in the instance case the JNU. While the soldier is restricted by his oath to his country and the special restrictions imposed on him due to Army Act, during the course of his service, to assume that the soldier should not have an opinion on matters of concern to the well being of the country, even after he has hung his uniform is rather condescending and questions the thinking ability of a soldier. 

Mr Guha should realize that the soldiers also have gone through colleges and are at times quite well read and knowledgeable about the issues of national concern. 

To come to the case in point regarding JNU, it is surprising that Mr. Guha should feel that the soldiers of the country should keep quiet even when slogan alluding to war against the country and breaking it up in pieces are being openly shouted in the name of free speech. If nationalism and patriotism are not the sole propriety article of the Armed Forces, then neither is the intellectual space the sole prerogative of the so called ‘Left Liberals’ who of late are being referred to as ‘Adarsh Liberals’, due to their myopic politically correct views and double standards with regards to acceptance of Freedom of Expressions of people ideologically at variance to the Leftist world view. 

It would be contra factual to assume that the ex soldiers cannot have political opinions or ability to understand the political shenanigans of the campus politics. Be that as it may, it is high time that the soldiers when out of uniform, should be able to take studied and well considered view on issues of security and integrity of the country, whether on the streets of J&K and North East or in the campuses of universities like JNU and Jadhavpur University, and more importantly be able to articulate their views at the appropriate forum.

The other aspect of Mr. Guha’s talk that I disagree with is his insinuation that Hindu fundamentalism is more dangerous than Islamic terrorism. He professes to be afraid of Hindu majoritarianism, because India is 85percent Hindu country. What Mr. Guha tends to overlook, is the fact that, because India is 85 percent Hindu, Mr. Guha has the freedom to abuse the majority religion of the country without fear of any backlash and retaliation. 

India has a rich history of never imposing its ancient religion on anyone through fear or intimidation. Hinduism believes that the entire world is one big family or ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’ and that there is one Truth but the path to it may vary. Or ‘Ekum sat vipra bahudha vadanti’ which literally means “that which exists is One, sages call it by various names”. This is the spiritual heritage of India, where in every one has the right to follow his or her belief without fear of discrimination. 

Unfortunately this cannot be said of many other countries of the world that follow different beliefs. And yet Mr. Guha felt it necessary to belittle the rich tradition of religious tolerance of this great country. But then I presume it was more due to Mr. Guha’s ideological compulsions rather than his religious belief which made him say such things. Perhaps it may also be an attempt to create controversy ahead of his impending release of his book, to boost its sales that he made such a remark which is in line with his limited thinking on the issue of Hinduism, and therefore needs to be dismissed as rant of an Adarsh Liberal with the contempt that it deserves.

Mr. Guha had once written that ‘The threat to India from Hindutva bigotry was at its most intense from about 1989 to about 2004’ which was the period when this self confessed Nehru dynasty fan’s favorite family was not at the helm of power. He was out of favour with the political dispensation at the centre of that time and had lost his relevance as an intellectual. It seems Mr. Guha has become irrelevant again.