The foundation stone for creation of Hindu Rashtra was laid on August 5 by the prime minister of secular India, Narendra Modi by combining State, religion and politics at Bhumi Pujan for Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
The people of this country having a Constitution which emphases on secular and socialism now must get ready to usher into a nation which is based on the tenets of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Hindutva.
Till laying of the foundation stone while a section of the liberal people those believed in and subscribed to the Indian traditions and Saswat Hinduism nursed the view that Modi would refrain from participating at the programme being the prime minister. In fact these people were quite naïve not to believe the words of Modi and study his body language. From the day he assumed the office of the prime minister he had categorically made it clear through his actions that transforming India into Hindu Rashtra was his only priority.
On August 5, 2020, the Narendra Modi government took the first major leap towards transforming India into a Hindu Rashtra. The saffron government through laying the foundation of Ram temple send a clear and distinct message to the Muslims of India that India was no more a secular and socialist country, as is enshrined in the Constitution of India, instead from today it has become a Hindu majoritarian state.
The saffron activists may out right reject this observation and may argue that the simple act of laying of foundation does not basically alter the character of the Indian state. There may be some takers of their arguments, but how to analyse the head of the secular state, performing the task of the Hindu Monarch.
Mixing politics and religion is not a good thing. Most of the people across the globe do not subscribe to the idea that religion and politics mix very well. Even the leaders of the democracies have been keeping themselves away from this practice. The idea of mixing religion and politics has been pariah to the millennials and other young people. Though church propagates and promotes religion, this too has been opposed to the idea of politics being moulded and guided by religion. The notion of separation of church and state has served well for centuries.
But compulsion for Modi was so acute that he did not bother for the peoples’ reaction and their views. For him it does not matter what the common people of India think of his action. He is confident of his managerial skills. His style of functioning simply reminds the famous saying “religion is opium”. Though the rightists forces and parties at that point of time had ridiculed this saying, now Modi is simply practicing it. He has addicted the huge mass of urban middle class and rich people. For them any other true speaking and counter argument is illogical. They have been made to believe that transforming India into a Hindu Rashtra is the panacea of all the malaise. The Hindu Rashtra will have its own model of capitalist economy and it is the capitalist order of politics that would define the nature of peoples’ lives.
None can deny that there is no place for God in the public life. He has a major role to play. The people who wrote the Indian Constitution were not non-believers; at least they believed that God exists. But neither the common people nor the framers of the Constitution ever stood for the idea that there should be a state religion or that one religion was more important than another religion. They were all about freedom of religion and freedom from religion. The operative word for the founders was freedom. The Indian Constitution symbolises the freedom of the soul and mind.
In the past the Indian politicians were conscious of their role and the compulsion of not to entwine the religion with politics though there were very few people and also organisations which advocated it nevertheless did not have much appeal or impact on the people. One of them was the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangha (RSS). An insight into its evolution and its historical records would reveal that since the days of its birth it has been involved in hatred campaign against Muslims and taking to violence to achieve its expansionist goal.
It is common perception that partition of India had witnessed the worst kind of pogrom, but the fact remains that Independent India has been witness to some of the nastiest riots. Most of these riots owe their genesis to the land abandoned by the Muslims while fleeing to Pakistan, either east or west. After residing for some years in Pakistan (east as well west) the Muslims have come to face nasty hostility. Some of them even returned to India by early sixties. They even re-staked their claims on the lands they have left behind while crossing over. This was resented by the people who were in control of such lands. In most of the cases this assertion of right was at the root of the riots.
The RSS which was awaiting for the right occasion to expand used this Hindu-Muslim hatred to strengthen its base. In 1964 I had seen how the then home minister Guljari Lal Nanda boldly and courageously faced the situation and brought it under control in only two days. The secular forces unfortunately are found to be wanting on all such occasions. In those days too they could exert their authorities and their ambivalent stand has primarily been responsible for providing space to the saffron forces.
Notwithstanding politics getting deeply integrated with the public life, it continues to be most hated and dirty avocation. But it is a paradox that not only the rich and bourgeoisie people even the neo-middle class people have been quite desperate to join politics and become power brokers. A closer look would unravel the truth that these people have been quite crooked and ruthless in their approach. It is this section of the people who do not feel ashamed in mixing politics with the religion. For them everything is fair in their political ascendance. While merging of politics and religion has not been good for the country because it blurs the lines of what is acceptable and what is not, it is profitable for these people as it sharpens the trajectory procedure.
It is sad that the political establishment of India has been least bothered to this development. For them, these moves do not endanger the basic structure of the country. Shockingly the Congress leadership which has been speaking of RSS design to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra has been maintaining a passive silence on this. The left parties are limiting themselves to only statements. Sangh Parivar is reigning supreme taking full advantage of opposition’s silence and ambivalence. (IPA Service)
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