{"id":312863,"date":"2019-06-03T17:42:22","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T17:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=312863"},"modified":"2019-06-03T17:42:23","modified_gmt":"2019-06-03T17:42:23","slug":"election-results-that-appear-surreal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/election-results-that-appear-surreal\/","title":{"rendered":"Election results that appear surreal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>These election results seem difficult to grasp or digest or to quote a friend they\u00a0 appear \u2018surreal\u2019! After all, common sense does not seem to accept the fact that in the\u00a0 backdrop of\u00a0 high levels of disgust and dismay at the non-performance of the Modi government, people actually voted them to power. The fact is the masses are angry with the state of affairs, so why would they vote for the same lot?<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, as I have been writing the core fact that hits are the double standards in the very governance. The Election Commission of India did seemingly little to\u00a0 halt the\u00a0 likes of terror accused Sadhvi Pragya Thakur from\u00a0 contesting in these\u00a0 elections. Tell me why should a terror accused been allowed to stand as an upcoming \u2018leader\u2019. Doesn\u2019t this trend spell doom for the country and for all of us! And\u00a0 whatever happened to all those\u00a0 lengthy speeches of the Right-Wing who\u2019s who, on\u00a0 terrorism and\u00a0 terrorists, when they are\u00a0 not just projecting\u00a0 the terror accused\u00a0 but even putting them\u00a0 in the corridors of\u00a0 power! Its almost akin to housing terrorists right inside your home compound and yet you are crying\u00a0 hoarse to\u00a0 go\u00a0 catch the terrorists from\u00a0 across the\u00a0 borders! Strange, nah!<\/span><\/p>\n

People of this country have lost trust cum faith in the sarkari institutions and whatever they deliver. Never before severe doubts came up on the\u00a0 very authenticity of the EVMS, and also in the\u00a0 electioneering bandobast. How could The Election Commission of India overlook the fact that Mr\u00a0 Narendra Modi\u2019s\u00a0 photo-shots in and around\u00a0 Kedarnath were used for\u00a0 publicity, to gather votes of\u00a0 the na\u00efve.\u00a0 Weren\u2019t his photographs splashed all over even whilst the electioneering process was on\u2026in full swing! Why was he projected as some sort of spiritual hero at such a crucial juncture?<\/span><\/p>\n

There is genuine and legitimate worry that with the Right-Wing in power\u00a0 the\u00a0 entire scenario\u00a0 will stand\u00a0 changed in our country. After all, the RSS\u00a0 will be in control of the\u00a0 very governance. Mind you, this time rather too directly and much more blatantly.\u00a0 And with the\u00a0 right \u2013wing rulers ruling this\u00a0 country, the\u00a0 minorities and the\u00a0 disadvantaged\u00a0 together with the liberals and the\u00a0 progressive will\u00a0 have\u00a0 every reason to sit worried and apprehensive, in that\u00a0 second or third class positioning!<\/span><\/p>\n

I was\u00a0 first\u00a0 introduced to the so called\u00a0 RSS \u2018literature\u2019 several\u00a0\u00a0 years back\u00a0 and\u00a0 ever since I have\u00a0 read the master plans of the RSS, what\u00a0 stands out are its\u00a0 divisive communal\u00a0 strategies.<\/span><\/p>\n

To quote Khushwant Singh on this, from one of his earlier writings – \u201cAll along the\u00a0\u00a0 motivating factor for the Hindutva parties\u00a0 has\u00a0 been\u00a0 Islamophobia. The entire motivating factor behind the RSS is anti – Muslim. In fact, today\u00a0 when\u00a0 Mohan Bhagwat\u00a0 says that\u00a0 the\u00a0 RSS\u00a0 is\u00a0 open to\u00a0 other communities\u00a0 and\u00a0\u00a0 has\u00a0 Muslim and\u00a0 Christian\u00a0 members too\u00a0 it\u2019s\u00a0 to\u00a0 be\u00a0 taken with a pinch\u00a0 of\u00a0 salt\u00a0 because the\u00a0 whole\u00a0\u00a0 thrust\u00a0 behind the\u00a0 RSS\u00a0 Hindutva\u00a0 parties\u00a0 has\u00a0 been anti- Muslims.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Khushwant had also brought\u00a0 into focus another\u00a0 factor -\u201c Don\u2019t\u00a0 overlook the fact that before Jinnah had\u00a0 come\u00a0 up\u00a0 with the\u00a0 two-nation theory, it\u00a0 was Gangadhar\u00a0 Tilak, Lala\u00a0 Lajpat Rai, VD\u00a0 Savarkar, who\u00a0 had\u00a0 come\u00a0 up\u00a0 with the\u00a0 Hindu\u00a0 nation\u00a0 theory. In fact, Lala\u00a0 Lajpat\u00a0 Rai\u00a0 had even drawn a map\u00a0 of divided India\u00a0 –\u00a0 along religious\u00a0 lines. Whatever the RSS had been trying ever since the country\u2019s Independence they seemed to get now! Fascism well and truly crossed our threshold and dug its heels in our courtyard. We let the fanatics get away with every step they took without raising a howl of protest. They burnt books they did not like, they beat up journalists who wrote against them, they openly butchered people for believing in a different God\u2026The carnage in Gujarat, the Mahatma\u2019s home state, in early 2002 and the subsequent landslide victory for Narendra Modi spelt disaster for our country. The fascist agenda of Hindu fanatics is unlike anything India has experienced in its modern history\u2026For\u00a0 the\u00a0 last several\u00a0\u00a0 years\u00a0 I\u00a0 have\u00a0 been\u00a0 seeing\u00a0 signs of\u00a0 fascism\u00a0 creeping in\u00a0 \u2026private senas are used to\u00a0 unleash terror\u00a0 on\u00a0 minority segments\u00a0 and\u00a0 most\u00a0 Indians\u00a0 do\u00a0 not seem\u00a0 to realize the\u00a0 magnitude\u00a0 of\u00a0\u00a0 this\u00a0 dangerous\u00a0\u00a0 trend, the\u00a0 very\u00a0 magnitude\u00a0 of\u00a0 intolerance\u00a0 though\u00a0 signs\u00a0 are\u00a0 writ\u00a0 large. MF\u00a0 Husain had to\u00a0 live\u00a0 in exile,\u00a0 his\u00a0 paintings\u00a0 were\u00a0 burnt,\u00a0 girls\u00a0 molested\u00a0 in\u00a0 Mangalore\u00a0 pubs,\u00a0 killings in Kandhahar, all that propaganda in circulation\u00a0 –\u00a0 of Christians\u00a0\u00a0 converting ( though the\u00a0 reality is that the\u00a0 Christian\u00a0 population\u00a0 in the\u00a0 country\u00a0 has\u00a0 actually gone down), the\u00a0 Sangh keeps whipping those old\u00a0 prejudices against the\u00a0 Muslims\u2026Hindutva\u00a0\u00a0 theory\u00a0\u00a0 does\u00a0 not\u00a0 believe\u00a0 in\u00a0 treating all\u00a0 nationals as\u00a0 one ,on the\u00a0\u00a0 same footing \u2026.there\u2019s\u00a0 that\u00a0 discrimination against the\u00a0\u00a0 Muslims and\u00a0 Christians\u00a0 \u2026that\u00a0 discrimination against Muslims , culminating\u00a0 in the\u00a0 very\u00a0\u00a0 destruction\u00a0 of the Babri\u00a0 masjid,\u00a0 the\u00a0\u00a0 massacre\u00a0 of\u00a0 Muslims\u00a0 in the 2002 Gujarat pogrom, the\u00a0 murder of\u00a0 Christian\u00a0 missionaries , burning\u00a0 of the\u00a0 Bible …\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And let us not be na\u00efve enough to be taken up by the double or triple speak of the\u00a0 BJP rulers\u2026their\u00a0 bogus assurances that minorities are safe and\u00a0 intact\u00a0 under their\u00a0 rule. Not to be overlooked the fact that BJP is an offshoot of the RSS. To quote from academic Shamshul Islam\u2019s book \u2018Know The RSS \u2013 based on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak\u00a0 Sangh\u2019s\u00a0 Documents\u2019 (Pharos\u00a0 Media)-\u201cBJP not independent of\u00a0 RSS\u2026The RSS leadership keeps\u00a0 on harping\u00a0 that BJP is an independent\u00a0 political\u00a0 organization and does not work under the dictates of the RSS. It is pertinent that one compares this information with the facts available in the official publications of the RSS. The central publication house of the RSS, the Suruchi Prakashan, has published a book, Param Vaibhav Ke Path Par (The Road to Glory) in 1997 giving details of more than 40\u00a0 organizations created\u00a0 by\u00a0 the RSS\u00a0 for\u00a0 different\u00a0 tasks. The BJP\u00a0 as a political\u00a0 organization\u00a0 figures prominently\u00a0 in it, clubbed with the ABVP, Hindu\u00a0 Jagran Manch, Vishva\u00a0 Hindu\u00a0 Parishad, Swadeshi\u00a0 Jagran Manch and\u00a0 Sanskar Bharti\u2026In this\u00a0 book the\u00a0 BJP\u00a0 figures at\u00a0 number\u00a0 three in the\u00a0 list\u00a0 of\u00a0 prominent organisations\u00a0 created\u00a0 by\u00a0 the RSS. This book\u00a0\u00a0 discusses the creation and development of the BJP under the aegis of the RSS in full three pages.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Shamshul Islam also\u00a0 emphasises on a\u00a0 vital\u00a0 factor -\u201cThere has always been a conscious attempt\u00a0 to\u00a0 create\u00a0 confusion about\u00a0 its\u00a0 different\u00a0 fronts which\u00a0 provide RSS with the\u00a0 opportunity to dissociate with any\u00a0 of\u00a0 these\u00a0 as\u00a0 per\u00a0 its\u00a0 convenience. For instance it used Hindu\u00a0 Jagaran\u00a0 Manch(HJM) for\u00a0 attacking\u00a0 Christians in the\u00a0 late 1990s and\u00a0 when\u00a0 public opinion, media, and Parliament seemed to turn against\u00a0 it, RSS denied any relation with HJM…When\u00a0 nefarious designs of the Vishwa\u00a0 Hindu\u00a0 Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Dharam\u00a0 Sansad\u00a0 were exposed before\u00a0 the\u00a0 nation, RSS announced that\u00a0 they were\u00a0 independent\u00a0 organizations. Interestingly, it was often seen mediating between the\u00a0 BJP led\u00a0 government( 1998- 2004) and these fronts\u2026It\u00a0 will be interesting\u00a0 to\u00a0 know\u00a0 that\u00a0 many of\u00a0 these\u00a0 organizations\u00a0 have\u00a0 been\u00a0 organized in a\u00a0 clandestine\u00a0 manner , a\u00a0 characteristic of\u00a0 a\u00a0 Fascist set-up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The picture gets sharper if one were to read Professor Jyotirmaya Sharma\u2019s\u00a0 book –\u00a0 \u2018Terrifying\u00a0 Vision – M.S.\u00a0 Golwalkar, The RSS and India \u2018 (Penguin), To quote from\u00a0 Sharma\u2019s\u00a0 book\u00a0 \u201cThe\u00a0 Ram janambhoomi movement , the\u00a0 demolition\u00a0 of the\u00a0\u00a0 Babri Masjid\u00a0\u00a0 and the\u00a0\u00a0 Gujarat\u00a0 riots\u00a0 of 2002\u00a0 are just a\u00a0 few examples of the\u00a0 impact Golwalkar\u2019s\u00a0 legacy\u00a0 has\u00a0 had\u00a0 on the\u00a0 move\u00a0 towards\u00a0 a certain\u00a0 brand\u00a0 of radical\u00a0\u00a0 Hindu\u00a0 nationalism \u2026In\u00a0 Golwalkar\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0 mental\u00a0 universe, there are two\u00a0 permanent\u00a0\u00a0 enemies,\u00a0 the Muslims and\u00a0 politics .These two are the greatest\u00a0\u00a0 impediments\u00a0 in the way\u00a0 of the\u00a0 Hindu Rashtra regaining its\u00a0 power and\u00a0\u00a0 glory.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharma has also quoted Golwalkar\u00a0 in his book. This\u00a0 provocative quote of\u00a0 Golwalkar- \u201cWithin the\u00a0\u00a0 country\u00a0 there\u00a0\u00a0 are\u00a0 so many\u00a0 Muslim\u00a0 pockets , i.e, so\u00a0 many\u00a0 \u2018miniature\u00a0\u00a0 Pakistanis\u2019\u00a0 \u2026such \u2018pockets\u2019\u00a0 have\u00a0 verily\u00a0 become\u00a0 centres of\u00a0 a\u00a0 widespread\u00a0 network of\u00a0 pro – Pakistani\u00a0 elements\u00a0 in this land . \u2026The\u00a0 conclusion\u00a0 is that , in\u00a0 practically\u00a0\u00a0 every\u00a0 place\u00a0 there\u00a0 are\u00a0 Muslims\u00a0 who are in constant touch with\u00a0\u00a0 Pakistan\u00a0 over the\u00a0 transmitter\u00a0 \u2026Right\u00a0 from\u00a0 Delhi to Rampur to\u00a0 Lucknow, the\u00a0 Muslims\u00a0 are\u00a0 busy\u00a0 hatching\u00a0 a\u00a0 dangerous\u00a0 plot, piling up\u00a0 arms and\u00a0 mobilizing\u00a0 their men and\u00a0 probably\u00a0 biding\u00a0 their time\u00a0 to\u00a0 strike\u00a0\u00a0 from\u00a0 within\u00a0 when\u00a0 Pakistan\u00a0 decides\u00a0 upon\u00a0 a\u00a0 armed conflict\u00a0 with\u00a0 our\u00a0 country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With this dark scenario in the backdrop we, the citizens of India, have every reason to sit apprehensive and worried and concerned about\u00a0 our well \u2013 being and\u00a0 that of our country.<\/span><\/p>\n

letters@tehelka.com<\/span><\/p>\n

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These election results seem difficult to grasp or digest or to quote a friend they\u00a0 appear \u2018surreal\u2019! After all, common sense does not seem to accept the fact that in the\u00a0 backdrop of\u00a0 high levels of disgust and dismay at the non-performance of the Modi government, people actually voted them to power. The fact is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,2205],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312863"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312863"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":312892,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312863\/revisions\/312892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/312890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}