When I asked for a comment about Nathuram Godse, who is
suddenly getting attention and respectability in India, Arun Gandhi, grandson of the
Mahathma said, “I have been following the controversy closely. My personal
feeling is that everyone is a hero to somebody.
“I am sure there are people in the world who worship Satan
as well. That does not make Satan a hero for everyone. Those who
want to build a statue to Nathuram Godse and even build a temple should, in a
democracy, have the right to do so.
“That is not going to diminish in any way what Gandhiji did
or change people's perception of him.
“I believe I am reflecting the opinion of most of the (Gandhi)
family. I have not had a family meeting on the issue so I can't say for sure.â€
A little history may be added here.
After the second Vapayee government left office in 2004, the
best known and outspoken liberal in India, the intrepid Arundhati Roy said,
‘darkness has passed..’
Now that the BJP has come back with a thumping majority what
will the liberal, left, secular people say?
Indians in their 40s or 50s belong to a ‘golden era’ and any
change for them is a move to disaster. For India, the golden age started with
the independence in 1947 and it almost ended with the declaration of Emergency
in 1975.
During the same period, the world was mostly peaceful. The Second
World War ended in 1945 and the Cold War did not reach to an armed conflict. Gandhian
pacifism was the standard, at least for India.
Naturally, those who were born in this era inherited a
liberal world dominated by Nehruvian ideals, utopia of the socialists and
promised world of the communists. In the 70s reality sneaked in and the cherished
ideals crumbled like the World
Trade Center
before our eyes. The Nehruvian ideals did not bring prosperity, socialism did
not bring equality and communism ended as an unrealistic dream and promised
world of the proletariat was not attainable.
What remained was the old beliefs, traditions, and hostility
of a millennium. The liberals continue to bark at the darkness brought by a new
system, when Godse has become venerable and as patriotic as the Mahathma.
The secular, liberal, leftist Indian in America is not happy at the turn of events in India, not to
mention that he was happy with the rule of the Congress! He looks at the land
of his origin with romantic mist in his eyes to see only good things and old
values ruling there. He wants India to remain as it was when he left the land
forgetting that he himself had changed over the years and Indians too have a
right to change, whether he likes it or not.
While the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi get the
greatest support from the dispaora, especially in America, the liberals are a fringe
group here with no articulate policy or organization and leadership.
Views of theses two groups -the BJP supporters and the
liberals- are diametrically opposite to each other. It is difficult to be impartial
but most people don’t care. The policy
of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin, may be a good example.
The organization would not comment on any political development in India, but only support India. Though
GOPIO was not existing during the Emergency, many leaders now associated with
GOPIO, kept mum about it keeping this policy of keeping quiet about internal
political developments in India.
It may be a wiser policy too, considering that 1.2 billion
Indians are in India
who can determine their destiny without the advice of the non-returning-Indian
(NRI.)
Apart from the misgivings about the political scene, people
who look objectively at India,
see some big things happening there. The most important is none other than the
smooth change of guards at the government. Unlike in many developing countries,
the ruling conglomerate lost election and they bowed out to the will of the
people gracefully.
India
showed the world that is as mature a democracy as Brittan or America.
Parties and persons at the helm would change but the basic structure of the
democratic framework, as visualized by the founding fathers remain in tact.
Apart from this shining example, another welcome change is
the bureaucrats losing their power before a strong prime minister and his authority.
Ever since India
attained independence the babus ruled the country, made laws to fit their
perception of things, (unlike Prime Minister Modi who wants to remove as many
laws as possible!) and created roadblocks to every project. The weak
politicians bowed to them or their collective will.
Not any more. The babus thought they were the rulers, when
they were only workers, a reality that has dawned on them suddenly. Take the
example of diplomat Dr Devyani Khobragade.
The present government initially showed her the door when she came out to vent her
feelings public, ignoring the niceties of the protocol. No hue and cry and from
any quarters were heard. (May be those who would create the noise are now part
of the government!)
On a recent visit to India,
I overheard older people saying that India has a prime minister after
many years. They compare the days of Indira Gandhi. Does it mean that the
Indian psyche wants the security and finality of a strong, authoritarian
leadership?
Apart from these good things, the left, liberal and secular
groups are looking at India
with anxiety of the possible changes in the social fabric, where religion gains
more and more importance. In America
wishing somebody ‘Merry Christmas’s is not a politically correct thing, while India is
going back to give religion more importance in public sphere, has unnerved many.
After all, history is replete with examples of religions usurping the freedoms
of the people, curtailing free spirit and dividing the society on religious and
caste lines, leading to bloodshed and disaster.
George Abraham, leader of the INOC met Rahul Gandhi after
the election defeat and discussed the reasons for the defeat of the Congress. Abraham
said that Gandhi told him that under BJP government things have been moved back
to pre-independence days. According to Gandhi, a coalition of retrograde forces
have come together to undo the years of progress India has made uplifting the
poor, empowering the Dalits and backward castes and creating a more egalitarian
society where the hierarchy and the tall order is diminished. Obviously, they did
not like it and wanted order and control. In their view, Congress has created
disorder and decentralized power and control. They wanted to change all that.
Along with that, a narrative has been created that Congress
has been appeasing to the minorities for the expressed purpose of creating a
vote bank, however, BJP has done exactly the same in reverse appealing to the
religious sentiment of the majority. No coalition that would disenfranchise the
minorities and other groups will have any staying power, Gandhi told him.
The same doubt and fear are shared by left, secular, liberal
groups. This may be the same irrational fear that led to the notorious ‘liberation
struggle’ of 1957 in Kerala to overthrow the democratically elected Communist
government led by EMS Namboodiripad. The communists came to power in Kerala
many times since then and nobody feels them a threat anymore.
Apart from politics, a divisive thing always, it makes the
NRI to feel happy to see the country racing to greater heights in many fields
and poverty is reduced to a large extent. They know that these problems are the
creation of a combination of many things over the centuries, including foreign
rule, lack of resources and the ever growing population, among other things.
Yet the country achieved many things and even look at the
mars as our next door neighbor. We feel proud, indeed.
