“Bhagat Singh dared the British Raj to send the executioners. BJP-RSS ideologue Savarkar begged for his own release” On 23rd March 2016 Official Congress party handle twitted this with ‘Traitor’ written across Veer Savarkar’s snap
https://twitter.com/INCIndia/status/712563913947160576?s=09
The grotesque language, the awful terminology for much revered Veer Savarkar was shocking! It created quite a stir online and must have rubbed millions of Indians the wrong way.
The first reactions were of disbelief. Is this some kind of gaffe? Or was it tweeted by a fake handle? But as I turned out it was an official Congress party reaction. Why was it issued? Why eulogize one freedom fighter and denigrate another one? Who’s equally revered. Insulting one of the of the tallest freedom fighters who was even honored by Indira Gandhi herself (Issued a stamp in name of Veer Savarkar in 1970) seemed a serious misjudgment. And a clarification was expected. But nothing of that sort happened. No clarification was issued.
On deeper inspection one would understand, it is part of Sonia’s survival strategy. With assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal and Punjab round the corner, Congress cannot allow the voting pattern status quo to exist.
Right from 2013 Assembly elections, till Bihar, Congress kept on losing ground. Either it was BJP or Regional players which emerged winners! If this continues unabated, Congress now runs a risk of being reduced to a fringe player. What has changed on the ground in since 2009? Is the grand old party, out of sync? Has the Gandhi Dynasty lost touch? Sonia Gandhi and her coterie had been into hard introspection for some time now! And through some unconventional thinking, Congress, in Delhi and Bihar elections, amply displayed that it can stop BJP if not with elections for itself. But supporting Kejriwal unofficially or tying up with Nitish did not require any ideological re-jig as such.
Here, on eve of Bengal and Assam what Congress was trying to was completely different. For the record, to stop Mamata it has decided to have a truck with Communists in Bengal. (Pl Refer this article by Swapan Dasgupta
http://tinyurl.com/jhzp95w) Which also means, for now, Congress has decided to allow Yechury and company to set the narrative. Rahul Gandhi traveling to Pune to offer support to FTII students was a step in that direction. He standing shoulder to shoulder with JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, after it was confirmed that anti India slogans were raised in his presence was another step. And by disparaging Veer Savarkar, Sonia has decided to take the punt!
To understand how Congress has evolved over decades let us look back. “Bhaiyya,Kangress Hinduoka party hai!!”. (Congress is a party of Hindus) In Hindi heartland till recently one can often hear this kind of boastful blabber emanating from a motley crowd at a small tea stall, or at an Up-market Restaurant or even at a Marriage gathering. More often than not, the person who’s declaring this will be a Local Congress Leader!
Congress’ ability to Run with the hare and Hunt with the hounds was unbeatable. Its ability to keep National Minority community leaders (While keeping the Muslim community underdeveloped) along with Local Hindu leaders happy is unparalleled. Its ability to speak in conflicting voices and lure voters has been one of the most vital cogs in electoral machinery.
But with middle class growing in numbers, slowly things changed. BJP was gaining vote share steadily. In 1999, for first time it was able to run a coalition government successfully, for full term. Notwithstanding the good governance record of Atal Bihari’s government and against run of the play Sonia Gandhi was able to regain power in 2004.But, then again in 2014, BJP riding on Modi’s aggressive Hindu Nationalist appeal intertwined with Business friendly image came back with a thumping majority. And did happen because a sizable Dalit vote and some Muslim vote (8%) trusted Modi. And all this resulted in Congress being reduced to historic low of 44 seats. It didn’t stop at that. BJP won Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and formed government in alliance with PDP in Jammu and Kashmir.
Remarkably Sonia was able to stop Modi’s victory march in Delhi and Bihar. By doing the unthinkable! By allowing regional players, Kejriwal and Nitish to take the lead and creating a common secular front to take on Modi. In a way that was 2004 redux. In 2004, after defeating Vajpayee, when whole Congress was at her feet, requesting to take over the reins she surprised everybody and appointed Manmohan Singh the PM. This kind of radical thinking makes Sonia a special adversary.
True to his mandate Narendra Modi continues to redefine Nationalism and Cultural ethos of this country. Which of course means, waging an Ideological war against Congress’ idea of India. The idea, that you can shout “Bharat ki barbaadi tak jung rahegi” and you will be mollycoddled. The idea, that you can live off subsidies provided by Tax Payers and yet assault values and icons dear to him. By arresting Kanahaiya and Umar Khalid, government made sure every political party has to take position on JNU episode specifically and on Nationalism largely.
Yechury reacted by saying these students were not anti-nationals and this is fascist regime. But it did throw Congress into confusion and caused lot of embarrassment. (
http://tinyurl.com/hkck6nr ) And obviously owing to its history it could not reject the ‘Bharat mata ki Jai’ slogan but it made sure that it is used as an opportunity to assuage Muslim vote bank. Take a look at some of the utterances by its leaders.
Shashi Tharoor “We can’t force anyone to say Bharat Mata ki jay”
Manish Tewari “Netaji said Jai Hind, Bhagat Singh said Inqlab Zindabad and Hindustan Zindabad. BJP says except Bharat Mata ki Jai everything else Anti-National”
Mani Shankar Aiyar “So if a thief says Bharat Mata ki Jay, he becomes a saint?”
Minority cell chairman Khurshid Ahmed Saiyed “The Congress has been saying Jai Hind from 1925; it was the favourite slogan of Subas Chandra Bose but Bharat Mata Ki Jai is the slogan of the RSS. We don’t like the way they (RSS) are trying to use it against us,”
Look at these Congress utterances in unison with Fatwa issued by Darool Uloom Deoband against the slogan and statements by AIMIM leaders (listed below) and a pattern emerges.
Assauddin Owaisi “I won’t say Bharat Mata ki jay even if a knife is put to my throat”
Waris Pathan “I will not chant Bharat Mata ki jay”
Sonia feels that by seconding AIMIM on this issue it can win back Muslim vote. As Owaisi’s party has a minimal presence. By slighting “Bharat mata ki Jay” Congress is cunningly exploiting Muslim discomfort for it. And hopes to convert in votes in Assam and Bengal, where Muslim population is a sizable 31 and 26%.
But why attack Savarkar? Well simply because he pioneered the concept modern Hindutva! And he along with many Hindu Right ideologues he was a strong subscriber to the idea of Nation as a Mother. However this visionary had some rather strong views on minority’s love for India, which may be embarrassing to the ruling party. By linking ‘Bharat mata ki Jai’ to Savarkar, Sonia will corner Modi. BJP spoke persons will be asked uncomfortable questions by Secular media. Every attempt will be made to force BJP to disown Savarkar. Failing which, every opportunity will be used to paint BJP as narrow minded Hindu, Hindi, Hindustani party.
Watch out Dangerous curve ahead!
