Who Really Insulted the Tricolour
Jawhar Sircar
The Wire, 5th
Feb 2021
“India was saddened by the insult to the tricolour on Republic
Day” stated Prime Minister
Modi, a few days ago. He was referring obviously to the mayhem that broke out
when farmers, their friends and enemies streamed into Delhi that day. ‘India’,
on behalf of whom Modi now speaks with unusual authority, is surely entitled to
feel more than hurt if the flag was desecrated. This charge, however,
camouflages more than it reveals. During the protest, the national flag atop
Red Fort was not only untouched, but the Nishan Sahib flag that was hoisted on
the fort’s ramparts was certainly not the flag of ‘Khalistan’ — as was let
loose into the breeze, quite mischievously. It
was at a considerable distance from the tricolour and its pole was nowhere near
in height. What intrigues us the most is why the person who who planted the
flag is moving around so sure of himself and posting video messages on the
social media. Since the entire world knows that he was (and may still be)
associated with the ruling party, it is surely time for the nurser of hurts to
come out and declare his ‘official’ position on him. After all, the
flag-hoister has flaunted his photograph next to the PM, and since this cannot
be dismissed as ‘crowd scene’ snap, “the nation needs to know” who or what
prompted him to cause the hurt.
The narrative that is being sought to be peddled is, however, fraught
with danger. By highlighting that someone from the Sikh community defiled the
sacred flag, an entire people is sought to be dragged in. It has always
produced excellent farmers and
has historically provided the finest of soldiers — lots more than people whose
belligerent talk is certainly not matched by their numbers joining the army. A
patriotic community just cannot be vilified, just because it took the lead in
opposing suspiciously rushed-through pieces of legislation. What cerebrally handicapped
cheerleaders have not understood, among countless other things, is that the
long, peaceful agitation of farmers at Singhu is fast becoming a metaphor for
righteous resistance — and may soon join the ranks of Chipko, Champaran or
Bardoli. Public imagination is in the process of inscribing the name of the
tormentor who launched unprovoked depredations on agitating agriculturalists
quite permanently into popular lore. Once that happens, woe betide the villain
of such balladic tales — for his name shall be spat upon for ever.
Even dropping innuendos about Sikhs fomenting trouble and proclaiming them or a section as
‘anti-national separatists’ is outrageous, without first providing solid
evidence. Some Khalistani supporters may have penetrated the huge ocean of
protesting farmers, but can anyone swear that there is no foreign agent
ensconced within the upper echelons of this regime — or any other? Punjab has
suffered more that its share of political outrage, stoked often by religious fanatics
and their opponents. It is only prudent not to stomp with jackboots on
sensitive issues that may ignite other problems. To fling conspiracy theories
around would also whip up outrage among an already dangerously charged
fan-base. It is imperative for the regime to desist from short term outwitting
games and, instead, attend to
the disaffection caused by these Acts. Two
simple public statements may defuse the situation immediately — one, that the
time-tested MSP (minimum support price) system would remain, and the other that
all the talk of Ambani-Adani grabbing farm produce is not true.
A ruler would then not have to dig deep trenches, build concrete walls
and drive killer spikes to barricade himself from his own people. Besides, if
we are to give some credence to organisations of agitating farmers, that have
held together millions in absolute peace for over two months, there is
certainly much more that what met the eye and the television cameras on India’s
most boisterous Republic Day. The identity of those agent provocateurs and
others who broke into Delhi with so relative ease, much before the appointed
hour of the peaceful ‘tractor rally’, and then fought pitched battles with the
police needs just time and sincerity to be established. There is abundant
camera footage available. It were the unruly exertions of these groups that
incensed captive television audiences. The latter was larger than usual, as it
was a holiday, and everything appeared to be working on cues. Anchors competed
with each other to scream and condemn the violence — as is only expected when
dramatic displays of indignation at dissent have become so institutionalised.
Contemporary history tells us that India has seen many such and several
more virulent protests in recent decades, but hardly ever has public vexation
been titrated and channelised so effectively. Those who opposed well-fortified
governments then were certainly not
doing so by showering rose petals on the sentinels. But, they were not
automatically condemned as seditionists and user-friendly media did not bay for
their blood. Let us recall, for instance, the Nav Nirman Andolan of Gujarat in
which, in which Narendra Modi claims to have played an active role. Destruction
of public property was rampant as
was arson, and credible reports indicate that least a hundred persons died in violent clashes with government forces.
About three thousand were injured and police records attest that over 8,000
were arrested. Literally, hundreds of other similar destructive public protests
and eruptions have wracked the country since then, but regime-apologists were
not let loose to tear their vocal chords in frenzied bouts of feigned horror.
The point is that protests do often boil over — in every age and in every country.
The nonstop, mindless violence in the USA during the recent ‘Black Lives
Matter’ agitation is just one painful example. No one in his right mind can
either encourage or condone violence, but balanced are also desirable. Rulers
also need to make more sincere and less juvenile media-targeted attempts to get
to the roots of such effervescent angst.
When Modi mentions of India’s sadness at the insult to the tricolour, it is only befitting to recall the stand
that his own parent organisation, the RSS, took just before Independence. Its
mouthpiece, Organiser,
mentioned in its issues of 17th and 22nd July 1947, that
the Indian tricolour will "never be respected and owned by the Hindus.”
According to it, “The word three is in itself an evil, and a flag having three
colours will certainly produce a very bad psychological effect and is injurious
to a country." This is obviously incorrect, as ‘three’ is so prominent in
Hinduism — from the trishul to trimurti, the three-pronged sacred weapon of
Hindus to the holy triumvirate of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar. Modi’s Guru
M.S. Golwalkar, the second chief of the RSS, also bemoaned that Independent
India’s “leaders have set up a new flag for the country — why did they do so?”
In his Bunch of Thoughts, he declared that “Ours is an ancient and great nation
with a glorious past. Then, had we no flag of our own? Had we no national
emblem at all these thousands of years? Undoubtedly we had. Then why this utter
void, this utter vacuum in our minds?" Golwalkar did not, however,
elaborate which ancient national emblem or flag he was alluding to. We know, of
course, that he wanted to replace the all-embracing tricolour flag with the Bhagwa
Dhwaj, the saffron 'split flag' of the RSS, that represented only Hindus.
It is, therefore, appropriate to view Narendra Modi’s present comments
on the tricolour and “insults to it” in this background. Far from disowning
this heritage, he actually cherishes it. Including, it was Sardar Patel, who he
worships so publicly and at public expense, who actually compelled Golwalkar
and the Hindu Right to retract their opposition to the Indian national flag. He
set it as a pre-condition for lifting the 18-month ban on the RSS and for
releasing its leaders from jail. It may,
therefore, be wiser to let India and Indians decide for themselves which insult
to the national flag really hurts them more.
(Please Click Here to Read the Article on TheWire Website)
No comments:
Post a Comment