nationalism

VD Savarkar

Opinion 14 November 2021

Ahistoricity of Savarkar’s Rehabilitation Project

An aggressive campaign to rehabilitate VD Savarkar (1883-1966) as great Indian freedom fighters is under way. He is being touted as a legendary Indian nationalist, freedom fighter who spent 50 years in the Cellular Jail [CJ]. Multiple mercy petitions of his are hailed as a ruse to secure freedom in order to work for uprooting the British rule, last but not the least, he is glorified as a rationalist who fought against the Untouchability.  Let us compare these claims with the writings of Savarkar and records of his activities available in the archives of the Hindu Mahasabha in order to know the truth. Savarkar’s journey from Indian nationalist to Hindu nationalist It is true that Savarkar penned THE INDIAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1857 in 1907 in which he glorified the joint struggle of Hindus and Muslims in the 1857 rebellion. In this tome, proscribed by the British rulers, he underscored the fact that Hindus and Muslims “were both children of the soil of Hindusthan. Their names were different, but they were all children of the same Mother; India, therefore, being the common mother of these two, they were brothers by blood”. He went to the extent of praising the Jihadi spirit Moulvi Ahmed Shah in the liberation war of 1857. “The great and saintly Ahmed Shah had woven fine and cleverly the webs of the Jehad—the War of Independence—through every corner of Lucknow and Agra.” However, Savarkar’s incarceration at the CJ brought a fundamental change in his idea of India. His first official biographer, Dhananjay Keer corroborated the fact that while leaving the Cellular, he gave this mantra: “One God, one country, one goal, one race, one life, one language” which was later concretized as Hindutva. The reason for discarding commitment to an all-inclusive India and turning Islamophobic was provided by Savarkar himself: “A large number of the wicked warders consisted of Mussalmans…And the prisoners under them were mostly Hindus. The Hindu prisoners were persecuted…” It will be interesting to know that Savarkar was the only one at Cellular Jail who presented the persecution at the hands of the warders…

What happened to Allama Iqbal

News 19 January 2021

What happened to Allama Iqbal

The renowned Urdu poet Iqbal ( known as Allama Iqbal ) was secular and a nationalist in his youth. In 1904 he wrote his famous song ‘Saare jahaan se achcha Hindustan hamaara‘.

Diego Maradona

India, international, News, Sports 29 November 2020

Diego Maradona: The God of Football Who Fought for Social Justice

Diego Maradona: left-wing political champion Diego Maradona was a truly international hero for his uncompromising political ideology against colonialism A portrait size painting of Diego Maradona was on display at certain ruins in war-torn Syria where people were mourning the death of the legend. In the entire Latin American world, people are pouring their respect to Maradona who died in Buenos Aires, the Argentine Capital where his dead body is kept at the presidential palace as people continue to flock in to pay their last respect to the legend. The Argentine President has declared a three-day moaning. Tributes are pouring in the world over whether it is nations or sports federations or political activists who Maradona supported through their causes. On his passing away, we need to ponder this question as what separates giants like Diego Maradona or Mohammad Ali from rest of the sports icons who might have been hugely successful financially but the grief and outpouring of their passing away will never be the same. Of course, we know, in our own country, there are cricketers who we worship but except for endorsing commercial brands and that too for their own purposes, they remain quiet. Most of the film stars and sportspersons who join politics rarely take a stand except the official lines of their ‘parties’. Many of these worthies who become members of parliament, don’t even attend the parliament. So, in such a scenario, we look at the outpouring of grief world over for the passing away of Maradona who definitely was an extraordinary player but there are many and it is not that he won Argentina many world cups. That glory is for the year 1986. In the Western World, Maradona was a ‘cheater’ and he fell from grace in the cases of ‘drug addiction’ where he was denied admission in the hospital in his own country and it was Cuba which gave him shelter and brought him back to life after deep depression. Latin America has been hugely influenced by revolutionary Fidel Castro, the leader who built Cuba a great nation, a model for all…

Akhilendra Pratap Singh

Opinion 28 September 2020

Akhilendra Pratap Singh on a Political Platform

Along with broader movement against the authoritarian project of RSS and BJP, emphasis must be laid on the politicisation of society and balance of social forces must be changed Akhilendra Pratap Singh Swaraj Abhiyan Recently, senior journalist Santosh Bhartiya interviewed me on the contradictions of the left movement. Responding to his question, I said that for me left movement in India, is a democratic movement which stands for the democratisation of state and society. I also said that call it Irony of history or Tragedy that the three major streams of democratic movement could not evolve mutual political understanding for a broad political coalition. Coming together on a common political platform of CPI formed in 1920, CSP led by Acharya Narendra Dev, also based on Marxist philosophy and Independent Labour Party like streams formed by Dr Ambedkar was very much needed. At least after independence, in my view, it was primarily the responsibility of the Communist Party to form such a political platform as it was strongest in terms of mass base and organisation, compared to other democratic formations. I also said that to portray Gandhi as a revivalist against modernity or he was opposed to land reforms is not true as the objective reading of history. We must understand that the ideas of Gandhi were continuously evolving. The idea which Gandhi expressed in Hind Swaraj in 1909 had changed a lot by 1948. In his talk with Louis Fischer, an American journalist in 1942, Gandhi said that peasantry will take the land of landlords. When he asked regarding paying compensation, he replied, how can that be given. When Fischer asked him regarding violence in 1942 Quit India movement, Gandhi didn’t answer. He was very clear about the form of struggle. While accepting his differences with Subhash Chandra Bose, he regarded him as the greatest one among all patriots. In fact, the first and foremost agenda before Gandhi ji was how to liberate the country. He wanted ouster to British ruling class at any cost. He even said that let them go and if it means anarchy for some time,…

Opinion 8 August 2020

DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE OF THE BETRAYAL OF QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT 1942 BY SAVARKAR, SYAMA PRASAD MUKHERJEE & RSS

On the eve of 78th anniversary of the glorious Quit India Movement [QIM] we must evaluate the role of the Hindutva gang in India’s anti-colonial freedom struggle. QIM also known as ‘August Kranti‘ (August Revolution) was a nation-wide Civil Disobedience Movement for which a call was given on August 7, 1942 by the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee. It was to begin on August 9 as per Gandhi’s call to ‘Do or Die’ in his Quit India speech delivered in Mumbai at the Gowalia Tank Maidan on August 8. Since then August 9 is celebrated as August Kranti Divas. The British swiftly responded with mass detentions on August 8th itself. Over 100,000 arrests were made which included the total top leadership of Congress including Gandhi, mass fines were levied and demonstrators were subjected to public flogging. Hundreds of civilians were killed in violence, many shot by the police and army. Many national leaders went underground and continued their struggle by broadcasting messages over clandestine radio stations, distributing pamphlets and establishing parallel governments. Innumerable patriotic Indians were shot dead for the crime that they were holding Tricolour publically. Even before that a terrible massacre took place in Mysore where the armed forces of Mysore Raja who was very close to Hindu Mahasabha and RSS shot dead 22 Congress activists for saluting Tricolour. It is to be noted that after declaring Congress an anti-national and unlawful organization, the British masters allowed only Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League to function. Most of us know that the then Communist Party of India opposed the QIM thus betraying a great phase of mass upsurge in the history of the freedom struggle. But it is well documented that despite CPI’s call for keeping aloof from QIM large number of Communist activists participated in it. Moreover, CPI later offered an unconditional apology for opposing it. However, what role the then Hindutva camp—consisting of the Hindu Mahasabha and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh —played in the QIM is under wraps for reasons unknown. The Hindutva camp not only opposed QIM but also provided multi-faceted and multi-dimensional support…

Arvind Kejriwal

Opinion 29 February 2020

Chronology of Arvind Kejriwal’s flirtation with Hindutva

Shameless Kejriwal : Neutrality at this point of time only means connivance with hate mongers The Delhi government sanction to prosecute sedition charges against former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and other unambiguously reflect the agenda that AAP is following and all those who believed that Kejriwal is a different politician ‘focused’ on governance model will be shocked, though people like us who have followed and known Kejriwal and Anna Hazare’s movement well would clearly suggest that what we are witnessing today in the form of Hindutva nationalism is nothing but a legitimised outcome of Anna Hazare movement, a majority of who were highly anti-reservationists and against very concept social justice. It is the same people who during 2014 elections had said that ‘Ooper Modi, Neeche Kejriwal’ but the chronology of Arvind Kejriwal’s flirtation with Hindutva can be well judged during this election for Delhi Assembly where he refused to say anything about CAA and said that Shaheen Bagh protests are hindering the public traffic and creating obstacles for the smooth traffic. Afterwards, he continuously not merely evaded and send clear signal that he never wanted to be associated with anything which look like a support to Muslims, even if these demands would have been legitimate. Shamelessly silent Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Admi Party Now when Delhi saw an attempt to repeat the dark days of 1984, the chief minister like the other leaders of the BJP government did not bother to speak. Rather, he continued with we are helpless without police. An elected chief minister, who got a massive mandate, Kejriwal might not have gone to Shaheen Bagh or any other protests for the fear of the ‘political compulsions’ but when people are dying in the street by thugs and goons openly supported by politicians, it was his duty as representative of the people of Delhi to visit these areas and apply soothing balm but he did not do so. Why? Is it because, he would have seen what his ‘ I love you Delhi’ people have done to each other? There is a clear pattern visible about…

Shamsul Islam

Opinion 27 February 2020

Hindutva : Myths and realty

[This essay is in response to demand from friends across the globe to make available a concise primer on the toxic ideology of Hindutva based on its own archives for ready reference.] Introduction The term Hindutva took birth with the appearance of VD Savarkar‘s book titled Hindutva in 1923. Savarkar’s Hindutva was declared to be the Holy Book of Hindu Sangathan or organization. M. S. Golwalkar, who headed the RSS after K. B. Hedgewar, too regarded Savarkar’s Hindutva as a great scientific book which fulfilled the need of a text-book on Hindu nationalism.[1] According to a biography of founder of RSS, Hedgewar published by the RSS, “Savarkar’s inspiring and brilliant exposition of the concept of Hindutva marked by incontestable logic and clarity, struck the cord of Doctorji’s [Hedgewar’s] heart”.[2] Despite such statements glorifying Hindutva as priceless contribution in defence of Hindu nationalism, the contents of the book did not attract many Hindu leaders and remained beyond the comprehension of common Hindus. In fact, even the title of the book seemed to have been an afterthought. A perusal of the original edition (1923) will show that the booklet was printed with the title Hinduism but subsequently a separate piece of paper on which Hindutva was printed was pasted on the title page of the book. Since the term remained alien even to the Savarkarites, by the 4th edition Hindutva as title was dropped and it was published under a new title Who Is A Hindu? In 1963 Maharashtra Provincial Hindusabha published it as part of Savarkar’s collected works with the title Essentials of Hindutva. Another notable fact about this book was that it was published under the pen name ‘A Maratha’ signifying a regional identity of the author where as book stressed only the Hindu identity of the country and its inhabitants. Savarkar admitted at the outset that the ‘term Hindutva defies all attempts at analysis’.[3] He began by trying to make a clear-cut distinction between his theory of Hindutva and religion Hinduism. But few pages later it became clear that Hindutva was nothing else but political Hinduism. According to his…

Vidya Bhushan Rawat at deekshabhoomi

Opinion 25 February 2020

Peace and harmony need of the hour to protect Idea of India

Douse the flames of hatred and act impartially to bring peace and harmony in Delhi Deeply disturbing scenes of violence in East Delhi are floating since yesterday where over 5 persons have been killed including one policeman of Delhi police in the violence. We don’t know whether they were killed in violence or police firing but according to police, section 144 has been imposed in about 10 locations of Eastern Delhi like Mauzpur, Babarpur, Seelampur, Jafarabad and other adjoining areas. The burning of cars, of market, and massive mobilisation of people as well as stones reflect a well-planned strategy to defame the protests against CAA. As we know that the protests against the CAA in Delhi and rest of the country have been by and large peaceful with protesters sitting on a Dharana holding Constitution of India, chanting slogans for India’s unity and protecting our constitution and taking inspiration from the founding fathers of our constitution. The power of these protests is that they are being led by women who are not merely listeners but leaders too and want to negotiate on their own. The role of clergy has been diminished and traditional netas too are side-lined. Moreover, a new young dynamic leadership is emerging particularly among the Muslims. This is also a fact that most of the women would not have taken to protest if there were no distress and feeling of helplessness. What is the option other than peaceful protest and engaging with others? Shaheen Bagh that was eye opening and a celebration of our peaceful protests and engagement with fellow citizens when the state abdicated its responsibility. Now many Shaheen Bagh’s have emerged in India and people are redefining protest movement which are peaceful and effective but then this is the thing which is hated by the hate monger on the opposite side. Government, it seems, is clearly rattled by these protests though determined not to acknowledge them. There is no concern, no seriousness and no attempt to reach out to the people and clarify about the CAA-NPR-NRC. Instead, the favourite Sanjay Gandhi model has been found…

Ram Puniyani

Opinion 13 February 2020

Are Adivasis Hindus? Forthcoming Census and RSS campaign

Currently massive protests are going on against NPR, NCR and CAA. At the same time we are going to begin the process of decadal census in 2021. Already RSS is active in promoting NPR, NCR and CAA. At the same time RSS wants that Adivasis should register themselves as Hindus rather than ticking the column of ‘Others’. As per their spokesperson in the 2011 census many Adivasis groups ticked that column because of which the population of Hindus came down to by 0.7 percent point to come down to 79.8 %. This has sent signals to this Hindu nationalist organization and is planning to ensures that Adivasis tick the column of Hindus in this census. As such RSS has a very clever attitude in defining the term Hindu. The first formulation was by Savakakar who said that all those who regard the land east of Indus as their Holy land and Father land are Hindus. This left out Muslims and Christians, and brought all others in the ambit of Hindu fold. From the decade of 1980s due to electoral compulsions they have been trying to articulate that all those who are living in India are Hindus. Murli Manohar Joshi stated that Muslims are Ahmadiya Hindus and Christians are Christi Hindus. Recently there was a controversy when they restated that Sikhs are not a separate religion but are a sect of Hinduism. Many Sikh organizations stood up to say that Sikhism is a religion by itself and recalled the book of Kahan Singh Nabha, “Hum Hindu Nahin” As far as Adivasis are concerned in contrast to what is being planned by Hindu nationalist RSS, many Adivasis groups have been meeting from last couple of years to demand just the contrary. As per them there should be a column where they can tick their identity of Adivasis.  There are active campaigns among Adivasis groups to uphold their Adivasi identity in Census. As per them in the first census which was conducted in Independent India, the column, Aborigines, was there, which was later removed forcing them to club themselves with other religions. After…

Sunita viswanath of hindus for human rights stopped from going to Ayodhya

Crime, India, international, News, Politics, United States 16 January 2020

Sunita viswanath of hindus for human rights stopped from going to Ayodhya

Lucknow, 16th January 2020. Sunita viswanath and her colleague Sapta Giri, who were on their way from Lucknow to Ayodhya today to visit Ram-Janki temple there were stopped and turned back from Patranga, border of Barabanki and Faizabad. While giving this information, Magsaysay Award winner and Gandhian social activist Dr. Sandeep Pandey said that he Mahant of the temple Acharya Yugal Kishore Shashtri was forcibly admitted to hospital so that they could not meet him. Sunita Vishwanath has shared information about the entire incident on her blog, whose text is as follows – “An Attempt To Reach Ayodhya January 15, 2020 by Sunita, HfHR Cofounder India-based Hindus for Human Rights cofounder Giri and I were to travel today by road from Lucknow to Ayodhya with our friend,  Gandhian activist Sandeep Pandey. The purpose of the trip was to meet Yugal Kishore Shastri, mahant of the Ram-Janki temple in Ayodhya. Shashtriji and Sandeep ji are working together to create a Multi-Faith Harmony Center in Ayodhya. This morning, Sandeep ji’s family noticed that there was a police vehicle at the gate of their home. Sandeep ji has been under house arrest three times since August 5th, twice because he wanted to peacefully protest the lockdown of Kashmir and once because he wanted to protest CAA/NRC. Sandeep ji has been prevented by police from going to Ayodhya twice before. Once they stopped him halfway, and another time he reached Ayodhya on a motorcycle, but was sent back. Since this had happened twice before, it was not a surprise to see the police van at the house gate. We decided to attempt the trip to Ayodhya because it was important for all of us to meet Shashtriji, and also because Giri and I wanted to show solidarity to Sandeep ji, who daily faces surveillance and restrictions on his freedom of movement. As we left the house, the police van immediately started following us. We received a phone call from Shastriji in Ayodhya. Police had forcibly taken him to the hospital and admitted him there. He was told that the people coming to meet him…

Shamsul Islam

Opinion 26 November 2019

Demolition of Democratic Secular Indian Constitution is Old Project of Hindutva Gang

Demolition of Democratic Secular Indian Constitution is Old Project of Hindutva Gang 70th Constitution Day of India Many well-meaning liberal and secular political analysts are highly perturbed by the brazen sectarian policy decisions of RSS/BJP rulers led by PM Modi specially after starting his second inning. They are vocal in red-flagging the policies of Modi government on Kashmir, national citizens registry (NRC), murder of constitutional norms in Goa, Karnataka and now in Maharashtra, lynching, Pragya Thakur (first getting her elected to Lok Sabha and then nominating her to high powered 21-MP House Panel on Defence) who is an accused Malegaon Blast case, worships Godse, killer of MK Gandhi as hero and publically stated that it was her curse due to which renowned decorated cop Hemant Karkare  was killed. Shockingly, Hemant was killed by the Pakistani terrorists when former was confronting these heavily armed terrorists on November 26, 2008.  They are greatly mistaken. In fact, it is failure of such friends to understand the real anti-national character of the RSS that India has been taken to such an impasse; on the verge of losing its democratic-secular identity. The belief that RSS cadres gracing the constitutional posts would influence them to be secular or inspire them to get used to practice democratic norms is futile with this lot’s diehard commitment to the cause of Hindutva. The fast-forward demolition of the democratic-secular polity of India which is taking place is neither new nor unexpected. Modi as CM of Gujarat while talking to Reuters (July 12, 2013) had declared himself to be ‘a Hindu nationalist’, the RSS top brass declaring again and again that India is a land for Hindus and by 2020-21 it would be Hindu rashtra with Muslims and Christians cleansed from the land, Indian nationality tied to worshipping of cow and open declaration of the Cabinet ministers that western concepts like secularism would be replaced by the principles of Hindutva. It was less than one year after crowning of Modi as PM in 2014, one of the most decorated police officers in Independent India Julio Ribeiro wrote in an emotional piece,…