India has changed. An inner transformation has taken place. Many Gandhi-worshippers have become Godse-admirers. What mars the celebration of Mahatma’s birth or death anniversary every year is the growing appreciation of Nathuram Godse expressed in diverse fora. The number of admirers of the Gandhi-assassin has risen like anything. The viciousness is worrying. Vignesh Rajahmani of King’s India institute, London, says, “There is a sense of belligerence in the tweets today that glorify Godse”.

This is a matter for national concern and reflection for correction than for allegations and retorts, accusations and counter-accusations, definitions of Sanatana Dharma and life-threats in response. Our hearts bleed together.

Despite the heat of the argument, Rahul has calmly linked Hinduism with compassion, truth and non-violence. He insists, it has nothing to do with a domineering or boastful attitude, or with aggressive stands. This is almost a self-definition of an Indian, no matter what faith he belongs to.  This defines our national character, our shared heritage of centuries. But during recent years, an Inner Transformation has taken place, not for the better but for the worse, from gentleness to a display of provocative strength, from noble greatness to swashbuckling boisterousness.

Too many of us have placed ourselves under the wrong type of Tutors, who glorify violence as the path to greatness. Mike Tyson, the American boxer, used to say, “The temptation for greatness is the greatest drug in the world. Too many of our people have taken to this drug, some to the point of addiction”.

Godse as Hero

Harsh Mander explains:  ‘The RSS believes that the Gandhian emphasis on non-violence weakens your character. The Mahatma’s message of love is too sentimental, too feminine. On the contrary, the RSS stalwarts look at Hitler as a hero, standing for masculine sturdiness and cultural strength’.

They admire Prime Minister Narendra Modi for interpreting the RSS mind best. They would like the younger generation to bear their ‘Hindu pride’ up their sleeves and “teach the minorities a lesson”.  There is an increasing number of young people who hail Godse as a hero. Loving one’s enemy is foolishness to them. And yet, Irfan Habib shows, Gandhi taught love for one’s enemy too. 

When J.P. Nadda says BJP has transformed the “political culture” of India, he is right… not for better as he claims, but for far worse as he will be unwilling to admit. The inner acceptance of violence as a path to glory that we have referred to has totally changed the political climate of India from one of respectful competition in ideas and generous social commitment to one of aggressive vocabulary, ridicule, allegations and violent clashes.

Violence begets violence

Amit Shah was right in suggesting that terror can be wiped out only by transforming the “eco-system” that produces it. The ball is back in his court. He has to guard his own words, his aggressive tones, his abrupt explosions, his election campaign vitriolic, violence linked with his security strategies. Yogi may have to do the same.

Sangh Parivar holds the greatest responsibility in this regard.  So do Hindutva Think Tank, RSS tutors, Saffron-tinged journalists, BJP-appointed University men, Hindu seers who want nothing less than the head of Stalin’s son. Violence provoked leads to further violence, terrorist ideas tenderly cultivated give birth to unthinkable forms of terror.

When Modiji wishes to insult the Gandhi family, he is allowed to go any length. But any criticism of the One-Man Leader of India is a blasphemy, any joke about him, or his name, or his degree a national security threat, a cartoon on him (as Tughlak, for example) an unforgivable character assassination.

Malaviak Kasturi asks why any criticism of Hindutva or Modi is considered Hinduphobia. Trivial cases keep multiplying: puerile contentions, defamation cases over casual remarks. The Judiciary is kept busy with non-issues. One wonders why the Judiciary entertains such cases at all.

Transform the Inner World

War or peace begins in the mind. Buddha was very much aware of it. That is why he wanted the inner world to be set in order. Purify your minds, taught our ancestors. What do leaders today have in their minds? Is Russia planning to test a nuclear missile? Why is Kim Jong-un visiting armament factories in Russia? Why is Xi reaching out to distant Pacific island and Maldives? Similarly, what do Indian authorities want to do when whipping up anger against Minorities in the country or against Pakistan? Is a change of mind possible? Can we work towards that? Have Modi’s Yoga classes or Ramdev’s super-expertise brought healing to the nation?

Anger has to be shed from within. Prejudices have to be removed delicately from where it is planted from childhood by biased elders; later by prejudiced leaders, Dharm Yodh-formators, Saffron media, the RSS organ the ‘Organiser’.  They can sow communal biases in the hearts of illiterate masses and mislead uninformed readers.  Prejudices multiply, armed volunteers increase, Hindutva warriors take on Jihadic postures. We hear of ethnic violence and communal killings.

Why do the so-called ‘anti-national’ captions appear on the JNU walls about Kashmir or against Brahmin-Baniyas? People have experienced subjection, prejudice and even violence. ‘Dil ki duri’ has to be removed as Modiji had once suggested. Why does cow dung get flung at E. V. Ramasamy’s statue? Prejudices planted by the upper castes must be corrected. Mind transformation helps social correction, and social transformation assists mental equanimity, and promotes happy relationships.

Suspicions must be removed. People in Mizoram and Nagaland ask why the Government of India proposes official functions precisely on a Sunday, which is a day for worship for Christians, e.g. ‘cleanliness day’ exactly on October 1. Similarly, ‘Good Governance Day’ on Christmas! Nagaland advanced ‘cleanliness day’ and Mizoram postponed it. Does the Hindutva Government want to humiliate devout Christian people? What is in their mind? Is the change of name to Bharat, meant to exclude Dravidians in the South and the Mongolian communities in the East?

History tells us that the Bharatas were an aggressive Aryan tribe living by the Saraswati River in today’s Pakistan in second century BC. Their king Sudas, moving forward, defeated an alliance of ten kings, winning the first great victory (The Battle of the Ten Kings), initiating the Aryan conquest of the Subcontinent. No wonder that the upper castes today, eager to reassert their dominant position, were the prime movers of the exclusive ‘Bharat slogan’. What do the defeated and the subjugated feel about it?

As for renouncing the name India, the BJP realized (too late) that they would have to renounce their Hindu identity as well, since ‘India’ and ‘Hindu’ have the same origin, Sindhu. They woke up to the fact that with the rejection of ‘India’ would go also Hindu, Hindi, Hindutstan, Hindu Rashtra, and the entire heritage of Savarkar-Golwalkar-Mohan Bhagwat!

But such un-reflected proposals have stirred fear in people’s minds. Troubles will continue as long as inner anxieties remain. Society looks forward to reasonable answers from their leaders, not provocative proposals. Fears must be removed. 

Wounds Need Healing 

Modiji said that Sanatana Dharma was enslaved for a 1000 years. If that is true, let him admit with Mohan Bhagwat that the lower castes (Dalits) were made to ‘live like animals’ for 2000 years. In reality, 3500 years, beginning with Aryan invasion and the Dalitization of the indigenous people. According to Arundhati Roy, it was the enslaved condition of the Dalits that prompted them to accept Islam. They wanted to move away from caste-humiliation.

Amartya Sen too saw in the exploitation of the lower caste/tribals by Hindu land owners as the historic explanation for the Islamisation of Bangladesh and Kashmir regions! Dalit Muslims today are referred to as Pasmanda, who constitute 90% of the followers of Islam in India. It is meaningless and insensitive to attribute Mughal arrogance or harshness to them. According to Arundhati Roy, the caste-system is behind every problem in our social structures or processes. For example, more than three-fourths of jobs are in the hands of one-fourth of the population.

It is interesting to note that in Bihar OBCs, EBCs, SCs, STs make up 85% of the population. Such caste census will be of vast assistance to plan the future in every state.

Miseries call for Remedies

BJP fears a caste census lest it gives new life to Mandal parties as it did to RJD and JD(U).  Modi accuses the Opposition of dividing society along caste lines. He calls it a paap (sin).  Is it not a paap to ignore the misery of the Extremely Backward Communities (EBCs)? Lalu Prasad holds the Government fully responsible for putting India at the 111^th position among 125 states in Global Hunger Index 2023, while Bangladesh occupies the 81^st position, Nepal 69^th, and Sri Lanka 60^th.  The same report says India has the highest child wasting 18.7% and undernourishment 16.6%.  Prasanta Barua quotes the WHO to show that India had the largest number of suicides 164,033 in 2021.   

Let us move on to Government-inflicted ‘miseries’ on freedom-loving citizens. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have accused India of misusing counter-terrorism laws and financial regulations to attack rights activists. The Supreme Court insists that the ED should not arrest arbitrarily nor act in a vindictive manner. But such things are happening continuously.

While Congress accuses the Prime Minister of giving away land to China, the Government  accuses NewsClick of having received funds from Chinese companies. Where does the truth lie? The greater crime? Meanwhile, the UN is ‘alarmed’ at the attack on the activist Babloo Loitongham’s house in Manipur.  

Contradictions Galore

Modi was perfectly right when he warned against the Gaza conflict: “A world of conflicts and confrontations is not in anyone’s interest”. But his BJP followers have been criticizing UPA’s “meek response” to Pakistan in the years 2004-14. They put up a poster, “Never forgive, Never forget”, comparing the India-Pakistan relationship to that between Israel and Hamas. That is how emotions are built up, passions are roused, and the world goes up in flames…in Ukraine, Myanmar, Manipur, Kashmir!   

Thucydides said, the rise of Athens made a war with Sparta inevitable. Will the rise of China make a war with India inevitable? Will the rise of Hinduism make a war with the Minorities inevitable? Is that the teaching of our Asian ancestors? Of Buddha? Of Confucius? Of Jesus of Nazareth? The Abbot of the Buddhist monastery in Tawang, Tendar Rimpoche, proposed that India and China should solve their problems through talks, not war.

The same would prove true between China and the US. Xi Jinping exclaimed recently:  There are 1000 reasons for good relationship between the US and China; the destiny of mankind depends on it; we must manage differences more “rationally”. But is Xi managing differences ‘rationally’ in Xinjiang and Tibet, suppressing freedom? Is Modi handling differences rationally, ignoring Minorities and marginalized groups? In Manipur, for example? Hemant Soren warns the Prime Minister against the politics of hatred. But hate words multiply. The BJP calls Rahul, Ravan! An aggressive culture has come to be established.

This year, the Peace Nobel was given to Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian women’s rights activist. However, she remains in jail in Iran, like many activists in India. 

Manage rift “rationally”

We spoke of prevalent hunger, malnutrition and wasted children. Is it that we are short of financial resources? The UP Government has decided to upgrade the remuneration of Varanasi temple priests to the level of teachers’ salary at Rs. 47,000-60,000. Ayodhya is at a similar exercise. A secular state’s money meant for food, education and health of citizens is spent on temple-building, Hindu festivities, Sadhu remuneration, Puja pandals, Melas and Yathras. Are such devotions promoting community ethics, social commitment, common welfare? Rather it seems to be promoting headhunting of social activists and genocide of Minorities. Neutral people would consider it the height of ‘irrationality’.

No one complains. Everyone takes such things for granted. They have become normal. India has changed. The inner transformation has been radical. New interests, perspectives and value-systems have replaced the old. Neutral journals cease to be neutral. Political interpretations are placed on ‘irrational’ premises. Just look at the bookshops in airports and urban centres. No more books that present world’s best ideas, proposals, and visions; but books full of legends, myths, and pseudo-science; 20 versions of puranas; books of obscurantist predictions and glorification of the One Great Man.

Marguerite Duras says, “Every journalist is a moralist”. If every writer, thinker, teacher, and leader can make just one positive suggestion how communities that differ may come together and collaborate, the world be different. Make your proposal in reasonable language. Let reason prevail!