Daily VocabTitle Capsule th Title 7 December 2019

The Pragya Singh Syndrome

Polarising tribalism is antithetical to liberal democracy.

In a recent debate in Parliament BJP MP from suggested that – ’s murderer – was a deshbhakt or ‘nationalist’. Pragya’s Godse-bhakti has led to outrage. An embarrassed BJP has called her views ‘condemnable’. The party seems to have coerced her into giving an apology and she’s been dropped from a parliamentary panel on defence.

Yet the Pragya brand of strident nationalism has been mainstreamed over the years. Large sections of voters endorse this way of thinking without realising the price they are paying in terms of their own personal liberties by doing so. After all, hard Hindutva brooks no dissent nor does it tolerate disagreement. It is focussed on a perpetual search for the ‘enemy’ both real and imaginary, a mindset which suppresses the free-spiritedness of spiritual Hinduism.

Today a vote bank driven electoral process is creating communalism and communal thinking. Over the years the Hindu vote bank has been assiduously cultivated and Pragya is only a visible example of what is increasingly considered an acceptable version of ‘nationalism’. In spite of her views, Pragya won the Bhopal election by over three lakh votes, defeating two-time former CM .

The BJP leadership’s attempts to ostracise Pragya smack of hypocrisy. She was given a ticket to contest from the prestigious Bhopal seat even though at the time she was a terror accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, out on bail only on health grounds. Her endorsement of Godse’s brand of violent religiosity

under the garb of ‘nationalism’ pre-dates her parliamentary debut. During her campaign too she praised Godse as a true patriot. Responding to that, the PM said he would “never be able to forgive her fully” and party president Amit Shah spoke of disciplinary proceedings. We still don’t know what ‘disciplinary’ action has actually been taken.

Since the Ayodhya agitation those who’ve spoken the language of militant Hindutva have been consistently rewarded. In the 1990s, Vinay Katiyar was repeatedly chosen by BJP to represent the party. Another hard Hindutva proponent Sakshi Maharaj is a multiple term BJP MP, and yet another, Yogi Adityanath now holds the high post of CM. Each of these leaders has been used at various times to spur a sense of Hindu victimhood which effectively translates into majoritarian politics.

Hindu ‘victimhood’ is pushed in various ways, its latest version being social media diatribes on the religious identity of a rape accused in Hyderabad. By giving a ticket to Pragya, there’s an acceptance that this ‘Hindu victimhood’ vote deserves representation in spite of the fact that hard Hindutva is ranged against constitutional values. India’s Constitution is based on liberties of individual citizens. Rampaging group identities – Hindu, Muslim or other – are antithetical to the notion of one man one vote. By patronising these identities in the form of sops, election tickets, political rhetoric the Indian state has perpetually tended to divide society into mutually warring groups.

The Indian state actively promotes identity politics. It does this by intruding into almost all aspects of citizens’ lives and making them compete in groups for crumbs of state favour. In the process, the state grows ever more powerful and citizens become disempowered, doomed to wage war against each other. This polarising tribalism is not only antithetical to liberal democracy, it’s also against the aspirational language of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas.’ The polarised hard Hindutva mind is perpetually in search of an enemy: Muslims or ‘liberals’ or ‘urban Naxals’ or ‘anti-nationals’. Yet the essence of democracy is a recognition of the legitimacy of opposition, dissent and disagreement. The polarised mind however believes anyone who disagrees has to be condemned and smothered. But polarising zealots have been routinely mainstreamed by political parties. By running 24x7 campaigns against the so-called ‘tukde tukde gang’, TV channels are establishing Pragya-like ‘nationalist’ figures as the binary opposite of ‘traitors’.

As a result, voters have become willing to endorse an enemy-focussed religious-nationalism, and Godse-bhakti has been heard in Parliament. In sharp contrast to strident Hindutva, Gandhi was the steadfast champion of Hinduism’s free spirit. Those who want to claim Gandhi in his 150th birth anniversary year need to forsake hard Hindutva, because it is the very opposite of what Gandhi stood for.

How would Gandhi have viewed Pragya? Gandhi hated the sin, not the sinner; he would have realised that isolating and demonising Pragya would only polarise society further and give rise to more like her. For Gandhi, opponents were not to be vanquished but to be argued with and if possible, won over.

Gandhi didn’t believe that silencing or killing was a way to end ideas. Gandhi was killed but today his thought is a global heritage for humanity. Godse was hanged yet his poisonous ideas have continued to grow. If Gandhi had lived, if Godse’s bullets had injured and not killed him, the Mahatma would have in all likelihood forgiven his would-be assassin and asked that he not be prosecuted. Gandhi might have tried to teach Godse the art of disagreement without the gun, without a constant search for ‘enemies’.

A deep contradiction over Gandhi sits at the heart of BJP: its leadership claims Gandhi while some members of the wider support his killer. Unless the ruling party publicly and resoundingly forsakes and distances itself from the ideas that took Gandhi’s life just a token apology from Pragya Singh Thakur or simply removing her from a parliamentary panel are meaningless.

Courtesy: The Times of India (National)

1. Brook (verb): Meaning: To allow or accept something, esp. a difference of opinion or intention. (होने देना, सहन करना) Synonyms: Tolerate, Endure, Countenance, Stomach, Thole Antonyms: Resist, Disallow, Reject, Disapprove Example: He would brook no interruptions from his listeners.

2. Ostracise (verb): Meaning: To avoid someone intentionally, or to prevent someone from taking part in the activities of a group. (बहहष्कार करना) Synonyms: Exclude, Banish, Shun, Boycott, Cold-Shoulder Antonyms: Welcome, Accept, Include, Embrace Example: The princess was ostracised for marrying a rich bourgeois.

3. Proponent (noun): Meaning: A person who speaks publicly in support of a particular idea or plan of action. (समर्थक) Synonyms: Supporter, Exponent, Adherent, Champion Antonyms: Antagonist, Opponent, Detractor, Critic Example: He is one of the leading proponents of capital punishment.

4. Antithetical (adjective): Meaning: Directly opposed or contrasted; mutually incompatible. (हिरोधात्मक, के

हिपरीत) Synonyms: Contrary To, Adverse, Contradictory, At Odds With Antonyms: Identical, Analogous, Equivalent, Alike Example: Their priorities are antithetical to those of environmentalists.

5. Warring (adjective): Meaning: Warring countries or groups of people are at war with each other. (युद्धरत) Synonyms: Fighting, Belligerent, Combatant, Conflicting, At Loggerheads Antonyms: Friendly, Affable, Amicable, Cordial Example: The warring sides have agreed on an unconditional ceasefire.

6. Smother (verb): Meaning: To suppress expression or knowledge of something. (दबाना, हिपना) Synonyms: Suppress, Conceal, Stifle, Repress, Restrain Antonyms: Express, Vent, Articulate, Utter Example: The girls tried to smother their giggles.

7. Assiduously (adverb): Meaning: in a way that involves great care and attention to detail. (पररश्रम से) Synonyms: Diligently, Sedulously, Painstakingly, Strenuously Antonyms: Inactively, Indolently, Lazily, Idly Example: Leaders worked assiduously to hammer out an action plan.

8. Hypocrisy (noun): Meaning: The practice of claiming to have higher standards or more noble beliefs than is the case. (पाखंड, ढोंग) Synonyms: Pretence, Humbug, Posturing, Dissimulation Antonyms: Sincerity, Genuineness, Candour, Naturalness Example: It all turned out to be sham and hypocrisy.

9. Resoundingly (adverb): Meaning: Completely or in a very definite way. (भरपूर/पूर्थ 셂प से) Synonyms: Definitely, Indubitably, Unquestionably, Emphatically Antonyms: Ambiguously, Vaguely, Uncertainly, Indistinctly Example: She was resoundingly supported by the spectators.

10. Steadfast (adjective): Meaning: Staying the same for a long time and not changing quickly or unexpectedly. (饃褼, अचल) Synonyms: Resolute, Unwavering, Unfaltering, Unswerving Antonyms: Hesitant, Dithering, Fluctuating, Teetering Example: He remained steadfast in his belief.