As to where this kind of politics will lead us is best seen in the ‘Talibanisation’ of Pakistan’s polity. Such is the deviousness of election campaigning that when faced with a Hindu politician of an opposing party, the BJP has to resort to a “I am more Hindu than you” brand of politics. It must be noted that the INA had a large component of Muslims.īy irritating Mamata with shouts of ‘Modi, Modi, Modi’ and ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and forcing her to walk out of a government function, the BJP succeeded in its game- plan of portraying her to Hindus in Bengal as a Muslim appeaser who did not respond warmly to a Hindu greeting. While Netaji recognised Hinduism as the most important cementing factor among India’s ethnic diversities, he also wrote that the advent of Muslims led to “a new synthesis”. Either he was not aware of the significance of ‘Jai Hind’ or simply let the Hindutva brigade show its bigotry at an event to commemorate Netaji who was totally opposed to Hindu communalism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on the dais, too, was surprisingly silent.
Bose is credited with having chosen ‘Jai Hind’ as salute, slogan and war cry for the Indian National Army (INA). In fact, nothing could have been more appropriate than to proclaim ‘Jai Hind’, considered a rousing sign of parakram, at a function to mark the birth anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose. It shows, if any evidence is required, the utterly cynical use of Ram for electoral gains that was started by L K Advani back in the 1990s.Īt a recent event, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was the target of the use of ‘ Jai Shree Ram’ as a weaponised political slogan of Hindutva, retorted with ‘Jai Hind’, and added ‘Joi Bangla’ for good measure as a defiant assertion of cultural and sub-national identity before a religious identity. And it is ironic that politicians from Gujarat, where the normal greeting is ‘Jai Shree Krishna’ have become devotees of ‘Jai Shree Ram’ in Bengal. It is a sad commentary on the nature of our electoral politics today that campaigns are conducted on the rhetoric of who is a better Hindu and a greater devotee of Ram from amongst politicians desperate for power.
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