Kashi is a city where dharma and dharna coexist happily. Go sit on the steps of its many ghats, at the tea shops and many lanes lined with kiosks, selling everything from paan to milky hempseed drinks, and you will be rewarded with a story that, you’ll later discover, was the preface to a deeper philosophical point.

One such story surfaced recently in the Hindi media. On the eve of a much-publicised meeting of minds from the north and the south, the Kashi Tamil Sangamam, the students of Banaras Hindu University went on a rampage. It was not the best of times for the administration, with a grand two-day state visit by President Vladimir Putin of Russia on the cards.

What happened was a small incident in which two men on a motorcycle hit a student on the campus and drove off. The students were reportedly badmouthed by the guards when they tried to lodge a complaint. Soon thereafter, groups of students emerged, shouting political slogans. They were also seen pelting stones when the police force from nearby Lanka Police Station was sent for, to quell the midnight rioting. The high-voltage drama lasted for two hours and left behind a simmering tension.

A few days later, when President Putin of Russia, one of the most powerful global leaders, arrived in New Delhi for a two-day state visit, visuals from Kashi followed. At the airport, the honoured guest was warmly received by the Prime Minister and they left together for a special dinner hosted by our PM.

The grand welcome in Delhi was totally expected. But the rather over-the-top spectacle in Kashi took most viewers by surprise. It showcased visibly Hindu religious rituals, amid which a prominently placed portrait of Vladimir Putin was showered with flower petals and marked with vermillion and sandalwood paste.

Perhaps for the first time in India, the right-wing baiters of communism (vampanth) of the Bharatiya Janata Party broke into cheers for the President of Soviet Roos. That was not all. Accompanied by drums and nakkaras, the placard-carrying workers then marched from Subhash Bhawan to Munshi Premchand gate. Here, they were addressed by one Dr Rajiv Guruji. He declared in his address in chaste Hindi that India and Soviet Russia were natural friends (swabhavik mitra). And together, the two – Indian PM Modi and Russian President Putin – would create a new world history. At the famous Dashashwamedh Ghat of the Ganges, a special Ganga Arti was also organised, with ‘Welcome Putin’, spelt out with 1,100 lit lamps.

The blowing of conch shells and chanting of mantras, with rows of men and women clapping and mouthing holy chants, were prominently displayed on TV, filling living rooms from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

Kashi could not have forgotten the words of the learned founder of Kashi Hindu Vishwavidyalaya, Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya, that the concept of religion, dharma, is to constantly churn a host of philosophical ideas, traditions and even questionable practices. The truth, he writes, will rise ultimately to the surface on its own, like butter.

But was that the reason for the festive greetings for Putin?

Truth be told, just a week earlier, one had watched, with some trepidation, the 'Dharma Dhwaj' being unfurled at Ayodhya. The religious saffron flag was jointly unfurled in Ayodhya by the PM of a secular nation with army personnel in uniform. Around this time, one also began hearing slogans that identified the core of dharma with the political leadership. The classic lines on dharma being protective when it was itself protected by the state (Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah), were given a new shape as “Modi rakshati rakshitah”. (Modi-ji will protect, if he himself is protected).

So one looked forward with fear and curiosity to how events would unfurl when a Soviet leader came calling on a country being heavily Hinduised to the state’s version of Hindu dharma.

This, both the BBC and CNN were quick to point out, is President Putin’s first state visit since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Following negotiations with the United States and a visit from the Chinese in Moscow, this diplomatic tour is being keenly followed by the world. After the United States disrupting the old order, barring entry to mostly non-white ‘aliens’ and presenting China as its main rival, this recalibration of Russia’s ties with Asian neighbours is totally understandable.

But it would be interesting to see how India’s Gen Z, a largely miffed block since the West began closing its doors to the ambitious young from the East, reacts to the results of this visit in the long run.

The latest campus agitation in Kashi, by what can be broadly termed as representatives of Gen Z, reveals that Gen Z in India’s campuses is being brought up on a mixed diet of western science and social science and arts courses, largely taught in English, with an atrophied and childish concept of Hindu dharma.

Growing up surrounded by religious rituals 24x7, all through the year, dissent against policies of the government is frequently traced to old Left-wing and socialist ideologies, bequeathed by a bunch of godless commies.

Debates in parliament further underscore and support such thinking. Making many of those who have for centuries existed outside the pale of Hindutva feel they could in future be deemed unfit to be listed within the Special Intensive Revision (or National Register of Citizens).

State politicians in Uttar Pradesh are forever calling for Hindus to unite against the “common enemy”. They see all dissenters and minority sympathisers as “commies”. Frequent calls have been going up for the forcible removal of all Bangla-speaking non-Hindus as “illegal aliens”, who may have infiltrated from across the borders.

If we wish for India’s ties with Russia to remain on a firm footing, but also want peace in the subcontinent, we need to watch out for the smallest signs of these Right-Left binaries, being crafted and promoted by media cells when appealing for the Hindu vote in the name of the safety of the nation.

The salivating lust for armed retaliation against all deemed enemies that our mainstream (read mostly right-wing) media has been displaying during the last few years will also need curbing.

It is the pariahs from any age, laid waste by fratricidal wars, who wake the public conscience and symbolise peace. When Heinrich Boll was laid to rest, a band of Europe’s most unwanted – the Gypsies – led the pall bearers. It was Boll’s wish to be lowered in his grave with those deemed the lowest of the low, outside the pale of Christianity, playing for him their deeply tragic, but also despairingly gay music.

Some ideas are not new but need to be affirmed from the ground up, over and over.

Mrinal Pande is a writer and veteran journalist.

Saakhi is a Sunday column from Mrinal Pande, in which she writes of what she sees and also participates in. That has been her burden to bear ever since she embarked on a life as a journalist, writer, editor, author and as chairperson of Prasar Bharati. Her journey of being a witness-participant continues.

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