Politic | Mohan Bhagwat's Sermons in the US are Nothing But Hypocrisy and Deception

Truth, love, unity, harmony, peaceful coexistence… these are noble ideas, unquestionable and universally accepted. Even the evil can hide behind them. Lies and deceit, hatred and violence seek shelter in this nourishing, healing space to survive or seek legitimacy. Philosophers and poets, sages and reformers have given this wisdom to the world. Even conscientious politicians pursue the same path.

When Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat spoke about truth, love and unity during his interactions with the Indian diaspora in New York, the yearning for acceptability oozed from his words and language. The yearning to be seen as coming from the same land that produced Buddha and Gandhi, the land that sent Swami Vivekananda to Chicago with the message of peaceful coexistence over 130 years ago. The same land that produced Jawaharlal Nehru, a unique politician made of all the exalted values like knowledge, sacrifice, justice and compassion.

Bhagwat couldn’t muster the courage to break the continuity and tell the world he represents the new India. He couldn’t confess he is the flagbearer of an ideology that hailed Adolf Hilter’s racist pride; he couldn’t tell the audience that he comes from the ideological fraternity that killed Mahatma Gandhi; he couldn’t reveal his icon is V.D. Savarkar who believed Muslims can live in India only at the mercy of Hindus. He asserted that the RSS objective was to spread the message of universal oneness and Jagat Hitaye (Welfare of the world), without explaining why this organisation was producing millions of Hindu zealots who sustained divisive politics in India for 100 years.

Bhagwat said, evoking thunderous applause: “Unity in diversity, that’s India’s DNA.” What drowned these beautiful words was the roar of toxic rhetoric of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal workers and Sangh Parivar supporters who have been spewing poison on Muslims for decades.

Stressing the need for unity, Bhagwat said, “If you think the right way, you go nearer to God. Wrong thinking makes you a monster.” A monster? Images of relatives and some friends, of fools, among the literate and unlettered both, of the poor and the rich, who demonise and defame Muslims day and night splashed all over my mind. They are diehard supporters of RSS or BJP; they don’t look like monsters. Bhagwat should have opened a dialogue with them before flying to America to give sermons on love and unity.

Bhagwat spoke as if he had removed from the BJP all those responsible for the 2002 Gujarat riots. Bhagwat spoke as if he had dismissed the chief ministers who frequently threaten and malign Muslims. Bhagwat spoke as if he had asked his government not to rejoice in the embrace of Benjamin Netanyahu whose genocidal assault on Gaza turned him into a global villain. Bhagwat spoke as if he tutored prime minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah on how to reflect constitutional spirit in words and deeds. He can’t say the RSS doesn’t control the BJP because deception wasn’t one of the virtues he extolled in his speech. “Humanity is one, truth is one,” he declared, closing the options of subterfuge and duplicity.

Questions that nullify his sermons is this: What is the most powerful antidote to secularism in India? Which are the outfits acting as the most lethal catalyst to communal divisions in society? If a ruffian hates Muslims or Christians, which is the party he will join? If somebody is impressed by Nathuram Godse, what is his political refuge? Bhagwat should understand his, or the prime minister’s, role is not like an actor playing fictional characters in films.

Principles aren’t toys. But without the courage of conviction and sincerity of purpose, they are just toys. Bhagwat repeatedly described diversity as “decoration”. That’s the problem. Diversity isn’t decoration; that is the essence. That’s the soul. Decoration can be changed at will. The leadership’s silence in difficult times, when humanity is butchered on the streets, is changing decoration for special occasions. And India has seen and suffered this on countless occasions.

Legitimacy crisis  

Hasn’t prime minister Modi failed to acquire some legitimacy for his ideological mentor RSS in his frequent engagements with global leaders over the last 12 years? Modi could have mustered the courage of educating the world on the sagacity of RSS wisdom instead of paying lip service to Mahatma Gandhi whose philosophy was antithetical to the Sangh Parivar’s worldview. But Modi chose the easier way of leveraging India’s market and tried to forge personal rapport with world leaders instead of convincing them about his ideological convictions. Modi chose to engage with the Indian diaspora with the primary objective of seeking personal legitimacy while avoiding the harder task of explaining the need for paradigm shift in Indian thinking.

Why have so many Hindu outfits, human rights groups, interfaith coalitions and intellectuals opposed Bhagwat’s visit, going so far as to brand it Indian Nazi? Even a federal advisory body, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, forcefully raised the question of hatred and violenceagainst religious minorities in India and requested the Donald Trump administration to revoke Bhagwat’s visa and impose sanctions on its members. The opposition is not directed at Hindu religion or India. It’s the perception that the RSS is a Hindu supremacist organisation that nurtures hatred against other religions which agitates the world.

The world knew what the RSS represents since 1925 and the Modi regime only cemented their perception. While Modi himself vigorously pursued the majoritarian agenda, acting more like a Hindu priest than a protector of constitutional values, countless incidents of lynching, attacks on Muslims and Christians, diminishing  institutional and individual freedoms left no scope for doubt that India of Jawaharlal Nehru’s imagination was withering away. Modi’s foreign policy also spoke eloquently of the change as India lost its moral voice on the global platform.

Nehru had explained India’s non-aligned policy by clearly saying that “detachment is neither isolationism nor indifference nor neutrality when peace or freedom is threatened. When man’s liberty or peace is in danger we cannot and shall not be neutral. Neutrality then would be a betrayal of what we have fought for and stand for.” Modi discarded this noble vision before slipping into Benjamin Netanyahu’s embrace at a time when humanity was being butchered in Gaza. The neutrality that looks like betrayal of avowed principles was demonstrated vividly in India’s attitude towards America and Israel during the unjust attack on Iran. If the RSS dreamt of earning legitimacy by quietly modifying its outlook, the Modi tenure made that task impossible.

Vocabulary scam

Rich people and bureaucrats know how to rationalise their sins. They named debt-restructuring “haircut” because the extent of loot required a smokescreen. Haircut barely signifies crime. It’s a sweet financial jargon that doesn’t peel off the sheen of respectability carried by the willful defaulter. The cut on the neck is called a haircut. That extra hair popping out of the stylish make-up got trimmed. How gentle!

That’s a vocabulary scam aimed at according some respectability upon the thug as well as the custodian of law. Look at this figure and decide whether a brutal murder, ruthlessly cutting off the body into pieces, is being called a haircut: A debt of Rs 22,006 crore is settled with a payment of Rs 6.5 crore! If you haven’t fainted, imagine what banks would have done to you if you default on a loan of Rs 10 lakh. Farmers either rot in jail or commit suicide. But this gentleman, who is the beneficiary of the system’s kindness, is Subhash Chandra, the businessman who shows you foolishly sentimental soap operas on Zee TV network. If you find the news shown on this network incredible, take out the calculator to fully comprehend the difference between Rs 22,006 crore and Rs 6.5 crore.

Who says the Modi government doesn’t have empathy and compassion? Banks have written off around Rs 18 lakh crore after Modi’s arrival as the Prime Minister. The poor and the marginalised farmers might not have seen the ‘Lady Bountiful’ hidden behind the 56-inch chest but the corporate interact with her every now and then. Reports suggest the Adani group acquired 10 companies which owed a combined debt of Rs 62,000 crore. Then came the hidden barber to give a haircut, trimming off the liabilities to Rs 16,000 crore. Wow, haircut! Even over 90% debt waiver is just a haircut. The list of beneficiaries is unending: Videocon – from Rs 64,838 crore to Rs 2,962 crore, Lanco Infratech – from Rs 45,263 crore to Rs 5,431 crore, Alok Industries – Rs 30,000 crore to Rs 5,050 crore.

Fascinating data; not that depressing statistical details of how many millions are struggling below the poverty line, how many can’t buy food and medicine, how many are begging after losing jobs. That narrative doesn’t go well with India becoming the third largest economy in the world. Let’s forget how costly vegetables, oil and pulses are driving the poor into depression. Let’s feel the thrill of thousands of crores.

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