Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Why does the BJP say that 8220;hindutva8221; is still its agenda? Let8217;s not dignify this narrow word with a capital H. Ramzan and Navratras have coincided for the first time in thirty-two years 8212; after 1962, the year of the Chinese aggression, when H and M fought side by side against a common foe without the terrible resonances of fighting 8220;bichhde bhai8221; like in the Indo-Pak wars. The Muslims in Old Delhi see it as 8220;God8217;s gift8221; as they finish their roza and attend the Ramlilas for which they have made the fireworks since decades. Many Hindus, too, see it as God8217;s gift for Vijayadashmi: that a time of healing is finally upon us and it is up to us to interpret and act correctly upon these augurs.
For instance, with incredible filmi symbolism, a rakshas like Veerappan has been taken out by a 8220;Vijay Kumar8221;. So we really ought to look at the work of the Adikavi or First Poet, the 8216;8216;father of Indian literature8221;: Valmiki, the first Indian scriptwriter. His Ramayana offers stunning clues about the idea of India as a land where many types of people interacted positively. See the sources that Valmiki drew upon, detailed beautifully by the late scholar K.S. Srinivasan:
8220;Unlike the Mahabharata, a tale of warring cousins8221;, said Srinivasan a long-ago neighbour of mine in Lutyens8217; Delhi, whom I was too young to appreciate, then, 8220;the Ramayana, whether looked upon as tracing events in a three hundred or three thousand mile-long territory, encompasses peoples of different regions and different levels of cultural advancement8221;. What has kept changing since Valmiki8217;s time is the power relationship between castes and tribes.
Power relationships obviously changed over time between the now-warring, now-melding 8220;tribes8221; of H and M, both inhabitants of India. We8217;re now in a democracy, which throws up its own equations of sharing. But surely we all belong in the story, simply as ourselves without needing to wear specific colours, as long as we8217;re all engaged in the 8216;holy cause8217; of India8217;s welfare? Valmiki8217;s Ramayana suggests that.
