Opinion Congress doublespeak on Gita Press and Sanatan Dharma
It detests the contributions of the Gita Press as it reawakened Hindus to their cultural and spiritual identity of Sanatana Dharma
The Gita Press leveraged the technology of the printing press to perpetuate and reinforce the precepts of Sanatana Dharma. (ANI/Wikimedia Commons) Between September and December 1992, the Congress government under Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao released commemorative postal stamps on the birth centenaries of personalities that made significant contributions towards nation building. Among those recognised were Yogiji Maharaj of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya on December 2 and Hanuman Prasad Poddar of the Gita Press on September 19. Both of them contributed to further the tenets of Sanatana Dharma and worked hard to ensure that its precepts and deep philosophy were accessible to one and all. The Congress party at the time found it apt to recognise the services of these two icons for their spiritual, cultural and literary contributions.
In the 30-odd years that have lapsed since then, it has taken a U-turn.
Earlier this year, the Gita Press was awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize for its contribution towards social, economic and political transformation through Gandhian methods. The reaction by members of the Congress was of unbridled outrage. Some members of Congress resorted to a smear campaign in an effort to discredit the nation’s most widely-read publication. Therefore, it came as no surprise when a leader of an alliance member of the Congress party in Tamil Nadu recently called for the eradication of Sanatana Dharma. Instead of condemning this hate speech or distancing itself from such language, several leaders of the Congress either doubled down or justified this attack on Sanatana Dharma. This clearly shows the deracination that has set in and the depths that the party has fallen to over the last three decades.
What is it about Sanatana Dharma and the Gita Press that irks the Congress party? September 17 marks the birthday anniversary of Hanuman Prasad Poddar and would be an apt day to delve into this.
Oral and written sources have their own place in preserving our civilisational ethos, our intangible cultural heritage and our traditions. The longevity of the written word and the ability to reach the masses scaled exponentially with print publications. The Gita Press leveraged the technology of the printing press to perpetuate and reinforce the precepts of Sanatana Dharma. Over the last century, the Gita Press, Gorakhpur has published more than 40 crore books in 14 languages, including more than 16 crore copies of the Bhagavad Gita. The sacred texts of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and the Upanishads have been made accessible in uncomplicated Hindi en masse. This has led to the publication being one of the most influential voices in transmitting the ideas of Sanatana Dharma across India. In its attempt to “eradicate” Sanatana Dharma, Congress is trying to discredit an influential voice such as the Gita Press by depicting the publication that played a key role in Hindu reawakening as a subtle harbinger of hatred.
One such unfounded allegation is that the Kalyan, a monthly magazine published by the Gita press, failed to publish an obituary on the passing of Mahatma Gandhi owing to the founder’s differences with the Mahatma. This has been repeatedly debunked in the past. Unlike the speed of today’s printing press, the month’s edition of the Kalyan had already gone to press before the Mahatma’s assassination took place on January 30. However, subsequent editions of the Kalyan had significant coverage on Mahatma Gandhi. The publisher, Hanuman Prasad, wrote an obituary to Gandhi that read “Pujya Mahatma ji was a saint, a great man, a lover of mankind, and a great personality of the world. He rose above the distinctions of religion and caste and was a true worshipper of truth and non-violence. By brutally killing him while going to pray to God, the murderer has not only done great harm to himself but has also left an indelible stigma on the Hindu religion, which is non-violent and religious in nature.”
The Congress’s attempt to create a wedge between the publishers of Gita Press and Mahatma Gandhi is a deliberate ploy. By discrediting the publishers, the Opposition wishes to portray the publication as conservative, polarised, and prejudiced. Nothing can be farther from the truth as the publication has always promoted the Gandhian ideals of peace and social harmony to uplift humanity. One forgets that it was on the suggestion of Mahatma Gandhi, that the Gita Press till date has not published an advertisement in any of their publications.
The Gita Press over the past century has ensured that the stories of Mahabharata and Ramayana, the deep philosophy in the Bhagavad Gita and the Vedas are accessible to the common people. These traditions bind the country, unite the people and instil a sense of common belief across languages and our diverse cultures.
Congress detests the contributions of the Gita Press as it has reawakened Hindus to their cultural and spiritual identity of Sanatana Dharma. The Pavlovian reaction by some on Gita Press and Sanatana Dharma is ample proof of this resentment and frustration. It is now the duty of the awakened Bharat to be prepared for a new Mahabharat to protect our Sanatana Dharma from those wishing to eradicate it. This is a battle Bharatvarsh shall definitely overcome.
The writer is the Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER
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