Ganesh Damodar Savarkar, a forgotten hero

Ganesh Damodar Savarkar (13 June 1879 – 16 March 1945). Picture credits - savarkar.org

(June 13^th is Ganesh Damodar Savarkar’s birthday)

The cellular jail was a place which would break any freedom fighter, those days India was a colony under the British Empire. The punishments ranged from solitary confinement to standing handcuffs (where a person's hands would be handcuffed to a hook above the head, while standing). It was where both the Savarkar brothers – Vinayak and Ganesh spent nearly a decade, undergoing the worst torture.

This was not the first prison sentence of Ganesh Savarkar, who was notorious for his revolutionary activities. He had to take the responsibility of bringing up his family at a young age, thereby sacrificing his education. He pinned his hopes on his brother Tatyarao (Veer Savarkar) who went to London to complete his studies and become a Barrister. Meeting Tatyarao at the cellular jail in Andaman was a shock for Babarao, when the latter arrived there a year later.

Mitramela and Abhinav Bharat

Rashtrabhaktasamooha was formed in 1899 by VD Savarkar and in 1900, it was rechristened as Mitramela. This would later pave way for the secret society called Abhinav Bharat. The primary activities were organising public celebrations of festivals, inviting other freedom fighters and intellectuals to deliver lectures. It included Lokamanya Tilak, Aurobindo, Syed Haidar Raza etc. In 1904, Abhinav Bharat began its work under that name. The inspiration came from Mazzini’s Young Italy, an Italian secret society which was made to unify Italy.

Abhinav Bharat Mandir in Nashik. Picture credits - savarkar.org

Abhinav Bharat had proclaimed that India cannot progress without complete independence. They wanted Swaraj (self-rule), not a dominion status under the British Crown. Indian National Congress adopted this as a resolution only in 1929, during the Lahore session. Babarao headed both, the Mitra Mela and Abhinav Bharat.

Babarao organised lectures to awaken the people. There would be charged sloganeering for freedom, preceding those functions. In 1905, the first public bonfire of foreign clothes was organised by Ganesh in Nashik and by Vinayak in Pune. This was to protest against the partitioning of Bengal.

On a dussehra procession, the Mitramela marched the streets with loud “Vande mataram” slogans. Babarao and some members were arrested as they thrashed a policeman who hit Babarao with a baton. They were tried, found guilty and punished with fines. This was known in Maharashtra (then the Bombay Province) as Vande Mataram trial.

Imprisonment under false charges

Babarao was arrested in Bombay for a duel with Muhammad Hussain, a sub inspector posted for controlling a crowd. He had come forward to save a Khoja gentleman in an altercation with the policeman. After he was arrested, JF Guyder the Superintendent of Police found a Russian revolutionary’s book with him. Once he found out that he had the Tiger of Nashik in his clutches, he left no stone unturned to ensure Babarao’s conviction.

The first accusation was organizing an illegal gathering to free Paranjpe, which was dismissed. This was because the crowd had come to see the editor of Hind Swarajya, not Paranjpe of Kaal. Babarao had to argue on his own as he did not find a lawyer. Finally he was punished for disobeying the Sub Inspector and had to spend a month in prison, where he would meet Lokmanya Tilak for the last time.

Surveillance and Trial before Transportation for Life

Gopal Krishna Gokhale is believed to have told the government about the links between Tilak and Abhinav Bharat. Now, the Savarkar residence was under surveillance and Babarao had detectives following him everywehere. However he managed to give them a slip and distribute manuals on bomb making. He was also expecting a consignment of guns from his brother, Veer Savarkar.

Snippet from Babarao Savarkar's biography on savarkar.org

He was arrested from Mumbai where he had reached for a discussion, after evading the detectives who were behind him. Babarao was then taken to Nashik as an undertrial. The policemen who were watching him were figuring out the secret communication he had with his visitors. This led to a raid of his house where they recovered enough evidence to prove him guilty under Section 121.

Laghu Abhinav Bharat Mala, which was a collection of 18 Poems, was mentioned in the judgement where he was held guilty for waging war against the Empire. His trial was initially before the Nashik District Collector, Jackson who ensured Savarkar’s Transportation of life. The judgement was pronounced on 8^th June 1909, which happened to be Babarao’s birthday as per the Hindu calendar.

Wrath of the patriots

Stamp issued in memory of Madanlal Dhingra

The news of Babarao being condemned to the Andaman Cellular jail spread far and wide. This made the blood of the Indian revolutionaries boil. On 1^st July, Madanlal Dhingra, a patriot assassinated Curzon Wylie as a “humble revenge for hangings and deportation of patriotic Indians”. Dhingra was hanged to death.

In November 1909, the Bombay High Court upheld the lower court verdict on Babarao’s transportation. Anant Laxman Kanhere, a 19 year old student hatched a plot to kill Jackson, the DC of Nashik. He was the kingpin behind Babarao’s sentence and the one who saved a Britisher who killed an Indian. On 21 December 1909, they killed Jackson. Kanhere, Karve and Deshpande were executed. The Britishers conducted several raids and arrests to prevent further retaliation.

Babarao’s days in Andaman Cellular Jail

The Cellular Jail, Andaman

Before he reached the Andaman Island in 1910, he was jailed in jails at Nashik, Yerawada (Pune), Thane and Alipur. He was constantly tortured to reveal the names of other revolutionaries. Babarao’s will was so strong that not even electric shocks made him reveal a single name. However his health deteriorated.

He was tortured by a sadistic Irish jailor named Barrie, who was notorious for the cruelty he meted out. Babarao had to spend 6 months in solitary imprisonment. He was later made to do hard labour like rope making from coconuts, push the rod of the ‘kolu’ to extract oil. His health wouldn’t permit that and he had to face tough punishment for missing the ‘target’.

Some of these involved ‘standing handcuffs’ where he was hooked to a handcuff in standing position for hours together. Sometimes, the food would be mixed with kerosene causing abdominal cramps and diarrhoea. An article won’t be enough to describe the tortures these brave men went through in the prison and on the way.

In 1911, Veer Savarkar joined his brother in Andaman. He was found guilty for various crimes, mainly the supply of guns to kill Jackson. However they were not allowed to communicate and were separated. They organised ‘Shuddhi’, to bring back those Hindus who had converted to Islam. It acted as a way to prevent forced conversions by the muslim jailors. There were informers and traitors too, among the inmates. One of them, who were known as Ainewala Babu, had plotted to accuse Babarao of a murder and later tried to poison him.

Narayanarao, the younger Savarkar who was in India ran from pillar to post all the while to save his brothers from the Andaman jail. He used to do it under the banner of “National Union”. He had approached Gandhi who supported the demand of their release but said that he would not agree to ‘the cult of violence’. Finally, on 2^nd May 1921, the Savarkars were released from Andaman and repatriated.

‘Ditcher’s Diary’ in The Capital

The Capital was a periodical in which a defamatory article against the Savarkars was published. It was called ‘Ditcher’s Diary’. It was a propaganda piece written to complicate the release of the Savarkars and break their support. It sounded like Babarao had invited Germans to attack the Andaman.

Narayanrao dragged the Editor of the periodical to court for slander. They apologised unconditionally and withdrew the article two months later on 28^th July 1909. Today, it’s Congress who plays this role of defaming Savarkar.

Gandhi Amanullah Pact

The brothers were separated after they reached mainland India. Babaro was sent to the Bijapur jail where he had to undergo torture ending up near dead, when Narayanrao came to meet him. With the help of ‘Bombay Chronicle’, he spread the word about the condition of Babarao in Bijapur prison. As a result of this, he was transferred to Sabarmati jail.

There, he met Maulana Mohani, a fellow inmate who was part of the Khilafat movement. It whipped up the pan islamist sentiments of Indian muslims in support of the Ottoman Empire. He learnt about the sinister Gandhi Amanullah pact from Maulana. According to this, Amir Amanullah of Afghanistan was ‘invited’ to invade India to drive the Britishers away. Apparently, this needed to help of the Hindus as well. He smelt something fishy in this and researched more.

Critical analysis of Gandhian thought

Babarao was familiar with few Gandhians whom he met in prison. He learnt about Gandhian school of thought from them. Some of the incidents he observed in jail are as follows.

Snippet from Babarao Savarkar's biography on savarkar.org

Snippet from Babarao Savarkar's biography on savarkar.org

Snippet from Babarao Savarkar's biography on savarkar.org

This is when he realised the loopholes in such a philosophy and the damage it was doing to the cause of Swarajya. Babaro disagreed with Gandhi’s theory of ‘Go to jail for patriotism’. He felt the ideas like spinning charkhas and filling up prisons would not win the cause. He felt that Gandhi was refusing to adapt to the industrial age, which was needed in any modern country. He felt that the ideals of Gandhi like ahimsa and truth were acting as ‘shackles’ in the fight for freedom.

Efforts to save Bhagat Singh and others

Though he did not agree with Gandhi, he set aside the differences and went to meet him to save Bhagat Singh from execution. They met at Gandhi’s Ashram in Wardha on 15^th February 1931 where they had a long conversation.

Babarao had come to know of his meeting with Irwin, the next day. A smart man he was, he could see the need of a pact where political prisoners would be released. He urged Gandhi to strive for Bhagat Singh’s release. Though he tried hard, he could not convince Gandhi who kept his ideal of ahimsa above the lives of revolutionaries. That was their last meeting as Gandhi had walked away unable to answer Savarkar.

Yesuvahini

Babarao and Yesuvahini. Picture credits - savarkar.org

It would be unfair to omit the pain and suffering of Ganesh Savarkar’s wife in this story. She had lost everything when Babarao was transported for life. She has lost two daughters in their infancy and was lonely. It was a shocking news for her when she realised that Babarao’s entire property would be confiscated. She had to spend the rest of her life in Rambhau Datar’s house as the two families were close.

Savarkar’s other friends also pitched in to help her in all ways they could. Narayanrao was the other source of support but, since he was also in jail, he couldn’t do much. Yesuvahini wrote about her plight to Veer Savarkar in England. His poetic reply ‘Saantvan’ is seen as a brilliant literary work. However, she passed away before Babarao's release.

Release and escape from death

Narayanrao had intensified his efforts after learning that Babarao was going to die in prison. The British government did not want that to happen, so they allowed him to be released. He was released from jail in September 1922, after 13 years of imprisonment. 

He came out of jail on a stretcher and he was in a critical stage. He knew that death awaited him as the Civil Surgeon predicted he would not live beyond a few days. Fortunately he managed to recover and dedicated his life to awaken the Hindus.

Here is one incident mentioned in his biography, which occurred after a while of his release.

Snippet from Babarao Savarkar's biography on savarkar.org

Tarun Hindu Sabha, meeting KB Hedgewar and RSS

He formed the Tarun Hindu Sabha to find and groom patriots to work for Bharat in 1923-24. It was also to provide a cadre base for the Hindu Mahasabha. They took part in the 1929 session of the HMS, at Surat.

Babarao met former Anusilan Samiti member KB Hedgewar in 1924 at Nagpur. Hedgewar left a lasting impression on Babarao during the THS meetings. He later handed over the Nagpur Branch’s charge to Hedgewar when it was time for him to leave Nagpur. In 1925 when Hedgewar founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Babarao was also present. He had helped them in preparing the pledge and flag.

In April 1930, Babarao merged his THS into RSS and started working for the Sangh. Babarao had given a logical and clear cut reason behind the existence of the Sangh and its causes. He believed that a Sangh must exist apart from the Hindu Mahasabha and be run by a single leader. He further approached other Hindu nationalist organisations to merge their groups with the Sangh and work for the Nationalist cause.   

Writings

As someone who was not much of a writer before his Andaman imprisonment, Babarao yearned to write. He was a voracious reader and kept notes in diaries. He studied Ayurveda along this. One of his best works is Rashtramimansa va Hindusthanche rashtraswaroop (Analysis of the concept of nation and the nature of India’s nationhood). It was in two parts where he discusses nationhood and India’s nationalist sentiments.

Hindu Rashtra- poorvi, aataa aani pudhe (Hindu nation – past, present and future) was another landmark in literature. This was a purely historical text which threw light on the dangerous circumstances which prevailed back then. The treachery of Congress was detailed in this.

His other works were Shri Shivaraayaanchi aagryaavaril garudjhep, Veeraa-Ratna- Manjusha, Christaparichay arthaat christaache Hindutva,Dharma havaa kashaalaa?, Nepaali aandolanaachaa upakram, Nepaali aandolanaachaa upakram etc. He also wrote articles for periodicals like Kesari, Vande Mataram, Sakaal etc.

Last days

By 1944, Babarao had become weak and had to battler many adversities. His body was already battered with the treacherous imprisonment and strain due to his work. On 31^st July 1944 Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee, President of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha came to visit Babarao. Here is the message he had for Dr. Mukherjee.

Snippet from Babarao Savarkar's biography on savarkar.org

Babarao Savarkar breathed his last on 16th March 1945. The subsequent events in Indian history would prove that Ganesh Savarkar was right. He could not live to see the light of the day India would become independent. His brother Veer Savarkar continues to be vilified and attacked by the Congress party and its ecosystem. However the Savarkar family's legacy lives on and inspires many. Today, the top leaders of India are groomed by RSS, which had Babarao's blessings.

References

1. Krantiveer Babarao Savarkar by DN Gokhale

2. Krantikallol by VS Joshi

3. Babarao's biography 

Why Leftists hesitate to appropriate Savarkar

Swatantra Veer Savarkar

The fiction writers of the Left who wrote our history had a habit of appropriating various personalities. Appropriate, in this context means “take (something) for one’s own use, typically without the owner’s permission”. They ‘put’ such figures in ‘boxes’ they created to make it look like they were their descendants. It was a propaganda carried out posthumously (after death) making it more convenient. Another reason was that it became more acceptable to use the shoulder of someone else to fire from. Something which they realised as they knew they lacked relevance, themselves. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh were two such personalities who got ‘appropriated’ like that.

Netaji Bose and Bhagat Singh

Netaji Bose was mocked and taunted by Indian communists with jibes like ‘Tojo’s dog’, when he was alive. But, they admitted it was a mistake after almost half a century later, when they lost popularity. They found it more convincing to prop him up as a Communist like them and use that perception to counter the regime of today.

Indian Communists abusing SC Bose

Bhagat Singh, who has been ‘appropriated’ by the Communists, was not a part of the the Communist Party of India (CPI). He formed the HSRA (Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) and carried on his work. He did not name it as First/Second International. He fought and gave his life for Indian Independence.

Shehla Rahsid’s attempts to turn Bhagat Singh into a Communist

While the propagandists will emphasise that he read Lenin, they won’t tell you about his praise for Swami Vivekananda. Nor would they tell you that he published Veer Savarkar’s book, secretly in India. ‘The Indian War of Independence’ was Savarkar’s book which was banned by the British. Here’s a snippet from the book.

Snippet from Veer Savarkar’s The Indian War of Independence

Support for Savarkar

Veer Savarkar’s daring act of making an escape at the Marseilles port also won’t be known to many. It was not just a physical act of extreme courage but, a well thought out strategy too. He knew the legal and diplomatic implications on the British empire, even if they managed to catch him on French soil. Read this to know more about the attempt to escape at Marseilles and how he got betrayed.

Savarkar’s jump and subsequent recapture had taken the international community by storm. The French socialist press protested. There were two reasons for it – violating rights of Savarkar and the French sovereignty. The French Ambassador in London condemned the arrest of Savarkar. When this matter reached before the Hague Tribunal, it was the liberals and communists who supported him. It was Karl Marx’s grandson who represented him, there.

Why is he hated now?

 

Savarkar was a staunch Hindu nationalist though he was NOT the traditional gau sevak or a devotee. But, he was a reformer, who fought hard to abolish the evils of caste discrimination. His works called for unity of India and the emphasis of Hindutva (Hinduness), which have made him revered among the nationalists. RSS’s affinity towards Hindutva has made the leftists forget that he was not its founder. Savarkar’s Hindu Maha Sabha and RSS may have had overlapping goals but, they had differences and were not clones.

It was the Congress which continued to attack Savarkar the most, years after his death. They feared that once Indians got to know Savarkar fully, Nehru and the Congress would be washed away. The fear of Indian Independence movement being democratised would mean the end of Nehru dynasty’s divine right to rule. Savarkar’s life would open a can of worms for them since it would include his meeting with freedom fighters like Rash Behari Bose, Madanlal Dhingra etc. Many such freedom fighters were not given a deserving position in the History written by Marxists.

But, in states like Maharashtra where Savarkar is revered, the Congress usually prefers not to vilify him. They know that such a misadventure would call for backlash, even from their allies. For the Left, it’s appeasement which stands in the way of appropriating him and turning him into a “Communist”. They found it harder to appropriate him than Ambedkar, whose views on Islam and Communism were almost successfully concealed.

 

This mad tussle from those corners to disown and attack Savarkar has slowly seen a change. As some players in the Congress ecosystem are coming up with ‘neutral opinions’ on him, it signals various changes in the anti Savarkar ecosystem. It may either be an attempt to appropriate him, or use him as a stick to beat today’s regime.

A Congress supporter, on Savarkar

However, as long as the main plank of today’s opposition parties remains as ‘Anti Hindutva’ (acceptable version of Anti Hindu), Savarkar may not be appropriated in the near future. The only ‘use’ they can put him to is to blame today’s regime for a long extinct caste system. Or Gau Seva, which is very much a part of our Constitution. They would find more votes coming in by attacking Savarkar, than keeping quiet on him or endorsing him. Especially when India’s largest party’s chief has a Savarkar portrait at home. Today, on Veer Savarkar’s birthday, it’s just another opportunity for Congress to castigate him.

Chandrababu Naidu at Year 1 of Modi 2.0

The first anniversary of Narendra Modi’s return to power was celebrated a few days ago. This was a noteworthy event because the ‘India Shining’ syndrome of 2004 refused to repeat itself in 2019. The 23rd of May 2019 was the day many fates were written. It was also the day which set the future course of Indian democracy. There were people who rejoiced and people who got disheartened. It marked the 2nd turning point of Modi’s rise to power and sealed the fate of INC’s national ambitions. However, there were some key players (at least they looked so) before the election. They were actively running around and organizing strategies, cobbling up a new alliance which had only one motto – “Stop Modi”. TDP leader and the ex Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu was one of them.

Naidu had an inconsistent yet notable past, something which must be highlighted at this juncture. He is said to be one of the people who played a key role in APJ Abdul Kalam’s presidential candidature. As 2019 was a year the ghosts of 2004 were put to rest, let’s go back to that year. TDP envisaged ‘secularism’ and walked out of the NDA alliance in 2004 after a crushing defeat. Naidu continued this lonely path in 2009, only to realise that he could not make it alone. In 2013, he began showing interest in NDA, for the third time since 1998. When he returned to NDA in 2013, sensing victory, he tried to ride it on the Special Category Status. For a state like Andhra Pradesh which lost its capital in the bifurcation, it was seen as a compensation which was overdue. Former PM Manmohan Singh’s promise of a 5 year Special Category Status was also not forgotten by the regional parties of the state. It’s worth remembering that the UPA government had bifurcated Andhra Pradesh at the fag end of its term, in a very hasty manner.

Special Category Status

The prime attraction for a state to get the SCS was the Central grants for various projects (90% borne by the Centre), tax breaks, excise duty concessions etc. Currently, only the north eastern states of India and 3 mountain states enjoy the Special Category Status. But, the 14th Finance Commission technically abolished the difference between Special Category states and the General states by introducing different parameters. They decided to assess the backwardness of a state and allocate resources through ‘tax devolution’ and other grants. Andhra was also promised revenue deficit grants in case devolution would not be sufficient. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also promised funds which would be at par to what a SCS state would get. To know more, read this.

Yet, Naidu moved a No Confidence Motion against the NDA government on 20th July 2018, ‘upset’ at the Centre for denying the SCS status to Andhra Pradesh. He thought it would be easier to win Andhra Pradesh by walking out of the alliance which did not give it the coveted SCS. Such name-game rhetoric over formalities just becomes some of the declarable reasons for cunning politicians when they have some tricks up their sleeves. It’s more or less similar to the lame demands of ‘national disaster’ tag from some ‘secular’ states during disasters.

Modi’s warning

During the proceedings of the No Confidence Motion which TDP brought against the BJP on, there was a revelation by PM Modi. He said that he warned Naidu about YSR’s trap, when TDP left NDA. He further went to tell Naidu that he would not survive in the circumstances which prevailed in the state politics. Watch Modi’s speech on the floor of the Parliament.

Naidu would know it when these words would come true, in less than one year after TDP losing the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The NDA came out unscathed and established its strength while Sonia Gandhi who played behind Naidu was claiming to have the numbers.

Unifier of the Opposition

 

There were many symptoms of the strain in the BJP-TDP ties, long before TDP walked out. One of it was Naidu deleting a tweet praising Hindutva icon Veer Savarkar.

Once he formally left the NDA fold, he undertook a devoted pilgrimage to meet every opposition leader. Apart from them, he met certain allies of BJP too, since he wanted break NDA and ensure that the current regime does not come back to power. He had also joined the Rafale chorus which was led by the INC.

He continued meeting them even after the polls, to ensure a post poll alliance with them, in the worst case scenario. Some of the leaders whom he met as a part of this unification strategy were – Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Bannerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Arvind Kejriwal. He did not stop with that. Naidu catapulted himself to be the rising vanguard of ‘secularism’, which has turned out to be the last refuge of a failed Indian politician. It involved the old school techniques of Iftar parties and Naidu’s desperation made him go one step ahead – offering Namaz.

Loss in Lok Sabha, Assembly elections and Resignation

 Though Naidu could stop NDA from winning seats in Andhra Pradesh, TDP could win only 3 seats in the Lok Sabha elections of 2019. He had also lost the Assembly elections while YSRCP won with a huge mandate. Naidu tendered his resignation on the very day Modi came back to power at the Centre. He was one of the most powerful figures who did everything to break NDA but ended up broken, reduced to the stature of an Opposition leader with very few seats. He is indeed one of the rare people who struggled hard to drive himself to irrelevance (SIC). As a result of such ‘flip flops’, BJP made it clear that it has closed doors for any alliance with TDP in future, after Naidu expressed his regret.

He has become the case study of a politician who wanted to dislodge a government by ditching it, attempting to topple it with a no confidence motion, cobbling up an alliance consisting of almost all the arch rivals of the regime, trying to bring more allies out of NDA and even whipping up regional and ‘secular’ feelings, only to end up losing his existing relevance in politics. The changes in the political scene were so rapid that Naidu maybe wishing that he’d wake up one day to realise all this was just a terrible nightmare.

Aftermath

The unexpected fall turned him into a disgruntled man. It’s not easy for someone accustomed to VIP privileges and other trappings of power to adjust back to an ordinary life. A controversy erupted as he was denied the VIP access at the Vijayawada airport and had to go to the flight in a bus after being frisked, like any ordinary passenger.

Post defeat, TDP decided to temporarily forgo their ‘secular’ values and supported the abrogation of the draconian Article 370, despite J&K National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah campaigning for them in 2019. He made a U-Turn on the Citizenship Amendment Act, when he suddenly saw a high demand for ‘secular’ credentials in the ‘market’.

It’s sure that he regrets his decision of leaving NDA when he could have stayed back and enjoyed few more years of power. The ‘most unkindest cut’ from BJP was not the permanent cutting of ties but, the merging of TDP with BJP in the Rajya Sabha, where 4 TDP MPs joined BJP.

The TDP leader who was discussing post poll strategies with the high command of INC few days before the 2019 results, was missing from a conference organized by Sonia Gandhi, recently. The praises Modi receives through letters and on calls for the fight against COVID-19, shows how desperate the TDP leader has become. Though Naidu would have to leave NDA for obvious reasons, he would be repenting the most for not heeding Modi’s advice, around two years ago. One year is too short in politics but, more than enough to turn someone into a no one. Also a play ground where people can make grave mistakes while thinking that they’re winning.

The pseudo-liberals’ hallucination about India being bullied

Sovereignty is a key word in our Constitution, one of the main reasons for which the Indian independence movement took off. We wanted to be ruled by ourselves without any foreign power dictating the terms. A pseudo liberal who’s a leftist and endorses a border-less world cannot accept it. They can’t even think for themselves, forget about withstanding pressure. Their herd mentality has been exposed many times and almost everyone on social media can recognize their modus operandi of co-ordinated tweeting for a particular day’s agenda. They drool to see India being bullied, for not toeing the line and becoming isolated in the world. Sometimes they go to the extent of hallucinating and end up writing fairy tales on complex subjects like foreign policy, which is a very tedious and endless process to be handled by expert diplomats.

A few days ago, there was a controversy over India lifting the ban on HCQ exports amidst the world’s fight against COVID 19. As expected, there were many rumors on “India buckling under US Pressure” and so on. Many of these propaganda pieces also had a statement of US President Trump threatening to retaliate if India didn’t lift the ban on exports of HCQ. However, all their hallucinatory claims by misquoting him were debunked in no time. Shekhar Gupta himself came out with a clarification about India lifting the export ban on HCQ, hours before Trump’s ‘threat’ call.

The latest speculation made by some of them were about India being forced to pay $ 2.6 million for 200 ventilators which USA donated. It was later corrected (with a disclaimer).

 

The cost of the ventilators have been made to look synonymous with the price India has to pay. Adding question marks are assumed to be a safe way out to twist and create a perception. This turned out to be false again, when it was reported that the USAID would bear the cost of the ventilators.

On Citizenship Amendment Act 2019

There was a huge confusion created in a similar manner over the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, where people from the same stable were out, creating conspiracy theories – about how India got bullied. This was after they had tried all their best to misinterpret and distort a small, harmless amendment which would benefit persecuted migrants who came to India seeking refuge, before 31 December 2014. The Act aimed to help specific persecuted religious minorities of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh get Indian citizenship. CAA was NOT a law that prevented Muslims from any of these countries from getting Indian citizenship. Read this report about a Muslim woman from Pakistan getting an Indian citizenship, after the so called anti-Muslim amendment was made.

One of those controversies ‘manufactured’ in the Parliament, just days before the Citizenship Amendment Act became one, was about the inclusion of Christians in the Citizenship Amendment Bill. Dayanidhi Maran, a DMK MP had claimed that India was forced to include Christians. Reasons being – “Probably the fear of the West, the fear of being isolated by West”. He was seen ‘quoting’ the BJP Manifesto and claiming that BJP had excluded Christians from CAA and did not have the same love for Christians while preparing the manifesto. Here is his full statement (December 2019).

In an attempt to prove that “BJP was fearing the West”, he ended up showing the first, ‘un-corrected version’ of the 2019 BJP Manifesto which was having many mistakes, some pretty embarrassing. It is true that the CAB head under the first version of the 2019 Manifesto (in April 2019) did not mention Parsis and Christians. There were many attempts that time, to claim that BJP made the correction in the Sankalp Patra (election manifesto) just before passing the CAB in December 2019. The omission of Christians in the manifesto was reported on April 10th 2019. The report says that the manifesto was corrected to the extent of adding Christians, within one hour that day. This is more than 6 months before the DMK MP made that statement.

Here is the corrected portion of the BJP’s Sankalp Patra 2019 where the change has been reflected.

Since there are no ‘Parsi countries’ today, there could not be any claims of India being arm twisted to add Parsis in the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019. (Read this to understand how the inclusion of persecuted religious minorities in CAA was done)

Even if this does not sound convincing, a look into the history of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 can prove the point. The CAB as it was known, was introduced in Lok Sabha in 2016. This is around 3 years before it became an Act. The Bill at that point of time, mentioned Parsis and Christians. So it can be clearly seen that it was not a sudden love for Christians induced by fear of the West as claimed above.

Jews who are a persecuted minority in Islamic countries were not included in the CAA (it’s also true that Jews didn’t come on streets to riot for that). Should it be inferred that there was no pressure from Israel to include Jews? Or is it even right to conclude that there was no pressure from Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC)? Or the Arab nations, which are Islamic countries? What about Iran, which is a Shi’a majority country, whose counterparts are being persecuted in Pakistan?

On PM Modi’s call for Unity

Recently, many Indian citizens who were working in the Gulf countries got fired and/or jailed for voicing their ‘Islamophobic’ opinions on social media. This was an aftermath of the Tablighi Jamaat members coming under scrutiny for the spread of COVID 19 in India. Prime Minister Modi had appealed for unity in fighting COVID 19. Shortly after this, ‘Journalist’ Rana Ayyub immediately came out with a new theory of PM Modi buckling under pressure from the Gulf countries. The same pressure which he’escaped’ from, during the CAA controversy.

The Indian ambassador to UAE had also taken the same stand, as UAE was a sovereign nation just like India. But, this was not due to any pressure which India had faced from such countries. There were also shocking reports of Indians losing jobs in the Gulf for supporting CAA, because of the distortion done by such thugs. If it was true, India would have succumbed to the same pressure which was there, when Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 was passed. How is it sensible to believe that few Indians tweeting something anti-Islamic can damage or undo the decades-old diplomatic ties which even the CAA or the abrogation of Article 370 could not?

Pseudo liberals who are armchair activists, have a very shallow sense of understanding and show an unusual sense of disconnect from the reality. Be it about the cost involved in building toilets or the foreign policy. They can be seen quarreling endlessly and making absurd claims, without understanding how wrong they were. After all, it’s said one should not disturb an enemy when he (or she) is making a mistake.

There is also a deep sense of satisfaction in the hearts of these so called Indians, on any occasion where India is defeated or humiliated. This article is not to prove that India faced no pressure or that it has always withstood it. A lot of things had happened even before today’s regime came into power which escaped scrutiny, unlike today’s scenario. These are just few instances where such people have been caught hallucinating about it, with a glee.

First published in Opindia MyVoice.