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| Courtesy - Rediff.com |
It was perhaps mid sixties
or early seventies when US had resorted
to continuous bombing to break the morale of the Vietnamese people.
When questioned by a reporter
about this bombing in civilian areas a American General is reported to have
said that we are destroying the village to save it.
It is a different matter that
within few years of this bloody operations to ‘save the village” US had to face
an ignominious exit from the small country
Time and again this episode from
Vietnam’s history seem to achieve a contemporary relevance in different
contexts.
II
The Sarva Seva Sangh campus,
which stood for more than six decades,
near Rajghat Varanasi is now part of history.
An institution which was founded
by leading Gandhians like Vinoba Bhave and Jaiprakash Narayan, – for the spread
of Gandhian ideas – who themselves stayed in the precincts at times, has its
campus – comprising of buildings, offices and residential quarters ( which were abode to Narayanbhai Desai and
several others once ) in Varanasi has recently been turned into rubbles.
The way the whole operation
unfolded defied the expectation of every peace and justice loving person.
Disregarding the fact that the
whole matter was subjudice , despite the fact the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court in his personal capacity had expressed displeasure over the hurried
manner in which a reputed Gandhian legacy was being given a raw deal and
despite the fact that a peaceful movement was going on comprising of Gandhians
as well as other members of the civil society, the operation was executed
First the campus was evacuated of
( as per terminology of the administration) ‘ encroachers’) , a scene which was
witnessed by the whole world when thousands of books of Gandhian literature
were found to be scattered around the statue of Gandhi in the campus and within
two – three weeks of this evacuation, bulldozers were sent to demolish the
buildings and other structures.
No doubt the whole operation has
sent shivers down the spine of all those individuals and formations who are
engaged in raising people’s voices at various levels and there are worries that
their peaceful work may get hampered in very many ways in near future .
In fact as one writes these
lines, Mehul Devkala has written in ‘The Telegraph’ about this project of
‘taking over Gandhian institutions’ and how in Gujarat Vidyapeeth in Ahmedabad, girl students were prevented from
reciting the Sarva Dharm Prarthana – a syncretic prayer- which was practised
since Gandhi himself established the institution decades ago.
As of now when the Sarva Seva
Sangh campus in Varanasi is merely part of history, it is easy to think of an
imaginary conversation between people who executed its demolition and a reporter about this whole operation and
an interesting rationale being provided by the powers that be that it was an
attempt to ‘save the Gandhian legacy.’
Period.
III
Not many days before the
demolition of the Sarva Seva Sangh campus, the area adjoining the national
capital witnessed physical demolition of houses of a different kind.
Here the targets were religious
minorities namely the Muslims. Demolition was executed without any prior
notice, without any written orders by the administration and of course without
any legal basis
The bulldozers sent there by the
local functionaries of the Haryana government went on demolishing shops and
houses with a tremendous police force in attendance.
Thanks to the suo moto
intervention of the Punjab Haryana highcourt, the demolition came in Nuh to a
hault when it lambasted the government that this was nothing but ‘ethnic
cleansing’
Remember it was the first time in
76
years of India’s independence that the judiciary charged a state government
with ‘ ethnic cleansing’. According to conservative estimates more than 750
houses and shops and other establishments of in the area were turned into
rubble.
It has been documented in great
detail by human rights organisations how a religious procession led by radical
hindutva organizations was allowed to pass through a predominantly minority
area of Nuh and no ban was put on the fact that they were carrying weapons and
raising provocative slogans and how police turned into mute spectator when this
provocation led to confrontation.
Rao Inderjit Singh, a senior
member of the Central cabinet has himself questioned the police behaviour, and
even deputy chief minister of Haryana government Dushyant Chautala has similarly
lambasted the local administration for letting things go out of hand.
What was disturbing to note that
neither the ring leaders of the fanatic Hindutva organisations were taken into
custody, nor any action was taken against the likes of Monu Manesar – who is an
accused in the kiling of one Nasir and Juned from Rajasthan – who had released provocative videos before
the ‘ religious procession ‘
And without any enquiry, without
any order by the courts police and bulldozers were sent to this area to demolish
houses and shops etc.
Today standing on the rubble
would it be blasphemous to think that the people in the administration who let
this happen would be punished for such behaviour, whether it is too much to
expect that the hindutva rightwing provocateurs would ever be penalised for
their hate crimes
IV
No doubt as we celebrate the 77
th anniversary of India’s independence and rededicate ourselves to complete the
task of social emancipation and equality bequeathed to us by the fighters for
freedom it is important to bear in mind the challenges ahead once again.
Demolition of houses in Nuh or
alleged ‘takeover of Gandhian institutions’ could be considered the ‘tip of the
Iceberg ‘ in this scenario of challenges.
Few months back one realised how
the challenge is posed before everyone who stll believe Constitutional
Principles and its values when news came in that a long time tradition at Mhow
where Dr Ambedkar was born and where a big memorial to him has been built is
being discontinued since this year.
Every year Samata Sainik Dal – an
organisation started by Dr Ambedkar
himself – use to take out a march on this day to remember his work and continue
on the path showed by him. (https://mojostory.com/ground-reports/mhow-guard-of-honour-ambedkar/)
Anybody could see that it was an
attempt not only to slowly invisibilise the legacy of Dr Ambedkar’s vision
behind founding Samata Sainik Dal but simultaneously militarise it as well.
V
Where do we go from here ?
Key lesson is to remember that
biggest challenge ever exist before India’s secular democratic republic and all
of us – Gandhians, Socialists, Communists, liberals, etc etc will have to join
hands to combat the menace.
No doubt political parties like
the rejuvenated Congress and the entire reenergised opposition which includes
various parties will have to play a leading role in the upcoming political
fight.
Today the battle ahead may look
uneven but we should never forget our foremothers and forefathers who fought
forces of exclusion, exploitation and darkness in their times in more
challenging conditions and we have to prove that we are in a position to claim
their transformatory legacy.
Perhaps it is best to remember a
slogan which was much popular during struggle of Vietnamese people against US
imperialism , which said : ‘People United Shall Always Be Victorious ‘
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