Skip to main content

The politics of Bharat Ratna

Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Madan Mohan Malviya, both deserve the Bharat Ratna.  One is an eminent statesman and the other is a reputed freedom fighter.  Nevertheless there is something sinister about the motive.

Ever since the Modi government took charge there has been a concerted effort to distort history and manufacture a monolithic culture.  Sanskrit being forced upon certain students midway through an academic session and making the Christmas day a working day indirectly are just two examples.

The motive is clear: make India a nation of people believing in a single religion and possessing a single culture. It is neither possible nor desirable an objective. Majoritarianism is just another version of fascism.

At any rate, when pluralism has become a necessity in a globalized world why would India seek to eliminate diversity? Even more significantly, can all Indians really be Hindus? Should they?  Why?

The BJP already has much to answer.  It will soon have too much to answer, it seems.

Comments

  1. Ever since the Modi government took charge there has been a concerted effort to distort history..? Can you make it clear because most of us who believed in modi is thinking that he is saving our heritage, cultures and working for a development with spiritual values.
    I had voted first time and i am happy with, i know and i would be happy if Atalji refused to take this bharat ratna which became like filmfare during UPA, Nehru, Indira, Rajiv, VV Giri, MGR who not got? but you find it sinister because modi has announced two deserving personalities one from his pary other from his constituency, dear people like you might be leftist or pessimist for me and all who voted for bjp is feeling honored.
    I don't know whats wrong with seculars, please write a different post on religion then i will put my idiotic logics, now all i want to say is please dont find it sinister and feel the proud being Indian.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leftist, yes. When the pessimist says, "It can't get any worse," I say, "Cheer up, it sure can." So I am an optimist :) Cheers

      Delete
  2. The title of this post is so misleading. Bharath Ratna has not been politicised...
    You could have instead highlighted the fact that December 25 2014 has been declared as Good Governance day despite the same being Christmas! This will arouse suspicion among the minority of the country. Imagine Indians who are christians instead of going for "mass" and decorating christmas trees,going to school (especially Christian Missionary Schools) and asking students to submit essays on Good Governance and working on other themes related to it..... That would be unwarranted.....Announcing good initiatives on declared public holidays are a no no!!
    Bharath Ratna has not been politicised........ It is sacred ........... Atalji and Malavya ji deserve it coz they were true patriots and great leaders........

    Try to Change your title pls........... Nothing political about Bharath Ratna.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Everything is grist to political mills. Mr Modi is no saint...

      Delete
  3. It seems that you haved edited your post... lol..... you inserted this later "making the Christmas day a working day indirectly are just two examples" . Else why would i comment on something which you have referred to alreadyin your post....

    Everything is grist to political mills : is not what i expect from you as a defence. My contention is this: the title of the post. Bharath ratna has nothing to do with conversion or christianity etc. Bharath Ratna is a recognition given by the state........ state is permanent and governments are not......
    In this case its the gov which decided to impose good governance day on december 25 and they are in the wrong...... instead of constructively critisizing the gov. you are barking up the wrong tree by dragging bharath ratna into this... atrocious.

    Bharath ratna is given away not to assert hindutva sir... it has no hidden motives. Atal s name was suggested to previous govs... they just ignored him. since cong had monopolized nehru - gandhi names to themselves they had ignored other leaders of freedom movement..... malavya is one among them...
    Bharath Ratna is given away for a reason... All political parties welcomed the decision and never told anything derogatory about the choices.. then why are you comparing this move to majoritarianism...... try to edit your posts with these things tooo mr:
    sadhvi rithambharas comments, godse statues, plastic surgeries, nuke, stem cell reasearches during vedic period etc... these are outright stupid things and try to overshadow secular fabric.... atal and mmm were true patriots,,, they fought for the country and it doesnt matter whethere they were hindus , christians or muslims....... they loved their country. dont forget atal never gave free hand to sangh during his regime...........

    Please post constructive criticims alone............And try to admit mistakes. it will never belittle you ...... it will only enhance your stature...........

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very well said sir. The same question has been going around in my head for quite some time now. And even though these two eminent men deserve the honour, it comes at a time that is unfortunate and misleading. But, th political rhetoric is clear. It is something to be feared and I don't think the people of India are going to be too happy about it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl

Remedios the Beauty and Innocence

  Remedios the Beauty is a character in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude . Like most members of her family, she too belongs to solitude. But unlike others, she is very innocent too. Physically she is the most beautiful woman ever seen in Macondo, the place where the story of her family unfolds. Is that beauty a reflection of her innocence? Well, Marquez doesn’t suggest that explicitly. But there is an implication to that effect. Innocence does make people look charming. What else is the charm of children? Remedios’s beauty is dangerous, however. She is warned by her great grandmother, who is losing her eyesight, not to appear before men. The girl’s beauty coupled with her innocence will have disastrous effects on men. But Remedios is unaware of “her irreparable fate as a disturbing woman.” She is too innocent to know such things though she is an adult physically. Every time she appears before outsiders she causes a panic of exasperation. To make...

The Death of Truth and a lot more

Susmesh Chandroth in his kitchen “Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought,” Poet Shelley told us long ago. I was reading an interview with a prominent Malayalam writer, Susmesh Chandroth, this morning when Shelley returned to my memory. Chandroth says he left Kerala because the state had too much of affluence which is not conducive for the production of good art and literature. He chose to live in Kolkata where there is the agony of existence and hence also its ecstasies. He’s right about Kerala’s affluence. The state has eradicated poverty except in some small tribal pockets. Today almost every family in Kerala has at least one person working abroad and sending dollars home making the state’s economy far better than that of most of its counterparts. You will find palatial houses in Kerala with hardly anyone living in them. People who live in some distant foreign land get mansions constructed back home though they may never intend to come and live here. There are ...

The Covenant of Water

Book Review Title: The Covenant of Water Author: Abraham Verghese Publisher: Grove Press UK, 2023 Pages: 724 “What defines a family isn’t blood but the secrets they share.” This massive book explores the intricacies of human relationships with a plot that spans almost a century. The story begins in 1900 with 12-year-old Mariamma being wedded to a 40-year-old widower in whose family runs a curse: death by drowning. The story ends in 1977 with another Mariamma, the granddaughter of Mariamma the First who becomes Big Ammachi [grandmother]. A lot of things happen in the 700+ pages of the novel which has everything that one may expect from a popular novel: suspense, mystery, love, passion, power, vulnerability, and also some social and religious issues. The only setback, if it can be called that at all, is that too many people die in this novel. But then, when death by drowning is a curse in the family, we have to be prepared for many a burial. The Kerala of the pre-Independ...

Koorumala Viewpoint

  Koorumala is at once reticent and coquettish. It is an emerging tourist spot in the Ernakulam district of Kerala. At an altitude of 169 metres from MSL, the viewpoint is about 40 km from Kochi. The final stretch of the road, about 2 km, is very narrow. It passes through lush green forest-looking topography. The drive itself is exhilarating. And finally you arrive at a 'Pay & Park' signboard on a rocky terrain. The land belongs to the CSI St Peter's Church. You park your vehicle there and walk up a concrete path which leads to a tiled walkway which in turn will take you the viewpoint. Below are some pictures of the place.  From the parking lot to the viewpoint The tiled walkway A selfie from near the view tower  A view from the tower Another view The tower and the rest mandap at the back Koorumala viewpoint is a recent addition to Kerala's tourist map. It's a 'cool' place for people of nearby areas to spend some leisure in splendid isolation from the hu...