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

Why I won’t vote

From Deshabhimani , Malayalam weekly Exactly a month from today is the Parliamentary election in my state of Kerala. This time, I’m not going to vote. Bernard Shaw defined democracy , with his characteristic cynicism, as “ a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve .” We elect our government in a democracy. And the government invariably sucks our blood – whichever the party is. The BJP and the Congress are like Tweedledum and Tweedledee though the former makes all sorts of other claims day in and day out. BJP = Congress + the holy cow. The holy cow has turned out to be quite a vampire and that makes a difference, no doubt. In our Prime Minister’s algebra, it is: (a+b) 2 which should be equal to a 2 and b 2 . There is an extra 2ab which is the holy cow. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm , the animals revolt against the human master and set up their own nationalist republic. Soon politics develops in the republic and some pigs become leaders. The porcine

Prelude to AtoZ

  From Garden of 5 Senses, Delhi [file pic] Hindsight gives an unearthly charm and order to the past. There can be pain too. A lot of things could have been different, much better, if only we possessed the wisdom of our old age back in those days. As a writer put it, Oedipus, Hamlet, Lear and a lot of those guys must have thought, “I wish I had known this some time ago.” Life is a series of errors with intermittent achievements. The only usefulness of the errors may be the lessons they teach us. Probably, that is their purpose too. We are created to err so that we learn, I dare to put it that way. I turn 64 in a month’s time. It’s not inappropriate to look back at some of the people whom life brought into my life so that I would learn certain lessons. No, I don’t mean to say that life has any such purpose or design or anything. Life is absurd. People come into your life as haphazardly as vehicles ply on your road or birds poop on your head. Some of these people change the chemist

How Arvind Kejriwal can save himself

Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have a clear vision. Eliminate all opposition. Decimate them or absorb them. My previous post [link below] showed a few people decimated by them. Today let’s look at the others: those who are saved by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP]. 1. Himanta Biswa Sarma  This guy was in Congress and faced serious charges related to the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. He also faced corruption charges related to drinking water supply in Guwahati. His house was raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI]. Then he switched over to BJP and all his crimes just vanished. It’s as simple as taking a dip in the Ganga and all your sins are forgiven. Today he is the chief minister of Assam. Nothing is heard of all the charges that were levelled against him. 2. Amarinder Singh  This former Captain in the Indian Army was a Congressman until Modi’s Enforcement Directorate [ED] started raiding him, his son and his son-in-law. He put an end to all those raid

The Good Old World

Book Review Title: Dukhi Dadiba and irony of fate Author: Dadi Edulji Taraporewala Translators: Aban Mukherji and Tulsi Vatsal Publisher: Ratna Books, Delhi, 2023 Pages: 314 If you want to return to the good old days of the late 19 th century, this is an ideal novel for you. This was published originally in Gujarati in 1913. It appeared as a serial before that from 1898 onwards in a periodical. The conflict between good and evil is the dominant motif though there is romance, betrayal, disappointment, regret, and pretty much of traditional morality. Reading this novel is quite like watching an old Bollywood movie, 1960s style. Ardeshir Bahadurshah, a wealthy Parsi aristocrat in Surat, dies having obligated his son Jehangir to find out his long-lost brother Rustom. Rustom was Bahadurshah’s son in his first marriage. The mother died when the boy was too small and the nurse who looked after the child vanished with it one day. Ratanmai, Bahadurshah’s present wife, takes her

The Blindness of Superficiality

An Essay on Anees Salim’s novel The Blind Lady’s Descendants Superficiality is a deadly human vice though most people seldom realise it. It is easy to live on the surface of everything from one’s profession to religion. Anees Salim’s novel, The Blind Lady’s Descendants , tells us a story of superficiality as lived by quite many people. Amar, the protagonist of the novel, is 26 when he thinks that life is not worth living. He became an atheist at the age of 13. He had become a half-Muslim at the age of 5 when his little penis was circumcised partly since he ran away in pain during the process. Amar’s atheism, however, is as superficial as most believers’ religion is. What initiated little Amar to atheism is “Dr Ibrahim’s farting fit.” Islamic prayer has to follow many a rule. “If you break wind during namaaz, you break a big rule, and you are to discontinue the prayer then and there, with no second thoughts.” Little Amar was unable to control his giggles as Dr Ibrahim struggled to