It’s not one charismatic star, but the people who make a nation great
The Parliament’s winter session ended—not unexpectedly—in a bitter slinging match washing out almost all the precious time that could have been used in productive deliberations and debate registering dissent in a civil manner. What we witnessed was a display of colourful designer bags used as banners and utterly tasteless jostling between honourable members of the House representing the ruling coalition and those arrayed in opposition.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra threw down the gauntlet by flaunting a bag painted with the colours of Palestine’s flag. This immediately raised the heckles of zealots waiting for an opportunity to expose the true colours of the dynasty’s last hope. As if this weren’t enough, RaGa exchanged his white T-shirt for one dyed blue to express solidarity with the socially stigmatised and exploited downtrodden—the Dalits—who were offended by the Home Minister’s comments on Babasaheb Ambedkar, who is worshipped like a god by many who have been forsaken by many religions.
The battle of bags raged unabated as both Houses of the Parliament were log-jammed. The distress of persecuted Hindu minority was highlighted by saffron-tinted tote bags balancing the ‘royal blue’ donned by one who is mocked as the crown prince by NaMo. Manipur found a fleeting moment on the same portable screen.
The spectacle could have been amusing had it not been so narcissistic. It appeared as those who consider themselves entitled to rule by birthright prioritise making fashion statements to raising bread-and-butter issues that concern billion-plus less privileged compatriots. Rahul has time and again exposed himself as an ‘interrupter who can at best provide fleeting amusement’. He can fritter away effortlessly any gains that may by chance fall in his ‘jhola’. The more the family retainers try to prop up the claims of the inheritors to reclaim the gaddi or at least captain the opposition team perpetually, the fissures in the team deepen and widen.
There was a time, during the long drawn freedom struggle, when ‘jhola and jhanda’ were badges of honour. Those who had taken on the might of the British Empire played hide and seek with policemen wandering from place to place carrying the tricolour wrapped in the homespun shoulder bag well-hidden under a spare kurta, pyjama and gamchha. It could be unfurled wherever opportunity was spotted.
They—the voluntarily homeless young and old—didn’t fear the ‘danda’—policemen’s lathi, tear gas and bullets. Sadly after Independence the livery of freedom fighters was debased. This isn’t the place to recount that sad story, suffice it to note that the jhanda also lost its evocative power and the tattered jhola came to be associated with the jobless (useless?) youth.
By mid-1960s the phrase jhola chaap had become derogatory. Khadi kurta, dirty jeans, chappals in need of repair regained some currency when the pseudo-culture vultures and spectacled cerebral types appeared on the scene. It wasn’t long before this attire accrued a whiff of danger. One could easily be mistaken as a Naxal—a threat to state and society.
Of course, the word Urban-Naxal hadn’t been coined and many idealistic young Indians lost their lives in jungles fighting their battle for a Brave New World—not only to bullets but to snakebites, malaria, and fratricidal faction fights. Once again, this isn’t the time or place to unravel that tangled tragic tale.
As we write these painful lines we are well aware that we will be accused of partisan lampooning of leaders elected by hundreds of thousands of people. How can their voice be stifled? Haven’t they been forced to adopt these tactics thanks to the ‘danda raaj’ inside the House by presiding officers who, to be honest, haven’t exactly lived up to the expectations of their office?
The ‘battle of the bags’ is inseparable from the ‘battle of the flags’. Red, green and blue, even stripes of black, and some adorning symbols of old and new faiths. How easily we tend to forget that our own tricolour—vishwa vijayi tiranga pyara—has green, saffron, white and the chakra in blue. It celebrates diversity and harmonious peaceful coexistence. Past struggles should be recalled for resilient reconciliation, not shrill battle cry for unending cycles of revenge.
The danda wielded by the rulers today has been replaced by blind bulldozers. The appeals of the ‘RSS Sarsanghchalak’ or the thundering of the Supreme Court appear to fall on deaf ears. As far as the new bag brigade is concerned it should realise that it is hopelessly out of step and tune with the dreams and aspirations of the youth in 21st-century India. Passing on the baton to younger members of the family—on either side—will not lead to a transformative revolution.
Nor can we hitch our wagon to one charismatic star. India has suffered greatly by committing this mistake in past. Mahatmas and messiahs, fakirs and godlike reformers play their role in history but ultimately it’s the people who make a nation great. It’s time to wake up.
Pushpesh Pant
Former professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
pushpeshpant@gmail.com