Baba Ramdev and hunger for publicity : Ramachandra Guha

A hunger for publicity is the hallmark of some of the best-known spiritual leaders of contemporary India. They spend as much time on making themselves known, and praised, as on seeking the truth. Consider a guru in my home town, Bangalore, who, like Ramana, is a Tamil, indeed from the same Iyer sub-caste. In other ways he is emphatically different; in his careful attention to his dress and appearance, for example, or in his not-so-careful cultivation of the rich, the powerful, and the influential.

Or consider the holy man who, these past days and weeks, has been much in the news. Those who heard, in part or in full, Baba Ramdev’s recent day-long discourse at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, would have heard the words ‘kala dhanda’ and ‘bhrashtachaar’ (black money and corruption) as well as the words ‘dharm’ and ‘imandaari’ (morality and honesty). I heard them too, but I also heard words that were more telling. These were ‘mein apne media ke bhaiyyon se kehna chahta hoon’, a phrase that recurred often, perhaps half-a-dozen times an hour. It was characteristic that Ramdev sought to address the media above all (and characteristic also that his social imagination excluded the possibility of women reporters).

Solitude and spirituality — the link between them is intimate and indissoluble. In between satyagrahas, Gandhi spent months at a stretch in Sabarmati or Sevagram, thinking, searching, spinning. Ramana and Aurobindo did not leave their ashrams for decades on end. Yet our contemporary gurus can’t be by themselves for a single day. When the police forced him out of Delhi, Ramdev said he would resume his ‘satyagraha’ (sic) at his ashram in Haridwar. But within 24 hours he left Haridwar, in search of closer proximity to his brothers in the media. Externed from Delhi, Ramdev knew that many television channels were headquartered in Noida. So he would go to them, since he knew that, despite their national pretensions, these channels would not send their reporters, still less their anchors, to the benighted state of Uttarakhand. He set off for Noida but was stopped en route at Muzaffarnagar on the orders of the UP chief minister.

The desire to leave his ashram for the arc lights was entirely in character. For Ramdev occupies an important place in the history of publicity, rather than in the history of spirituality. To be fair, this can also be said of the other babas and gurus whom one meets nowadays in newspapers or on television, the Dalai Lama only excepted.

Ramachandra Guha in Hindustan Times. Here

The rise and fall of Baba Ramdev

If Baba Ramdev's followers are dwindling, post Ramlila grounds, blame it on Hinduism. Hindus have problems gathering around a religious leader, as a religious leader. They quickly transform the person, saffron robes, notwithstanding, to a specialist healer, magician and personal good luck charm. Hindus, therefore, make bad devotees but good clients.

As tradition tells us, Hindus are not given to collective sentiments in their religious observances. The concept of a church or congregation is foreign to them. This is why one can be a pious Hindu yet never set foot in a temple. To be able to host an at- home with your own customised guru is the ultimate Hindu fantasy. This would not work for Muslims, Sikhs or Christians. The idea of a ' communion' is essential in these religions.

Amongst all the pop yogis, Baba Ramdev is probably the best known because he comes on television and, in full view, contorts his body convincingly. Most people in saffron are overweight, and cannot pull in their diaphragms and expose their ribs the way the Baba can. As yoga trooping Indians tend to be potbellied, they look at him with awe.

But, at the end of the day, Baba Ramdev remains a yoga expert. What does this make those who attend his yoga sessions? Clients or devotees? Clients, decidedly. None of them want to be beaten up by the police or have an income tax raid on their humble businesses. At the first sight of pain, they will boot the camp and go home.

If only politicians were to acknowledge the fact that Hindus are not saffron driven outside of the saffron domain our public life would have been less opaque. Hindus may flock to Kumbh Melas in large numbers, even go hysterical when Lord Jagannath gets an annual day out. But for every 100 Hindus in such carnivals a million and more stay back home. This is not because they are irreligious or against superstition, far from it. It is simply because it is too much effort; besides there is the store to run.

The low turnout at Baba's Haridwar ashram these days is because his clients are horrified at the prospect of pain without gain. This is exactly the opposite of what attracted them to the man in the first place. But, as the issue has now become political, they would rather stay home and watch Ramdev's re-runs on TV. For most of them, Baba Ramdev is the Bruce Lee of yoga, and that is how they would want him to be.

Dipankar Gupta in India Today. More Here

Meena Kandasamy on "Rise of hindutva in Tamil Nadu" -I

Meena Kandasamy is the emerging face of Indian literature. She is from Chennai. She is basically a teacher and teaches college students about the nuances of poetry and literature. She is an established poetess now. Besides she is a social activist, writer, blogger, peace activist and a fine human being with a heart that beats. She likes to describe herself as a woman writer who is obsessed with revolutionary Dr.Ambedkar’s message of caste annihilation. Below it we present one of her article published in Boloji.com.

Doing It Everyday
Hindutva Consolidation and Conscription
in Tamil Nadu Through Celebrations

I hate, I despise your feasts
I take no pleasure in your solemn festivals.
When you offer me holocausts and grain offerings
I will not accept them...
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
And righteousness like an overflowing stream.
(The Book of Amos 5:21-24)

In the transformation of the Hindutva agenda that has included hard cash and hate consolidation, you don’t go in search of Gods, they come to your pavement, your doors. The city comes to a standstill, the juggernaut of the gods-and-devotees continues. The new-found religiosity is stifling and stunning and a little hard on your ears, but it is contagious. You are drawn into becoming a spectator, and not before long, the skeptic in you has put in the papers, you are part of the excited crowd, caught in the frenzy of fundamentalism that is caramel-coated with devotion. This one-after-another-after-another ensures that all days are holy days. Occasion is reduced to almost a routine. The weekend is downsized to being a jazzy, glitzy flamboyant festival. Like the kinky Osho once remarked, living becomes an eternal celebration. And, you are doing it everyday. Why worry if Hindutva is working on you 365/24/7? Arrey, nobody’s complaining yaar. Yes, but little knowledge has never been more dangerous. There is cause to complain only when we are made to realize (by none other than the Sangh Parivar) that this holding of festivals, this appropriation and hijacking of the public sphere is their program in the project of Hindu consolidation, mass conscription and ‘collectivization’.

In looking at the glamorous and much-photographed instances: say, the Vinayaka Chaturthi rituals in Tamil Nadu that occasionally result in loss of limb, or life, and waste of newsreel, we have ignored the larger, risky picture of what is happening the rest of the year. Choreographed Kumbh-melas and stage-managed rath yatras have their lesser known counterparts: itsy-bitsy Hindutva festivals that ravish daily calendars, that continue to be born everyday. Sociological analysis by Fuller, Geetha and Rajadurai , and Anandhi have studied the Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations in the state of Tamil Nadu at great length. Their independent researches has shed light on the imitation and replication of the Maharashtra example in the immersion of Ganesh idols [Fuller], of the recruitment of the subaltern sections in this event [Anandhi], and the engineering of the clashes with the minority communities [Geetha and Rajadurai]. Fuller’s engaging thesis—the most recent study on the Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations—describes of how the Sangh Parivar successfully appropriates local, traditional Hindu rituals to create a wider Hindu unity and establishes that “the primary goal for the Parivar in the utilization of such rituals is to persuade all Hindus to become conscious of belonging to a single, majority community.” Alas, Hindutva doesn’t stop with showing its might on the fourth day of the Bhadrapada. Hindutva celebrations are not once-in-a-year carnivals. Its like the local cinema screening sleazy films: there are four shows a day, and its almost always houseful. Or given the militant and deceptive posturing of the Orange Order outfits, here is a fitter illustration: Hindutva conscription is not always an imbecile Operation Shock Treatment (though that is resorted to during carnages, rapes, murders, and other cold-blooded lunacies). It is Operation Slow Poison. Every day, every week, every year. It works like tiny doses of arsenic, it percolates and mingles with your bloodstream, and before you are aware, you are dying the little deaths, someone else dictates your life. Such an assimilation is an all-year project.

In this paper, I have attempted to analyze the importance the Sangh Parivar lays on festivals as an integral part of their agenda of action, this continuous process of Hindutva conscription and consolidation through celebrations and rituals that are organized (or sometimes, hijacked); the varied attempts to appropriate the public space; the targeting of the oppressed sections and the women, its subsequent effects and the overall grave threat this seemingly innocent program poses to communal amity.

Sangh Parivar credo on festivals

The supreme ideologue of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), ‘Guruji’ M.S. Golwalkar believed that the festivals were a “medium of mass-awakening” besides the one-hour shakhas. In his Bunch of Thoughts, he wrote that “the tradition of national festivals that the Sangh has evolved is a potent medium of awakening the masses to our true and integrated national life.” So there dear readers, brace yourself for the first lesson we are to learn from a bunch of thoughts: the tradition of national festivals is what the Sangh has evolved. The festivals have not arisen out of centuries-old practice (how much more can they demean our ‘golden heritage’ that even according to their claims is five-thousand years old), or age-old traditions (parampara and sanskriti: where are they?). Instead the national festivals are mass-market products evolved by the Sangh.

Festivals differ largely from their one-hour-a-day meeting sessions. While shakhas are private bouddhik sessions for members only, Hindutva celebrations are sinfully different: they are bouddhik sessions for the public. It is an indoctrination amidst bhajans, it is a seduction in the midst of festive processions. If the freedom of imagination allows one to compare the shakha to a training ground of the desi Nazis, then the festivals are their fishing grounds. Every citizen is baited with what is scrumptiously called ‘cultural nationalism.’ The RSS, the parent organization of the large, unwieldy Sangh Parivar officially recognizes and observes only six national festivals. They are: Varsha Pratipada/ Yugadi (The Hindu New Year’s Day), Hindu Samrajya Dinostav (Coronation Day of Chatrapati Shivaji), Guru Pooja, Raksha Bandhan, Vijayadashami, and Makar Sankranti.

But this isn’t the norm for other members of the Parivar. Known for its dubious deviance from its claims, this issue is no different. Doublespeak arises out of their twice-born-ness. While the RSS recognizes only six days (please note the absence of the national independence day in this list), other organs of this large, fertile family have patented all calendar days for one festival or another.

It is widely known that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) carries the religious activities of the RSS, and is in charge of the festivals and celebrations. Let me attempt an analysis of the Hindutva Agenda of mass mobilization through a reading of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s statement on ‘Fairs, Festivals and Yatras’. Here are some excerpts from its official website: www.vhp.org

“The man is a social animal. He does not like to sit idle or live alone. He even wants to share his personal feelings of joy and sorrow with others. That is why he is fond of Festivals and Yatras as these are the main source of collectivization. The celebration has become the part and parcel of the human life since long.

In India celebration of fairs and festivals has become like a ritual. They are being celebrated separately according to one's faith, religion and custom. The festivity has special. significance in Hindu society as they are considered to be the real source., of imparting sanskara on the society. They are the reflectors of the memories of our great culture and civilization. In a Hindu house every day is a festival day.

Seeing the importance of Fairs, Festivals and Yatras, the V.H.P. started managing various Fairs, Festivals and Yatras to create the feeling of oneness and unity amongst various communities of Hindu society.”

I hate to interpret the obvious, to explain what dances from words set down in black and white. But an essay requires logical coherence, and an author’s indulgence now and then, to not only scream her ideas, but also to read out from between the lines.

The first statement is the recognition that festivals and yatras are the main source of collectivization. No wonder then, that the Sangh Parivar uses these festivals and yatras as the main tools in its political program. Religion, is not the criteria now, nor is dear-old-damned-for-dead spirituality. In the game of numbers, in the question of mobilization, the saffron wing has selected its potent machinery.

The second statement that needs to be given weight, is that every day is a festival day in a Hindu house. This is almost like dressing the sacrificial lamb before leading it to a butcher. Underlining the fact that there exists an innate religiosity in the Hindu home, is a way of preparing for that religious, festive fervor to be tapped, and exploited.

Next, we are told of how and why the VHP started ‘managing’ various fairs, festivals and yatras (that we collectively call as celebrations in this paper). Seeing the importance, or so the VHP says. Seeing is learning. Seeing is replicating. The VHP’s ‘management’ of fairs, festivals and yatras is not spontaneous, or devoted, or even remotely religious—it is a mere capitalization.

Of Dharma Yudh and Jihad

Here is an interesting article which was published in The Times of India. It is different and innovative. The writer deserves all praise for writing such a balanced article. The lines which appealed to me more than everything else is the one: "Planting a bomb surreptitiously to kill an innocent is not Jihad; so, too, burning a handicap person to death is not Dharma Yudh."

Let all those involved heed this sane advice. Let peace prevail. Let thousands of flowers bloom in this orchard. Congratulate this young writer and encourage him. He blogs here.
Salam Ishthiyaque bhai!

Of Dharma Yudh and Jihad

Sayyid Abdullah Tariq is a modern, educated Muslim from Rampur, U.P. He has devoted his life to studying the Quran and the Vedas and believes that the two Holy Scriptures were revealed to guide humanity. In October 2003, I invited him to deliver a lecture at the Hamdard University on "the commonalities between the Vedas and the Quran". During the lecture he, all of sudden, sought to know the communal composition of the audience. There were some 200 students and it was pleasing to note that about 60 per cent of them were Hindus. The speaker asked them if anyone had seen the Vedas; he was sure that none had read them. To our surprise no one gave an affirmative answer.

Until a few years ago, Hamdard University used to organize lectures by eminent scholars to sensitize students about various cultures. Unfortunately, the lecture series has discontinued but its relevance cannot be undermined. In fact, in view of rising communal tensions, universities in the country need to organize such lectures to produce better-informed leaders.

Ever since I heard Mr. Tariq's lecture in 2003, I have wondered if one's poor knowledge of his own religion is as dangerous for socio-communal harmony as our ignorance about other faiths. No one can deny that such ignorance has often been exploited by misguided elements to create cleavages in society. And, of late, elements of both —the Hindu and Muslim communities, as alleged by police and the media, have indulged in abominable acts of violence.

Both Hindu and Islamic scriptures have outlined their concepts of Dharma Yudh and Jihad. In essence, the two imply man's utmost effort, including war, to establish justice. They have not only explained their respective concepts of war but have also laid down principles which warring sides are required to observe.

Hindu scriptures have outlined the rules to be observed in the battlefield. The Manusmriti has forbidden to smite one's foes with sharp weapons concealed in wood or with arrows mischievously barbed. It has also forbidden the use of poisoned arrows, or darts blazing with fire. Similarly, it urges a horseman not to attack the enemy alighted on the ground, or those who surrender. A warrior in sleep or without arms will not be attacked; noncombatants are also to be spared.

The Mahabharata has also outlined similar rules which warriors are required to observe. Among other things, it has forbidden to kill a weak or wounded man. The old, women of all ages, children and those fleeing from the battlefield should neither be attacked nor killed. By-standers and non-combatant citizens walking along roads should not be killed. Above all, gardens, temples and other places of public worship are not to be attacked or ransacked. Fighting at night or attacking the enemy under the cover of darkness is also not permitted. As in other religions, in Islam too, the most important teaching is man's right to live. And the power to establish justice that involves taking an individual's life is vested with the state.

Killing a man unjustly is like killing all of mankind, declares the Holy Quran.

Islam has permitted war on those who oppress mankind, unleash violence and drive people out of their homes just because they follow a different religion. But while permitting war, Islam has also laid down some principles of warfare which are to be strictly followed. These principles, like those of Hinduism, are regarding the rights of combatants and non-combatants, the rights of ambassadors, captives and those conquered. The combatant belligerents are those who take up arms and physically participate in a war. Like Hinduism, Islam has also urged not to kill the aged, women, children, the sick, the wounded, the blind, the handicap and wayfarers. War has to be fought justly for a just cause and recourse to violence is permitted only in unavoidable circumstances.

It would be appropriate to ask if people, Hindus and Muslims allegedly involved in acts of terrorism, have ever sought to understand the noble teachings of their respective faiths regarding the rights of innocents who often happen to be targets of their ferocious bombings and mob frenzy. Dharma Yudh and Jihad are noble concepts and the two are waged for attaining cherished ideals like establishing justice and ending oppression. They are also conducted chivalrously and within the moral limits prescribed by Holy Scriptures.

Planting a bomb surreptitiously to kill an innocent is not Jihad; so, too, burning a handicap person to death is not Dharma Yudh.

There is something seriously wrong with the understanding that terrorism is Jihad or Dharma Yudh. It is sad to note that the energy of so many young men is being misused to cause destruction. It is negative thinking which succeeds only in holding back development. Positive thinking, on the other hand, enables man to create a better and more prosperous tomorrow which is what India needs.

THIS ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN TIMES OF INDIA ON NOV 2th (But you cannot see it in TOI's website.)