This 30th January 2019, when the whole country was observing the 71st martyrdom day of ‘Father of the Nation’, Mahatma Gandhi, the members of Hindu Mahasabha recreated the murder of Gandhi in Aligarh. Led by Hindu Mahasabha Secretary Pooja Shakun Pandey, a group of saffron wearing workers assembled with preparation for video shooting. Pandey fired three shots on the effigy of Gandhi and blood started dripping from the balloon behind the effigy. The Assembled Hindu Mahasabha workers shouted slogans condemning Gandhi and hailing Godse, the murderer of Gandhi. They shouted Mahatma Nathuram Godse Amar Rahein (Long live Nathuram Godse). They declared that from this year on they will recreate Gandhi murder every year the way Ravan’s effigy is burned on Dusshera day.  The video went viral. Pandey’s facebook post also showed an earlier picture of hers’ with BJP leaders, ex MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Central BJP minister Uma Bharati. Police has filed criminal cases against some of those participating in the event.

The hailing of Nathurm Godse, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and attacking Gandhi has been the plank of Hindu Nationalists (Hindu Mahasabha and RSS). Few years ago in a public meeting Congress President Rahul Gandhi stated that RSS people killed Gandhi, a case was been filed against him, and RSS wants him to apologize as Rahul Gandhi holds on to his statement. A few years ago one leader of BJP, Gopal Krishnan, had said that Godse picked up the wrong target; he should have killed Nehru instead of Gandhi as Nehru was responsible for partition. Sakhshi Maharaj, the BJP MP stated that Godse was a patriot. Farmer RSS Sarsanghchalak Rajendra Singh had said that Godse had right intentions but his method was wrong.

None of these Hindu nationalists ever targeted Muslim League or Jinnah, who among others, had played a role in the partition of the country. During last few years those supporting Godse and Savarkar are becoming more assertive. There are few differences in the two branches of Hindu Nationalists, Hindu Mahasabha and RSS, still all those who oppose Indian nationalism and values of Indian Constitution have been covert or overt supporters of the ideology due to which Gandhi was murdered.

The plea given for Gandhi murder was that it’s due to Gandhi that Muslims became bolder, demanded Pakistan, and India had to give 55 corers to Pakistan. As a matter of fact the attempts to murder him had been on from 1934. The 30th January 1948 attack was the sixth in the sequence. Godse himself was involved in two earlier attacks. Nehru summed up the national mood when mourning the death of his mentor saying ‘light has gone and there is darkness around’. Teesta Setalvad in her compilation, ‘Beyond Doubt’ comprehensively deals with the issue. She quotes from Home ministry circulars, eminent books dealing with the issue (Jagan Phadnis –‘Mahtyamechi Akher’, Y.D. Phadke ‘Nathuramayan’ and Chunuibhai Vaidya’s book: ‘Spitting on the Sun’) and argues that the issue of partition and 55 Crores to the Pakistan were mere pretexts, as much before these issues came to surface, attempts on Gandhi’s life were made in 1934, 1940 and 1944. The real reason for attacks on the Mahatma was that he was a great Hindu and he was the greatest opponent of Hindu nationalism. Hindu nationalists saw him as the big obstacle to their agenda of Hindu nation. Surely Hindu nationalists’ major act of violence was to kill the greatest Hindu of our time, Gandhi.

Godse who succeeded in killing Gandhi was a trained Paracharak of RSS, who joined the Pune branch of Hindu Mahasabah in 1938 and edited a newspaper called Agrani subtitled Hindu Rashtra. In his journal a cartoon was carried with Gandhi as Ravan with ten heads (two heads being Patel and Netaji Bose) slayer being Savarkar. After the murder of Gandhi, RSS was banned by the then Home minster Sardar Patel, who in his letter to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee of Hindu Mahsabha stated that it was due to the hate spread by Hindu Mahasabha and RSS; due to which Nation had to lose its father. The main accused of Gandhi murder Godse had many accomplices one of whom was Savarkar. He was let off due to lack of any corroborative evidence. Jeevanlal Kapoor Commission, which went into the whole issue pointed out, “All these facts taken together were destructive of any theory other than the conspiracy to murder by Savarkar and his group.”

Also as far as Godse’s membership of RSS is concerned we should note that at that time RSS did not have a written Constitution and membership register. One of the conditions for lifting the ban on RSS was that it will have written Constitution. In Court Godse denied that he was member of RSS. RSS people also denied that Godse was part of RSS. In contrast Nathuram’s brother Gopal, who was a co accused with him, wrote, “The appeasement policy followed by him (Gandhi) and imposed on all Congress governments’ encouraged the Muslim separatist tendencies that eventually created Pakistan. Technically and theoretically he (Nathuram) was a member (of RSS), but he stopped workings for it later. His statement in the court that he had left the RSS was to protect the RSS workers; who would be imprisoned following the murder. On the understanding that they (RSS workers) would benefit from his dissociating himself from the RSS, he gladly did it.”

In RSS, Savarkar is given the high place for nationalism. The whole Nationalism as asserted by RSS-Hindu Mahasabha is sectarian Hindu Nationalism, the parallel and opposite of Muslim Nationalism propounded by Muslim League. It was Savarkar who had apologized to British to get released from Andmans., and later propounded ‘two nation (Hindu and Muslim) theory’. This was to opposes the Indian nationalism, which was surging under the leadership of Gandhi led Congress. The present recreation of the dastardly act is a symbol of rise in assertion of RSS-BJP during last few years in particular.

The suicidal terrorist, Adil Ahmad Dar, rammed his explosive laden car into two trucks of a CRPF convoy on 14 February 2019. The blast led to the brutal murder of 44 jawans, a big national tragedy, most heinous and condemnable. In terms of scale and casualties, it exceeds even the Uri attack of 18 September 2016, in which four heavily armed terrorists targeted an Army brigade headquarters, killing 19 soldiers. The Pulwama attack is even more serious than car-bombing at the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly complex in Srinagar on 1 October 2001, that killed 38 people. Both the Uri and Legislative Assembly terrorist attacks are said to have been carried out by the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (J-e-M). The same organisation has also taken responsibility for the Pulwama attack now.

In the aftermath of the Uri attack, India undertook a surgical strike in Pakistan, with the assumption that it is the fitting response to Uri terror attack. Pakistan denied any such attack having taken place on its soil. One recalls that even when demonetisation was undertaken, the claim was that it will curtail militancy in Kashmir as terrorists are able to operate with counterfeit currency, and demonetisation will render this currency useless. It is clear that there is no let up in terrorist attacks in Kashmir.

Following the attack, the Modi Government is trying to flex its muscles. Prime Minster Modi has declared that the army has been given a green signal to take suitable steps to counter the situation. Meanwhile, other developments taking place on the ground across the country are disturbing. There are reports that Kashmiri students have been threatened in various cities in several states. Tathagat Roy, the Governor of Meghalaya has given the call to boycott Kashmiris. A deliberate attempt is being made by Hindutva groups like Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters to whip up nationalistic passions with chants of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, waving of the tricolour, giving slogans against Pakistan, and associating Pakistan with Muslims. The likes of Anupam Kher and Sonu Nigam are spewing anger against secular and liberal people. At several places, vigilante groups are threatening Muslims. The situation in Jammu required the imposition of curfew as the threat to Muslims was palpable in the area. The BJP’s state chief of J&K Ravindra Raina and MP Jugal Kishore took part in the protests targeting the Muslims. The BJP has distanced itself from the violence without giving any statement condemning the participation of its leaders in these vicious protests.
The violence has left Kashmiri Muslims living in Jammu and other parts of India fearful.

It is another matter that in different places, many Muslim groups have come on the streets to denounce Pakistan and have strongly condemned the terror attack. The Chief of Ajmer Dargah, Syed Zainul Abedin, went to the extent of saying that people from Pakistan will be barred from visiting the Ajmer shrine. On one hand, activists and groups wanting peace have issued appeals for sheltering the targeted Kashmiris, while many local level leaders have threatened that those sheltering Kashmiris will be attacked. The speeches of communal elements are charging up the atmosphere in a very negative and divisive way.

How do we deal with this situation and bring peace to Kashmir? First we have to identify as to why the region is gripped in such a terror. There are multiple components, which have got mixed up. The militancy in Kashmir began in the decades of 1960s and assumed horrendous proportions since the 1980s. The core issue was the feeling of alienation in Kashmir. The feeling is that their autonomy has been curtailed over a period of time. This autonomy was a part of the treaty through which Kashmir acceded to India. As per article 370, Kashmir Assembly has all powers barring the areas of defense, communications, currency and external affairs. The abolition of this clause has been the an important part of the Hindutva agenda of RSS–BJP.

After the accession of Kashmir to India, the communal groups started the campaign that Kashmir should be totally merged into India. This sowed the seeds of the process of alienation of Kashmiri people right from the 1950s onwards. As this alienation increased, it led to many elements becoming disgruntled eventually led to the birth of militancy, which was given full support from across the border by Pakistan. Another development which has fuelled the growth of terrorism in the region is related to the politics for the control of oil resources. This process was initiated by America which helped the grooming of Al Qaeda type elements in Pakistani madrassas. This process of grooming terrorist elements was not only encouraged by also totally funded by America in the 1980s (America spent 8000 million dollars and supplied armaments to the tune of 7000 tons). These terrorist groups, after winning the war against the Soviet/Russian occupation of  Afghanistan, now became jobless and so entered Kashmir, taking advantage of the dissatisfaction that was already there. They trampled upon the unique culture of Kashmir, known as Kashmiriyat, a cultural synthesising of Buddhist values, Vedanta and Sufi tradition. This was one of the major factors which started the communalisation of the Kashmir problem and led to the exodus of Kahmiri Pundits from the Valley.

The Al Qaeda type terror groups, funded by America and housed in Pakistan, have now assumed the form of Frankenstein’s monster. Pakistan has lost over seventy thousand people in terror attacks, including the ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto. These terror groups do indeed get patronage from a section of the Pakistani army. The response to the situation of turmoil in Kashmir region requires a comprehensive understanding of the genesis and growth of terrorism in Kashmir. Adil Ahmad Dar, the Jaish-e-Mohammad recruit, is a local boy form Kashmir, who took the path of terror after being thrashed by the army. So far, most foot soldiers of the terror outfits have been from across the border. Now agitated local boys also have started joining these organisations. It is to be noted that during the last four and half years of Modi rule, the number of terror acts, recruits for terrorism and the army personnel killed in such incidents has gone up several times. An IndiaSpend analysis (a non-profit data portal) based on government data shows that over 800 terror incidents have been reported in J&K over the three years ending 2017, increasing from 208 in 2015 to 342 in 2017. As many as 744 people have died in these three years: 471 terrorists, 201 security forces and 72 civilians. While one can say that Pakistan based terror groups have played a major role in increasing the terror acts, it is equally true that this increase is the result of policies of the Modi regime, where dialogue has been replaced by bullets and pellet guns. Can terrorism be wiped out by bullets alone?

We of course need to improve the intelligence and security and prevent recurrence of such attacks.  Surely the Pakistan based terror groups need to be punished and brought to book. At the same time, it also needs to be realised that a surgical strike and aggressive words cannot save the region from the present tormenting situation. War is no solution, war itself is the problem. It is the soldiers again who will have to bear the brunt of the damages of war. Along with that, the whole region will sink into an abyss from which recovery will take years. While pursuing a firm policy in Kashmir and with our neighbour, we need to initiate a solid process of dialogue with the disgruntled elements and with our neighbour to bring peace to the region. A lasting peace is what we need; temporary aggressive measures will not eliminate the seeds of terror in the region. We need to introspect and realise that while Pakistani support and housing of terror groups worsens the situation, unless we address the grievances of local people, the outsiders will keep making merry by instigating and supporting the local dissident elements.

The creation of an atmosphere of retaliation is worsening the situation. It is a short sighted response, and inadequate to eliminate the problem of terrorism in the region. The present atmosphere where Muslims are feeling insecure and Kashmiris are being targeted is worsening the situation. We do need to give an atmosphere of security and amity to all our citizens. An appeal of harmony from the top may restrain the communal elements who in their display of hyper nationalism are creating a situation which violates the principle of fraternity, the foundation of our nation and the base of our Constitution. 

સિત્તેરમા પ્રજાસત્તાક વરસમાં પ્રવેશી રહ્યા છીએ અને ગાંધી શ્રાદ્ધ પર્વ તરતમાં બેસવામાં છે ત્યારે રાષ્ટ્રનું ચિત્ર કેવુંક દીસે છે? નમૂના દાખલ, આ દિવસોની એક જ ઘટના લઉં તો સરદારની સ્વયંઊંચી પ્રતિભાને એક હુકમરાનના તરંગબુટ્ટા પ્રમાણે પ્રતિમાએ કરીને ઊંચકવાની જે ચેષ્ટા થઈ એ સાથે આસપાસના આદિવાસી પંથકની ડૂસકાં અને ડુમાની જે દુઃખલાગણી રોકી રોકાઈ નહીં એ આપણી એટલે કે કથિત મધ્યધારા(અને મુખ્યધારા)ના લોકોની નિસબત જ જાણે કે નથી. નાગપુરના પ્લાન બી મુજબનાં નીતિન ગડકરીનાં ઉચ્ચારણો પહેલે પાને, ઊંચે મથાળે કે આગવી ચોકઠા શૈલીએ સતત સુરખીઓમાં માલૂમ પડે છે, એની સામે આવા કંઈકેટલાં ડુમા અને ડુસકાં નાખી નજરે વણનોંધ્યાં વરતાય છે નહીં કે નીતિન ગડકરીની સંઘચાલ કોઈ ચોંપની બાબત નથી; પરંતુ રાજકારી ગણતરીસરની આ બધી હિલચાલોથી દેશજનતાની મૂળ સમસ્યા દબાઈ જાય તે કેમ ચાલે ?

આ પ્રજાસત્તાક દિવસ, આમ તો, એક ઇતિહાસસુવાસે ભારઝલ્લો છે. જવાહરલાલ નેહરુના પ્રમુખપદે કૉંગ્રેસે મુકમ્મલ આઝાદી કહેતાં પૂર્ણ સ્વરાજનો ઠરાવ કીધો ત્યારે દેશભરમાં ૨૬મી જાન્યુઆરીએ સ્વતંત્રતા દિવસ મનાવવાનું એલાન થયું હતું. ત્યાર પછી, સ્વતંત્રતાની સિદ્ધિ ભણી એક નિર્ણાયક સોપાન રૂપ દાંડીકૂચનું આયોજન આપણી સામે આવ્યું હતું. ગાંધીએ નાતજાતકોમ સંધું વટી જતો જે મુદ્દો હાથમાં લીધો, મીઠાનો, એ આમ આદમીની અહમિયત અને અગ્રતા અંકિત કરતા ઢંઢેરાથી કમ નથી. લોકે પણ લવણ વાસ્તે લડી જાણ્યું અને એ પ્રક્રિયામાં લોકશક્તિનું લાવણ્ય પણ શતદલ કમલ પેઠે ફોરી રહ્યું.

લડાકુ ગાંધીનું લોકગણિત સાદું, બિલકુલ સાફસુથરું હતું : છેલ્લામાં છેલ્લા માણસનાં સુખદુઃખની ફરતે તમારા વિચારો ગોઠવો અને પ્રશ્ન ઉકલી જશે. જતી આવતી રાજવટો ક્યાં ઊભી છે આ કસોટીએ? વરસો પર એક આબાદ કાર્ટૂન જોયું હતું, અમેરિકી લોકશાહી પર બોલતી ટીકા રૂપે, કે સ્વાતંત્ર્યદેવીના પુતળાનો પડછાયો કાળો છે! અશ્વેત અમેરિકીજનોના દુર્દૈવ વાસ્તવ પરની એ એક મર્મવેધી ટિપ્પણી હતી. સરદાર પ્રતિમાનો પડછાયો કેટલા બધા વંચિતોની વિષમ અવસ્થા અંગેની વાસ્તવિકતા ઢાંકીધરબી દેતો હશે, ન જાણે.

જે એક આઈડિયા ઑફ ઇન્ડિયા સ્વરાજલડતની મુખ્યધારા વાટે ૧૯મી સદીના ઉત્તરાર્ધમાં અને ૨૦મી સદીના પૂર્વાર્ધમાં વિકસી બંધારણગત થયો એમાં કાળક્રમે નાનકડા અગ્રવર્ગ સિવાયના કંઈ કેટલા ફિરકા કંઈક સંઘર્ષથી, કંઈક વળતાં સમાવેશી વલણોથી ભળતા ગયા અને એમ કરતે કરતે આપણી બધી મર્યાદાઓ સાથે અને છતાં આપણે એશિયા અને આફ્રિકાની લોકશાહી શાળા રૂપે નિખર્યા છીએ – અથવા, ખરું કહો તો, હજુ નિખરી રહ્યા છીએ. જેમ પ્રેમ તેમ રાષ્ટ્રવત્સલ પ્રજાભાવ અને ઐક્યલાગણી સતત સિધ્ધ અને નવસાધ્ય કરવાપણું છે.

એક સતત ચાલતી પ્રક્રિયા આ તો છે. ઠીક જ કહ્યું હતું આંબેડકરે કે હવે બંધારણ અમલમાં તો આવે છે પણ તે સાથે આપણે એક વિષમ એવા પડકારભર્યા તબક્કામાં પ્રવેશીએ છીએ. રાજકીય અધિકારો તો મળ્યા પણ આર્થિક અને સામાજિક વાસ્તવિકતાનું શું તે સિંહસવાલ છે. અલબત્ત, ગાંધીએ તો આમ આદમીના મીઠાને લડતનો મુદ્દો કીધો તે સાથે એને જડી રહેલ જવાબ સાફ હતો અને છે. મીઠાની લડત, પુણે કરાર, મૂળભૂત અધિકારોનો ઠરાવ ‘૩૦’-૩૧-૩૨નો એ ગાળો એક રીતે પછી આવનારા પ્રજાસત્તાક બંધારણની નાન્દી ઘટના હતી.

સવાલ બંધારણીય ધોરણે આપણા અગ્રવર્ગે બાકી સૌની બાલાશ જાણવાનો અને એમને સારુ હકભેર સમાવેશી મોકળાશ કરવાનો છે. તમે એને નાગરિક રાષ્ટ્રવાદ કહો કે બંધારણીય રાષ્ટ્રવાદ, રસ્તો તો એ અને એ જ છે – નહીં કે વૈકલ્પિક વિમર્શરૂપે છેલ્લાં પંદરવીસ વરસમાં ઉછાળાઈ રહેલ વંશીય (ઍથ્નિક) રાષ્ટ્રવાદ. એ રીતે તીસ જાનેવારીની ઘટના શ્રાદ્ધ પર્વે ચાલવા જોઈતા આત્મમંથન અને વિચારયજ્ઞનું પુણ્યનિમિત્ત બની રહે છે. કવિએ તો એનો મહિમા કીધો કે એ એક સાંજને કેવું વીત્યું હશે જ્યારે એક સાથે બબ્બે સૂરજ આથમ્યા હશે. આ સાચુકલી પણ નકરી સેન્ટી સેન્ટી બની બેસે એવી ઉક્તિથી ઉફરાટે જોઈએ તો શું સમજાય છે? જેની હોંશ તરતના મહિનામાં વિના પાસપોર્ટ પાકિસ્તાનના સંત્રસ્ત બાંધવોની રૂબરૂ ખબર પૂછવા જવાની હતી એનો એક અતિવાદી ગોળીએ ભોગ લીધો. સીમિત અર્થમાં, લઘુમતીની બાલાશ જાણતી પ્રતિભાનો ભોગ લેવાયો – કહો કે, લઘુમતી સારુ રાષ્ટ્રપતિએ પ્રાણ દીધો; જેમ કાળા હમવતનીની દાઝ જાણતે લિંકને જીવ દીધો.

જાન્યુઆરી ૧૯૪૮ અધવચ્ચે ગાંધીએ એના જીવનનાં અંતિમ અનશન કર્યા હતા. આ અનશન પાકિસ્તાનને એના કાયદેસરના હિસ્સાની રકમ આપી દેવા માટે જ માત્ર કરાયા હતા એવી ઉપરચોટિયા સમજે આપણને બહુ પજવ્યા છે. આ ઉપરછલ્લી સમજવશ ગોડસેઘટનાને ઔચિત્યનો માંજો પણ ખાસો પવાતો રહ્યો છે. પણ પાકિસ્તાનને બાકી હિસ્સો આપી દેવાયા પછી પણ અનશન ચાલુ રહ્યા હતા એનું શું. ભાઈ, વાત એમ છે કે ઉપખંડ આખાના અંતરાત્માને ઢંઢોળવા વાસ્તે ગાંધીની આ આત્મબલિદાની ચેષ્ટા હતી. પાક પંજાબની ધારાસભામાં એથી સ્તો કહેવાયું હતું કે ગાંધીએ અમને અમારે ત્યાંની લઘુમતીઓની ચિંતા જાણવા સારુ જગાડ્યા અને ઝંઝેડ્યા છે. બલકે, શહાદતને વળતે દહાડે પાકિસ્તાન ટાઈમ્સે લખેલો એ અગ્રલેખ પણ વાંચવાવાગોળવા જેવો છે કે અમારે મિ. ગાંધીની ટીકા કરવાના પ્રસંગો એકથી વધુ વાર આવ્યા છે, પણ ત્યારે અને અત્યારે અમે એક વાત પર કાયમ છીએ કે આપણી વચ્ચે આ એક માણસ એવો છે (અને હતો) જેને સરહદની બંને બાજુએ એકોએક જણની ચિંતા હતી.

વસ્તુતઃ જે રાષ્ટ્રપિતા હશે તો હશે પણ ‘રાષ્ટ્રવાદી’ નિઃશંક નહોતો એની વિશેષતા એ હતી કે એણે રાષ્ટ્ર અને રાજનીતિને પરંપરાગત કેદચોકઠાની બહાર કાઢી જાણ્યાં. રાષ્ટ્ર નામની અમૂર્ત ખયાલાતને બદલે દરિદ્રનારાયણને એણે કેન્દ્રમાં આણ્યો અને આવા ચક્ષુપ્રત્યક્ષ અભિગમ સાથે એણે રાજનીતિને મહેલાતી કોચલાની બહાર કાઢી લોકમોઝાર આણી.

નવા ચુકાદા વાસ્તે દેશજનતા તરતમાં તડેપેંગડે થશે. (થનગનભૂષણો તો કે’દીના પૈણું પૈણું છે) પણ પ્રશ્ન આ છે : શ્રાદ્ધ પર્વનું આ મંથનભાથું પાધરું સમજાય છે?

સૌજન્ય : “નિરીક્ષક”, 01 ફેબ્રુઆરી 2019; પૃ. 01-02