PaRCha - JNU - All Organisations - 2012 ID-53618
.
' .
~-.
Modi's image as a 'Hindu nationalist' h b ..
ero e1ng targeted by s 11 d, . .
encounters are usually faked by trig h o-ca e Muslim terrorists'. Whereas in other states such .
ger-appy cops to achi · · ' .
together by a nefarious political desig E h eve promotaon or medals, in Modi'-; regime they were knit .
· ,, . n. ac fake encounter re · ;. d h · ..
t e soCJal, national order who were ·t . m,orce t e Jdea of Mus!Jms as the supreme threat to .
h 11.
Communal violence and' h t n ua y v_anquJshed by Modrs police force, over and over again. a e-speech, then IS not an e b . . . .
governance. When he uses the analo f 'k' m arrassmg aberration, it is at the heart of the Modi model of . . . . gy o utte ka baccha' (the Eng!" h' · ' .
of th1s Hmd1 phrase a more apt trans!at· ld b IS puppy cannot convey the abusive c0nnotation . ' · ton wou e 'sons of b'"1t h ') f · · .
dendes secularism as a 'burqa' it is not , ff , c es or Vlcttms of the communal pogrom of 2002, or .
' a ga e as some of his c t d. · · .
language he has always used· recall h"ts . f orpora e me 1a apologtsts have claimed. This is the .
· m amous speeches equaf M r · · . .
0.
{'ham paanch hamare pachchees')· att k. h mg us lms wath f1ve w1ves and overpoopulation.
' ac mg t e· E1ectaon Comm· · · · h · .
name ('James Michaellyngdoh'); and brazen! b . .sso~n.er wot tauntong reference to hi~ C!lristian .
1.
done with a man like Sohrabuddt"n?" nd h _Y cehe ratang custo~aal ktlhng by asking an audience ~~what should be · a eanng t e respE:>nse· "K1II h · "M0 d.' 1 · .
'development' far above any comm r . · om. s omage-managers claim he is a hero of .
1 .
towards the M'uslim minorities is ine~~~c~~~~ttf~s. Buh~ ~odi has bh~azenly affirmed that contempt, hatred, and violence .
om IS 1magery, IS metaphors, and his politics. .
Seculansm and Democracy: Essential Components of Pro-People 'Governance' .
The prevailing mainstream discourse on secularism also calls for urgent challenge. .
Modi's Open Derision for Secularism .
On, the one. hand we. . have Modi's off dens1ve· usage of communal1magery and explicit equation of 'nationalism'.
,' ens1ve,· · · .
wtth the Hrndu rel1g1on. .
Modi has proclaimed that he is a '~Hindu nationalist"; and this, he claims, follows from being a Hindu an<l a nationalist.· Th1s IS a ~omple~e fal~acy. In the h1story of India's freedom struggle and since, there have been many Hindus who have been lndt~n nationalists to the core, but have expressly rejected any notion of 'Hindu rashtra.' The 'Hindu nation' was always a f1gment ofthe fascist imagination of the Rashtriya Swayam~evakSangh, of which Modi is a proud product. And the '\55' modeI of" politicaI action from its i nee ption was against anti-coloniaI nationalism, and only obsessed with .
fannmg up hatred against Muslims. .
0~ the heels of his :puppy: analogy, Modi used the 'burqa' metaphor in a speech, saying that the Congress is hiding its .
failures behrnd the burqa of secularism. Again, the use of the 'burqa' (rather than the word 'purdah' which is used by .
Hindus and Muslims alike) metaphor is a very deliberate jibe aimed at the Muslim minoritv and aimed to provoke .
.
contempt for 'secularism' by equating it with Muslims. .
Clearly Modi consi_ders secularism to be a dispensable veil, but India needs it as an essential ingredient for survival .
.
and progress. · .
.
'Secular' Must Mean More Than 'Not Nakedly Communal' .
In response to Modi's 'burqa' barb, the Congress replied by saying that the 'burqa' of secularism is preferable to naked .
.
communalism. The Congress thus concurs with the BJP that secularism belongs to the realm of form and not essence. .
.
For Congress, Nitish Kumar, for Mulayam Singh, Mayawati, or Mamata Banerjee and for most other ruling class formations, 'secularism' has become nothing much more than rank opportunism, whereby the goo/posts of 'secular' .
and 'communal' can be changed according to convenience. The Congress claims to be 'secular' on the strength that its politics does not require its I eaders to compare MusI i ms to 'kutte ka baccha.' But when it comes to a positive atmosphere of ensuring equality, dignity and security of minorities, the Congress' record is a dismal one (as it that of the other non-BJP ruling class parties). The failure to implement the recommendations of the Sachar Committee, the complete betrayal of the efforts to secure justiceagainst perpetrators of communal violence (ignoring the Sri Krishna Commission .
or the liberhans Commission) are just a few of the Congress' opportunist compromises with communal forces. .
Manmohan Singh himself has, offensively, equated anti-imperialism with 'Muslim communalism', accusing opposition .
to his Government's anti-Iran vote under US pressure at the IAEA of being an attempt to 'communalise foreign policy' ! .
8&.
00 .
Rajiv Gandhi's 'When a big tree falls, the earth shakes' metaphor for the anti-Sikh pogrom following Mrs. Gandhi's .
.
ki IIi n g isn'tmuch better than Modi's'Newton's I aws of motion,' as a shameless attempt at justifying a Congress-spa nsored .
.
communal pogrom. .
Should We Vote for Killers of Innocent' Citizens? .
Atif and Sajid (killed by police at Batla House), Khalid Mujahid in custody of UP police, 19-year-old lshratJahan, political .
science teacher Manzoor Ahmad Shan (among those shot dead by BSF at Ram ban on Kashmor), Khumbongmayum Orsonjit .
( ki lied by Army in fake encounter in Manipur)... should the murder ofthese inn ace n t citizens not be a politica 1 issue? .
.
The 'normalisation' ofcustodial/extrajudicial torture and killing is fri_ghtening. The rulingclass parties and mainstream . d. eat"'dloy argue that the cold-blooded murder of c1t1zens by men tn umform ought to be kept out of .
~ 3 .
.
me 1a rscourse rep t::; .
d .
.
.
.
PaRCha - JNU - All Organisations - 2012 ID-53618
.
' .
~-.
Modi's image as a 'Hindu nationalist' h b ..
ero e1ng targeted by s 11 d, . .
encounters are usually faked by trig h o-ca e Muslim terrorists'. Whereas in other states such .
ger-appy cops to achi · · ' .
together by a nefarious political desig E h eve promotaon or medals, in Modi'-; regime they were knit .
· ,, . n. ac fake encounter re · ;. d h · ..
t e soCJal, national order who were ·t . m,orce t e Jdea of Mus!Jms as the supreme threat to .
h 11.
Communal violence and' h t n ua y v_anquJshed by Modrs police force, over and over again. a e-speech, then IS not an e b . . . .
governance. When he uses the analo f 'k' m arrassmg aberration, it is at the heart of the Modi model of . . . . gy o utte ka baccha' (the Eng!" h' · ' .
of th1s Hmd1 phrase a more apt trans!at· ld b IS puppy cannot convey the abusive c0nnotation . ' · ton wou e 'sons of b'"1t h ') f · · .
dendes secularism as a 'burqa' it is not , ff , c es or Vlcttms of the communal pogrom of 2002, or .
' a ga e as some of his c t d. · · .
language he has always used· recall h"ts . f orpora e me 1a apologtsts have claimed. This is the .
· m amous speeches equaf M r · · . .
0.
{'ham paanch hamare pachchees')· att k. h mg us lms wath f1ve w1ves and overpoopulation.
' ac mg t e· E1ectaon Comm· · · · h · .
name ('James Michaellyngdoh'); and brazen! b . .sso~n.er wot tauntong reference to hi~ C!lristian .
1.
done with a man like Sohrabuddt"n?" nd h _Y cehe ratang custo~aal ktlhng by asking an audience ~~what should be · a eanng t e respE:>nse· "K1II h · "M0 d.' 1 · .
'development' far above any comm r . · om. s omage-managers claim he is a hero of .
1 .
towards the M'uslim minorities is ine~~~c~~~~ttf~s. Buh~ ~odi has bh~azenly affirmed that contempt, hatred, and violence .
om IS 1magery, IS metaphors, and his politics. .
Seculansm and Democracy: Essential Components of Pro-People 'Governance' .
The prevailing mainstream discourse on secularism also calls for urgent challenge. .
Modi's Open Derision for Secularism .
On, the one. hand we. . have Modi's off dens1ve· usage of communal1magery and explicit equation of 'nationalism'.
,' ens1ve,· · · .
wtth the Hrndu rel1g1on. .
Modi has proclaimed that he is a '~Hindu nationalist"; and this, he claims, follows from being a Hindu an<l a nationalist.· Th1s IS a ~omple~e fal~acy. In the h1story of India's freedom struggle and since, there have been many Hindus who have been lndt~n nationalists to the core, but have expressly rejected any notion of 'Hindu rashtra.' The 'Hindu nation' was always a f1gment ofthe fascist imagination of the Rashtriya Swayam~evakSangh, of which Modi is a proud product. And the '\55' modeI of" politicaI action from its i nee ption was against anti-coloniaI nationalism, and only obsessed with .
fannmg up hatred against Muslims. .
0~ the heels of his :puppy: analogy, Modi used the 'burqa' metaphor in a speech, saying that the Congress is hiding its .
failures behrnd the burqa of secularism. Again, the use of the 'burqa' (rather than the word 'purdah' which is used by .
Hindus and Muslims alike) metaphor is a very deliberate jibe aimed at the Muslim minoritv and aimed to provoke .
.
contempt for 'secularism' by equating it with Muslims. .
Clearly Modi consi_ders secularism to be a dispensable veil, but India needs it as an essential ingredient for survival .
.
and progress. · .
.
'Secular' Must Mean More Than 'Not Nakedly Communal' .
In response to Modi's 'burqa' barb, the Congress replied by saying that the 'burqa' of secularism is preferable to naked .
.
communalism. The Congress thus concurs with the BJP that secularism belongs to the realm of form and not essence. .
.
For Congress, Nitish Kumar, for Mulayam Singh, Mayawati, or Mamata Banerjee and for most other ruling class formations, 'secularism' has become nothing much more than rank opportunism, whereby the goo/posts of 'secular' .
and 'communal' can be changed according to convenience. The Congress claims to be 'secular' on the strength that its politics does not require its I eaders to compare MusI i ms to 'kutte ka baccha.' But when it comes to a positive atmosphere of ensuring equality, dignity and security of minorities, the Congress' record is a dismal one (as it that of the other non-BJP ruling class parties). The failure to implement the recommendations of the Sachar Committee, the complete betrayal of the efforts to secure justiceagainst perpetrators of communal violence (ignoring the Sri Krishna Commission .
or the liberhans Commission) are just a few of the Congress' opportunist compromises with communal forces. .
Manmohan Singh himself has, offensively, equated anti-imperialism with 'Muslim communalism', accusing opposition .
to his Government's anti-Iran vote under US pressure at the IAEA of being an attempt to 'communalise foreign policy' ! .
8&.
00 .
Rajiv Gandhi's 'When a big tree falls, the earth shakes' metaphor for the anti-Sikh pogrom following Mrs. Gandhi's .
.
ki IIi n g isn'tmuch better than Modi's'Newton's I aws of motion,' as a shameless attempt at justifying a Congress-spa nsored .
.
communal pogrom. .
Should We Vote for Killers of Innocent' Citizens? .
Atif and Sajid (killed by police at Batla House), Khalid Mujahid in custody of UP police, 19-year-old lshratJahan, political .
science teacher Manzoor Ahmad Shan (among those shot dead by BSF at Ram ban on Kashmor), Khumbongmayum Orsonjit .
( ki lied by Army in fake encounter in Manipur)... should the murder ofthese inn ace n t citizens not be a politica 1 issue? .
.
The 'normalisation' ofcustodial/extrajudicial torture and killing is fri_ghtening. The rulingclass parties and mainstream . d. eat"'dloy argue that the cold-blooded murder of c1t1zens by men tn umform ought to be kept out of .
~ 3 .
.
me 1a rscourse rep t::; .
d .
.
.
.