Can’t Convince? – Then Confound the Issue
The ugly fracas at JNU has
opened up a Pandora’s Box, and given all political parties an opportunity to
play, what they excel at – dirty politics. Much to the disappointment of Armed
Forces personnel, the fracas has pushed the emotive issue of the tragic demise of L/Nk
Hanamanthappa and his nine comrades into the background. But, it didn’t stop
the self-anointed arbiters of “patriotism” from brazenly exploiting his heroic
struggle against death, to decry the “lack of patriotism” of rival political
parties. Even that insufferable loudmouth, Arnab Goswami outdid himself by
shamelessly using his name to shout down panelists on his “Noise-Hour”
programme.
Anti-national slogans by the
demonstrators have to be condemned unequivocally. The actual perpetrators must
be identified, their antecedents made public and appropriate action taken
against them; no question about it. All political parties have in fact demanded
the same, quite unambiguously. But, the
blatant attempt of the Ruling party and its ideological fraternity to deliberately
confound the issue, is most disturbing.
It is reprehensible that they
have used the highly objectionable slogans of a small group as a pretext to question
the patriotism of all students and faculty, and tar the entire institution. Foisting
sedition charges on Kanhaiya Kumar, despite his not shouting even a single
anti-national slogan in the videos, merely because he was decrying the HRD
Minister and the Govt on various issues, is bound to boomerang. Its cadres are
using abusive language and violence against those protesting ham-handed actions
of the Mighty State, which smacks of unbridled authoritarianism.
The ploy of “giving the dog a
bad name and shooting it” is not new. It has been used all through the ages to neutralize
those deemed inimical by the Ruling Elite. It is not confined to absolute
monarchies, dictators and fascist regimes alone. Even democracies have used
it, though with more finesse. J Edgar Hoover’s crusade against commies, or the suppression
of anti-VietNam war groups in USA, and our own excesses during the Emergency
are some examples.
However, history also shows
that none of those regimes survived for long and people, howsoever weak they
might have been, have prevailed ultimately. Just as the trite saying “nothing
succeeds like success,” it can also be said, “nothing backfires like excess.”
There
are several signs that the Ruling party is treading dangerously in that
direction. It has brazenly foisted own people in FTII, Censor Board, Think-tanks,
universities and bodies that decide on curricula and textbooks. It has not
reined in its leaders from making highly inflammatory statements, and it has drowned
out voices that sought to protest intolerance. It has stubbornly refused action
against senior leaders facing serious corruption charges and has misused the office
of Governors. In fact it is doing all those things that it had accused the
Congress regimes of, and for which they were punished by the people. It would
be a pity if the Ruling party were to meet the same fate.
