Rahul Gandhi, Hindutva, And The Elephant In The Room

Rahul Gandhi is one of a kind politician who happens to have finally found his passion in testifying Savarkar's words right. Though the term misguided youth happens to be INC's brainchild, Rahul has dominated its poster boy position. Regardless of the customary temple visits amidst the election seasons, where Rahul Gandhi emerges as a "janeudhari" Brahmin and a ‘Shiv-Bhakt’ with much publicised trips to Kedarnath temple and Manasarovar, the Congress fared poorly in states where Hindus form a majority. Plus, it is equally ironic as it is abhorrent to see one after another Congress’s stalwarts lined up in a queue to smudge and besmirch Hindus and Hindutva - which are synonymous – notwithstanding the fact that the Supreme Court of India noted in 1995, in what became to be known as the Hindutva judgement, "Hindutva is not a religion, but a way of life and a state of mind." Though Congress leaders go to great lengths to portray Hindutva as a violent form of communal politics practised by the Sangh Parivar (RSS and affiliates), it appears, palpably, that there must be some 'Hindu basher' wing of the party, under the direct scrutiny of the high command, which allures every Congress leader.

 

 

This conspicuously seems to be a slew of concentrated efforts to create a wider discussion -a national altercation, and a public discourse - on "Hindutva against Hinduism," with Hinduism projected as the 'correct' choice and "Hindutva" projected as a divisive philosophy. In truth, there has been a concerted movement aimed at "dismantling Hindutva" globally, but it has failed miserably. Detractors of "Hindutva" are engaging in this 'word play.' In a way - subtly though - a deliberate attempt is made to discombobulate the votaries by debasing "Hindutva" as Lucifer, exalting "Hinduism" as Michael, and subsequently by creating a false equivalence between Hinduism and the Semitic or Abrahamic monolithic faiths. A classic case of what we should call 'gaslighting'. But there's a reason why the Nehru-Gandhi scion finds himself compelled to identify himself as a Hindu despite being the great-grandson of a person who is claimed to be a ‘Hindu by accident’ and the grandson of a woman who ordered to open fire in Jallianwala Bagh style on Hindu sages protesting against cow slaughter. His natural vote bank is drifting away since he can no longer gratify their wants due to a lack of electoral mandate from Hindus. Thus, it's necessary for him to get some support out of the forgiving majority so he can reassure his natural target audience.

 

He recently spat venom at a rally in Jaipur, Rajasthan, where he comfortably targeted Hindl despite his prominent presence in the G23 block. And here's what he and his friends have succeeded to pull off: It is now normal to parade people looking like BJP-RSS workers in a chained condition for caring abouus in the garb of calling them ‘Hindutvavadis’ and conveniently used the term 'Hindu' for diplomatic immunity. The discussion around Hinduism and Hindutva is long over as both are one and the same, but it doesn't bother the 'warrior prince.' In the process of antagonizing Hindus, he is happily jeopardizing the local cadre's image and efforts. So much so that those like Ghulam Nabi Azad had to be called in for damage controt Hindus. It is okay to hack a Sanjith in broad daylight, but when a Maridhas points out the truth, he is put behind bars. It is okay to desecrate ancient temples in the name of city beautification but restoring Kashinormalized mob lynching of a mentally challenged homeless boy in the Kapurthala Gurudwara under the facade (without its temple that an Islamic invader demolished) makes a Naushad teary-eyed. He and his kin have  of sacrilege and a soldier in the Gurdaspur Gurudwara but mocking Godhra train burning victims is now funny.

 

Mr. Gandhi has successfully played the de facto detractor of this nation's soul as he aligns his stance to Indian state's enemies like CCP - his MOU friends though - Pakistan, and Turkey. Hindutva is to Hindus is what soul is to the body, but Mr. Gandhi forgets that Indians understand Hindutva-Hinduism better than a forced politician with Italian roots. What is more interesting is that the Nehru-Gandhi lineage is blessed with a prince that has reincarnated over and over again, but somehow, it didn't work out to date. Albeit this time, it does seem that his obsequious aides have either abandoned his political career at faith's mercy or perhaps, he too, uses a toolkit similar to that of Disha Ravi. No matter how his actions unfold, he has started to rationalize Savarkar by slowly calling himself a Janeudhari Brahmin and soon, he might even wear the sacred thread over his coat. This is, no doubt, making his supporters feel backstabbed, including an aspiring CM candidate Harish Rawat (who calls himself a practicing Hindu) and a seemingly old 'student' Kanhaiya Kumar, who is supposedly secular. Time to call the elephant in the room?