We need to stand up for the truth in these times when it is not popular to do so. All that flowery oratory and pep talk by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not taken our nation forward. Of course, he keeps preaching that the nation must progress but his private agenda not in keeping with the larger interests of the nation, puts him on the wrong track and for that he doesn’t enjoy the confidence of the people of this nation.
The RSS, with its best of intentions to make India leader of the world, is on the wrong path because of its religion-dominated agenda and the hatred to all other creeds arising from its patriotism. Some of the RSS men may be fine individuals but their patriotism fills them with bitterness and wrath towards every other creed that does not bow down to Bharat Mata.
Patriotism is the last resort of the scoundrel, wrote Tolstoy in his essay on “Government and Patriotism in the 1900s and it was promptly banned by the then Russian government. Tagore did not approve of militant nationalism and wrote a book (‘Nationalism’) which reportedly was approved as a textbook by the British University.
This patriotism-induced blindness is making it a force against the very Constitution of India which believes in secularism and guarantees equality, justice, and a fair playing field to every citizen of the country regardless of caste, creed or religion. Its narrow loyalty almost turns into a communal spirit, causing untold damage to unity and development of this nation. It is forced to resort to undemocratic and fascist ways to achieve its hidden goals. In this context, the evil of Communalism poses a far greater threat to this nation than even the cancer of Corruption.
What is more anguishing is that this devious coterie of so called champions of patriotism are slowly spreading poison in the minds of the silent majority of the majority community which is only dragging our country backwards. The gruesome murders of writers, thinkers and journalists and the brazen suppression of the media with the ruling party shedding crocodile tears, does not augur well for the very survival of our democracy.
There is a desperate need for unity among all political and secular forces who believe in our Constitution, in equality and freedom. Let the nation wake up to an old warning by Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
