Monday, September 13, 2004
Not Rana Pratap, Shivaji was his model, Mr Aiyar
http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=403043 Not Rana Pratap, Shivaji was his model, Mr Aiyar
Tuesday September 7 2004 11:31 ISTS Gurumurthy
"I am a Brahmin from Tanjore district. Yet I eat beef. I threw my sacred thread. I married, not a Brahmin, but, a non-Hindu. I am so secular." He went on. Not in a private talk, in a public speech. Sounds like Mani Shankar Aiyar? Right, it is he. This was in early 1980s at a seminar on secularism in Chennai. Arun Shourie, N. Ram among others were present. After giving my introductory address I too listened to what Mani claimed as his ''secular'' credentials. On this test, for a Muslim to claim 'secular' status, he must eat pork, cut off his beard and marry non-Muslims. But, for Mani, Muslims are, by birth, 'secular'. Only Hindus have to turn un-Hindus to be 'secular'.
Undoubtedly it is perverse. But it offers a clue to what is central to a fraudulent secularism in practise in this country. Demeaning and trivialising all symbols of reverence to Hindus is the very essence of this 'secular' outlook. Now it is easy to understand why Mani demeaned Savarkar, an icon of those who worship this nation as what Maharishi Aurobindo or Swami Vivekananda had perceived it to be. But as most Indians are told only about Nehru, Indira and now, Sonia, they are kept ignorant about Savarkars. That is Mani's jackpot.
Few Indians know Savarkar was the father of the Indian revolutionary movement. Even fewer know about his valour. Like when arrested and brought in a ship to India he crushed himself through the toilet exit to escape and swam to Marseilles in France even as bullets rained on him. Still few know that he was re-arrested by British Police in French territory, brought to India and given double life sentence for 50 years. Yes for 50 years! Branded dangerous he was consigned to the cellular jail in Andamans. Handful only have heard how Savarkar was beaten mercilessly day after day and made to do manual labour for years. Also how he was so solitarily confined that for years he did not know that his own brother was his neighbour in the same jail!
Savarkar spent 11 years in this condition, double the time Pandit Nehru spent in first class jail where in peace he could write his Discovery of India! A visit to the cellular jail which is full of names of martyrs from Punjab and Bengal is a greater lesson in nationalism than a library full of sermons on patriotism. Imagine a Nehru had spent a day in cellular jail. It would have become a pilgrimage point for all Congressmen. But, the cellular jail was not so fortunate. It had no first class facilities for receiving Nehrus.
Yes, when his health was failing Savarkar wrote to the British, accepted non-violence and constitutional form of work. This was after 11 years of painful torture which people like Mani cannot even imagine. Why did Savarkar choose not to die in pain in jail? Simple. He was cast in the mould of Chhatrapathi Shivaji. For Shivaji, action, victories were important. He would retract where he had to and attack where he found advantage. This is war strategy. Bhishmapitamaha in his exposition on 'Rajadharma' and Tsun Tsu in his Art of War have commended it. In contrast another icon of Indian struggle against aliens, Maharana Pratap, was a model of valour. He would rather die than retrace his steps.
Of the two models, against ruthless enemies who had no idea of 'dharma', it was the Shivaji model that succeeded, not Maharana Pratap's. Maharana Pratap was a great hero because of his valour, but Shivaji was a greater hero because of his success. Shivaji knew that for a wounded civilisation success was the cure, not valour in defeat. So he relentlessly worked for success. Savarkar, being a fellow Maharashtrian, adopted his model. Rather than languish and die in solitary jail he wanted to be out to work. In fact the Congress movement then worked to get Savarkar released.
Back from Andamans, Savarkar was kept under house arrest. Revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Bhai Parmanand visited him, seeking guidance. Mahatma Gandhi and Subhas Bose also consulted him. After Savarkar's demise, Indira Gandhi honoured him with a stamp, despite his arrest and acquittal in the Gandhi murder case. The Indira government citation on Savarkar hailed him as a great patriot whose memories will remain etched in the hearts of Indians. So despite differences, no one denied Savarkar his due place, then or later. Only recently the Italian-born Sonia objected to Savarkar's portrait in Parliament. Now Mani has removed the Savarkar plaque from cellular jail. They have merely betrayed their pettiness. In the process, they have hurt the sentiments of millions of nationalists just as part of vote bank politics. That is the truth.
