Sabotage politics has been found new normal in Indian Politics now-a-days. And the high stubbornness of Jaichand kind in executing sabotage politics is clearly visible. The origin of this kind of politics may be traced back to earlier years of post-Independent India’s democratic politics that the historians may chronicle. But, this author for this discussion only concentrates on some issues taken place in recent pasts having great negative impact on the efforts to get back India-as-a-Nation or Bharat-as-a-Rashtra’s lost glory of pre-bloody invasions of Arab-Central Asians and European Abrahamic proselytizers with well-documented sword-in-one-hand and Quran/Bible-in-other consecutively for some thousand years. Sadly intellectuals and prominent civil society members of the country are either silent or have been integral part of this self-destructive sabotage politics which has in the meanwhile got emphatic intellectual and financial (One Dollar=Rs.78/-) backing from Western institutions-NGOs-Media and White Supremacists billionaires respectively.
Here, before going to the core theme of the issue, this author would like to remind all who lead this negative pack that you may get victories here and there, and sporadically; but note, they are not permanents. Indian civilization unlike several others, which lost to proselytizers’ aggressions in Middle-East, South-East Asia, Central Asia, Europe and Africa since AD, has survived since BC, and would remain so till the human civilization is blessed to be there on the earth surface along with proudly providing shelter to the persecuted lots –as this is the Indian Civilisation’s proud civilisational legacy- implementing CAA kind legislature as and when required.
As we all witnessing now-a-days, a raging debate –as raised by the scion of nation’s leading opposition party owner in presence of one Left party supremo and one regional party owner’s scion during one of his Western country sojourn- has been going on over whether India is a ‘Union of States’ or a ‘Nation/Rashtra’, a non-issue picked up from where that God knows when the same very politicians question government policies related to CAA, Triple Talaq, Art370, etc. for concentrating in divisive politics instead of concentrating over issues such as farm crisis, poverty, inflation, pandemic, climate change, education, medical facilities, connectivity’s, national security, etc. that impact common people’s lives.
The issue whether India is a ‘Union-of-States’ or ‘Nation/Rashtra’ has been long settled once-and-for-all in favour of latter with clear mention of the same in the sole of the constitution that is PREAMBLE after due deliberations participated by none other than the Father of Indian Constitution and respected statesman, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in the Constitution Assembly itself. And since then the issue was never raised.
Yet the scion of leading opposition party owner –the party which never loses opportunity to claim for so-called sole fighter of country’s freedom and ruled the country for five and half decades out of seven and half decades of self-rule- raised this issue in the White Supremacists citadel when some divisive elements in media and civil society back in the country working relentlessly to create North-South divide over economic and educational issues and revenue contribution to national treasury apart from regional party politicians raising national language issue though latter has been well-penetrated in their state/s and the people from their states never raised the language difficulties when they are visiting other states and conducting businesses there including North and their children studying the language as they send their children to public schools.
Should this author assume in view of the timing of the ‘Union of States’ raised that it has link with divisive ‘North-South’ debates? This author does not find any political mileage the opposition leaders would get over the issue. But, it is certain that the issue offers divisive benefit to enemy of the country. While the Left Party supremo and the scion of regional party present in the venue remained silent, a young bureaucrat from country’s Civil Service studying Public Policy in the Western University had to question the divisive talk and not being satisfied with the response educated the speaker and audience quoting Article 1 of the Indian Constitution that ‘Constitution does mention India as a nation.’ Latter he explained, “Bharat itself is one of the oldest surviving civilisations in the world. And the term finds its origins in Vedas…even Chanakya described India as a nation to his students while teaching at Takshashila. Chanakya used the term ‘Rashtra’, a Sanskrit word for ‘Nation’ to characterize India. So unless nation has a strong socio-cultural and emotional bonding and a composite culture, a Constitution cannot make a Nation. Nation makes constitution.” And asked the speaker, “My question to you is that, as a political leader, don’t you think your idea of India is not only flawed and incorrect but also destructive as it attempts to whitewash a history of thousands of years?”
After sabotaging the government policies and laws made -per example Farm Laws- through due Parliamentary procedures, now attempt has been made to sabotage the ‘Nation’, the very basis of country’s body politics. In democratic politics, power keeps on changing from one party to another based on periodically held elections. Sometimes, a party goes on winning election after election consecutively for several terms as seen in India itself with Congress Party winning elections for five terms from 1952 to 1971, Left parties for seven terms in WB, etc. And in recent past, the same Congress Party won two consecutive terms in 2004 and 2009, while BJP won two consecutive terms in 2014 and 2019. This kind of political power change is not restricted to only Indian Democracy. While the winner goes on ruling, loser/s introspect and correct itself/themselves so to win the election in next democratically available moment. But if the political parties/leaders sabotage the Nation, where they will do the politics?
In the past to sabotage a regional party government in Punjab in late 1970s, an unknown religious leader from minority religion was clandestinely promoted by grand old party supremo, who had lost the power in 1977 election for her crime of imposing draconian National Emergency to rescue her from adverse judgment for electoral malpractice, to be a dreaded extremist with objective to disturb social harmony and peace of the state so that the promoter would get divisive political mileage. Result of this political misadventure led to assassination of the promoter herself in 1984 after she had returned to power in 1980 election, and so was Prime Minister. As if that was not enough, a devastating riot in which thousands of innocent Sikhs were allowed to be butchered by the same political party resulting a social and religious divide between the two communities who are two brothers from the same mother, and fought and sacrificed for each other’s security and wellbeing for centuries.
Now, the above kind of sabotage politics has been found as part of body politics of other political parties’ -national and regional- as if this has been integral part or norm of Indian body politics. During devastating rein of dreaded pandemic Covid19, political leaders openly promoted vaccine hesitation among people as they saw in large-scale deaths electoral mileage for them. They opposed the Farm Laws which was made to reform agriculture sector for better productivity and higher income to sector’s dependents who constitute more than 50% of nation’s population but contribute less than 18% to nation’s GDP. Now attempt has been made to defame and demoralizing IFS officer over alleged allegation of European bureaucrats that the “Indian Foreign Service has completely changed, they don’t listen to anything, they’re arrogant.” India’s FM, himself a former IFS officer, has rightly countered, “Yes, the Indian Foreign Service has changed. Yes, they follow the orders of the Government. Yes, they counter the arguments of others. No, it’s not called Arrogance. It is called Confidence. And it is called defending National Interest.” Frankly, Indians’ CONFIDENCE is new normal, whether some like it or not.
