JUN-21 BOUDHIK YOJANA

Jun-06-2021 Samachar Sameeksha: Bengal post-poll violence

>After independence multiple portions of smaller areas were merged into the creation of West Bengal. Congress Govt which was in power at the start did nothing to improve the situation of people, development.

> High handed nature of administration led to start of Naxalism from Naxalbari in 1967 as a revolt against government

> Naxalist connect with masses helped the Communist party and they stormed into power in 1977. The whole administration was slowly occupied by CPI-M.

> People had to go to party office first and then they could get their work done in a government office. Syndicate was born which was group of party members of that area and controlled every aspect of life.

> Syndicate also collected cut-money to finance their party and livelihood. It led to destruction of business and industry and eventual migration outside Bengal

> Communist power also did not allow any other ideology especially RSS and shakhas had to be run under protection as there were attacks and murders of swayamsevaks.

> As Trinamool came to power in 2011, all the cadre shifted from CPI-M to Trinamool so same way of working continued. Political violence of communists continued under garb of Trinamool.

> Trinamool also encouraged Jihadis by naked Muslim appeasement like postponing Durga Murti Visarjan, dis-allowing Saraswati Puja in schools and even including them in OBC reservation system.

> 2017, Sree Ram Shobha Yatra was a big success with 2 million people gathering across the state and made government to take notice

> Even with threat of violence, BJP won 5000 gram panchayat seats in elections and went on to win 18 Lok Sabha seats in 2019

> Same culture of political violence continued after 2021 elections, 5500 karyakarthas in 4000 villages have been attacked

> Houses have been looted, razed to ground by bull-dozer, children and elderly have been attacked, people have been killed, women modesty has been outraged by Jihadis and Trinamool workers

> Sangh and BJP has helped them to file FIRs and PILs in High court and Supreme court. Governor has visited the impacted areas and exposed the silence of administration

> NCW and NHRC have taken notice and pressurizing the government to take action against criminals.

> Despite all the attacks, our karyakartas have stayed strong and are still ready to fight for their cause

> We should try to spread these facts among people to awaken them about the situation in Bengal and make it a national cause

 

June 13-2021 Charcha: Emergency & RSS: A forgotten chapter in India’s recent history

June 25, 2021 will be observed as ‘Black Day’, marking the 46th anniversary of the Emergency imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.

Declaration of Emergency

Congress under Smt Indira Gandhi had won a decisive mandate of 352 seats in 1971. The backdrop of bank nationalization and stopping of privy purses had made image of Smt Indira Gandhi as a decisive leader. In December 1971 she won the Bangladesh war too, however internally the situation was explosive due to corruption and inflation. Gujarat saw the start of ‘Navnirman Andolan’ by students and youth against Congress CM Chimanbhai Patel. At the same time, Bihar saw the rise of ‘Sampoorna Kranti’ under leadership of Jaiprakash Narayan.

Indira Gandhi’s election was challenged in Allahabad HC and on 12^th June her election was declared null and void due to election malpractices. Shaken by the court decision and rising discontent she along with support of Communist Party declared ‘Emergency’ from 25^th June 1975.

After a midnight proclamation signed by president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Gandhi ruled virtually by decree, bypassing Parliament. She suspended civil liberties, habeas corpus, and freedom of the press. Congress government, leaders, government officials gained immense power to arrest anybody without reason, incarcerate them for indefinite period. The government and it’s officials perpetrated barbaric acts on opposition activists and swayamsevaks which will bring even British to shame. Most opposition leaders were thrown into prison, including octogenarian Morarji Desai and ‘Loknayak’ Jayaprakash Narayan or JP. The latter was ailing and suffered kidney failure.

Ban on RSS

Congress and it’s leaders were thinking of banning RSS after victory of 1971. They were ably supported by Communists outside and within Congress because of their visceral hatred towards RSS. Siddarth Shankar Ray had written a letter to Indira Gandhi suggesting to ban RSS in January 1975. Then Sarsanghchalak, Pu Balasaheb Deoras had commented in a press conference that ‘ RSS will oppose any unilateral move by Congress government to turn India into dictatorship from democracy’. His mantra was ‘Organization’ ‘Mobilization’ and ‘Action’.

RSS had started planning for the ban sensing it’s inevitability. Pu Sarsanghchalak had planned 1000-2000 Pracharak to go underground and continue the struggle under leadership of Sarkaryavah Madhavrao Mule. He saw it is an opportunity for leapfrogging growth of RSS, saying that this ban will help us achieve in 2 years what would have taken 20 years of effort. He said struggle against ‘Emergency’ was a ‘battle of nerves’.

95% of the people arrested under MISA during Emergency were RSS swayamsevaks. However RSS did not think of opposing ‘Emergency’ just to lift the ban but it was a war cry to ‘Save Democracy’. It was not a struggle of RSS alone but the whole society had to fight for it’s democratic rights.

Haters become admirers

JP, a lifelong Gandhian Socialist, became the rallying point in a struggle to overthrow Mrs. Gandhi. Socialists, we should remember, were also allergic to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Mrs. Gandhi had of course banned RSS during the Emergency. However, it was the RSS, with its thousands of karyakartas, swayamsevaks and pracharaks (activists), that was leading the fight against Emergency on behalf of civil society. JP was forced to change his mind; he became an ardent supporter of the RSS.

We may recall that during the Partition, the RSS had sheltered leaders of all political stripes and colours, as well as protected their families from murderous criminals and killers in West Punjab, soon to become Pakistan. If there was one organisation that offered succour and safe passage to Hindu refugees streaming into India across the border, it was the RSS. Once again during the Emergency, the RSS, though banned, helped protect many underground leaders, regardless of political affiliation. Indeed, in or out of jail, most non-Congress politicians suddenly discovered that the RSS workers were not ‘untouchable’. Soft spoken, disciplined, and ever willing to sacrifice their own comforts and conveniences to serve others, they earned widespread affection and respect. In a 2003 article in The Hindu, Prof Arvind Rajgopal commented ‘ It was RSS that saved democracy’. Bal Thackeray who supported Emergency later commented that “Balasaheb Deoras was a warrior against Emergency. He inspired an underground movement which ultimately led to downfall of Congress government”.

After the Emergency was lifted, these humble RSS workers returned home to their normal lives without any fuss or seeking of favours. This despite the fact that many of them, not to mention their families, had suffered tremendous hardship and privation.

Failed Janata Party Experiment

The contribution of RSS to the struggle against Emergency was soon forgotten. The newly forged Janata Party, which won a massive mandate in the 1977 general elections, formed the government with Morarji Desai as PM. The spirit of 1977, however, was short-lived. Raj Narayan, the ‘giant slayer’, who had defeated Mrs Gandhi in her own stronghold of Rae Bareli, turned into the sinister joker in the pack. He raised the bogey of dual membership, objecting to former members of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh continuing to be members of the RSS. But RSS workers had always been seconded or assigned to other organisations. The Jana Sangh, founded by Syama Prasad Mukherjee on Vijayadashami, October 21, 1951 was no exception. Even today some of the top leaders, not to speak of rank and file of BJP, come from the RSS. Party breaker Charan Singh, forgetting RSS sacrifices during the Emergency, made it the scapegoat. The Janata Party, a motley patchwork of all kinds of parties and ideologies —in today’s parlance, a mahamilavat —fell apart in 1988. Whatever remained of it merged into Charan Singh’s Janata Dal. Charan Singh grabbed the PM’s gaddi displacing Morarji Desai. The euphoria was over.

Lotus Blooms

The RSS and the erstwhile members of the Jana Sangh formed a new political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, on April 6, 1980, with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani as its leaders. That is how the lotus first bloomed in the stinking sludge of the failed Janata Party experiment. Today, people talk about how the idea of India has changed under Modi 2.0. Actually, if ever it was seriously threatened, it was during the gloomy interregnum of the Emergency. On “Black Day”, June 25, 2021, let us remember how the RSS fought tooth-and-nail to restore our democracy and freedom, both of which remain central to the enduring idea of India.

Reference: 1) https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-emergency-rss-a-forgotten-chapter-in-india-s-recent-history-2763669

2) Deoras Parva by Virag Pachpor

 

Jun 20-2021 Boudhik: Hindu Samrajyotsav

Hindu Samrajyotsav is celebrated in June as 06^th June was the date of Shivaji Maharaj’s coronation. It is called as ‘Samrajyotsav’, however Chatrapati Shivaji’s kingdom was small, encompassing 3-4 districts of today’s Maharashtra. It was a small kingdom if compared to empires seen in Bharat be it Maurya, Gupta, Chola, Pandya or so on.

Why ‘Samrajya’?

When Veer Savarkar was condoling the death of Pa Pu Doctorji, he is supposed to have said “ Greatness of a man should be measured by the length of his shadow on future”. These were prophetic words and can be applied the same way to Shivaji Maharaj.

Shivaji Maharaj’s life from 1646 to 1680 was one of heroic fight against tyranny and religious oppression. At the time of his death, he had firmly established a Hindu power center in South. It was the only kingdom which could take on might of Mughals, then the largest empire in Asia. It is the saga after his death which forms the story of creation of Hindu Samrajya.

27 year War

Post Shivaji Maharaj’s death, Aurangzeb sensed an opportunity to crush the flame of freedom. He encouraged Adilshahi, Siddis, Portuguese to encircle Hindu kingdom and snatch away any territory they could. He himself landed in Deccan with 7 lac infantry , 3 lac cavalry and all the infinite resources of empire. Facing him was a young man of 32, Sambhaji Maharaj, elder son of Chatrapati Shivaji. Even in such dire straits, Aurangzeb could not win a single fort for 6-7 years. As a morale booster for his army, he captured Bijapur and Golconda and finished off Adilshahi and Qutubshahi kingdoms. Treachery led to Sambhaji Maharaj’s capture and he was tortured to death for refusing conversion.

The baton now passed to younger son, Chatrapati Rajaram, 19 years old. He escaped from Raigad, Maharashtra to Jinjee, Tamil Nadu and the struggle continued. Death of their king seem to have invigorated Hindus to core. They were spilling over into not only Karnataka and TN in South but Gujarat in West and Malwa in North, harassing the Mughals. Santaji Ghorpade in a daring guerilla raid attacked the royal tent of Aurangzeb and carried away the royal emblem. After the death of Chatrapati Rajaram at age of 30 years, Queen Tarabai continued the struggle.

Finally in 1707, Aurangzeb died in Maharashtra at age of 92 a dejected man who had failed in his mission.

Hindu Pad Padshahi (Empire)

During the power struggle in Marathas between  Shahu (Sambhaji Maharaj’s son) and Sambhaji (Rajaram Maharaj’s son), a new power center of Peshwas emerged. First Peshwa was Balaji Vishwanath who rose among the ranks and helped Shahu claim the title of Chatrapati. After assuming the title of Peshwa, Balaji led the expansion towards North and made Mughal emperor grant Marathas taxation rights over Deccan, Gujarat and recognize their rights over Karnataka as well. In 1718, almost five centuries after defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan, a victorious Hindu army entered Delhi and dethroned Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar and installed a puppet emperor.

After the death of Balaji Vishwanath, his elder son Bajirao became Peshwa at age of 20. Sensing the weak Mughal authority he encouraged Marathas to free as much territory as possible from Mughal tyranny. Not only taxation rights, but Marathas now became saviors for Hindus from Islamic persecution. He turned the kingdom into an empire which encompassed all of West, Central and some parts of South India. He even installed able administrators and warriors like Ranoji Shinde at Gwalior, Malharrao Holkar at Indore, Pilaji Gaekwad in Baroda and others. Hindus had become the de-facto rulers of Bharat and made Mughals their subsidiary.

It was during Nanasaheb Peshwa’s reign that Maratha empire reached it’s zenith. He continued to wage Hindu struggle against foreign rule and in 1757, Marathas reached Attock repulsing Abdali’s forces. Hindus had freed the land from Attock to Cuttack and from Delhi to Tanjavore, fulfilling Shivaji Maharaj’s dream. The correspondence between Marathas and Shah of Iran during those times, shows Marathas even asking him to not attack Afghanistan since it was part of Bharat.

Although there were setbacks like defeat of 1761 at Panipat but Marathas quickly recouped and avenged the martyrdom of lacs of Hindus under leadership of Madhavrao Peshwa. During a short of stint of 11 years he not only avenged the defeat of Panipat but defeated Rohillas in North, made Mughal emperor as their pensioner, and also brought Nizam of Hyderabad under control.

It was only at start of 19^th century that Marathas were eclipsed by British and the empire disintegrated. It only remained in vestiges of Shindes or Holkars or Gaekwads.

It was their struggle of almost 130 years after Shivaji Maharaj which freed up our motherland and created a Hindu Samrajya.

Reference: 1) Hindu Padpadshahi by Veer Savarkar

 

June-25-2021 Katha: Guru Hargobind

Birth and childhood

Guru Hargobind was born in Guru Ki Wadali, a village 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of Amritsar, the only son of Guru Arjun Dev, the fifth Sikh Guru. He suffered from smallpox as a child. He studied religious texts with Bhai Gurdas and trained in swordsmanship and archery with Baba Budda.

Martyrdom of Guru Arjun Dev

Similar to tactics of ISIS in modern day, Mughals also used similar tactics against enemies and to spread Islam. Guru Arjan Dev was arrested by Jahangir in Lahore Fort sensing the rapid spread of Sikhism and threat to Mughal rule.  Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi felt jealous of Guru Arjun Dev and complained to Jahangir as well. He was pressurized and tortured to accept Islam. He was put in a pot of boiling water which scaled his flesh and was then made to sit on a hot plate. After that hot sand was poured over his body, but he bore all the torture with calm with ‘hari jap’ on his lips.

Finally he was allowed to take bath in river Ravi and after that he was never seen again.

Call to Arms

Guru Arjun Dev’s martyrdom was a wakeup call for rising organization of Hindu-Sikhs.  The Emperor’s order to arrest the family and confiscate their property was not carried out fearing reprisal. The Sikhs gathered around 11 year old Guru and the two veterans Bhai Buddha and Gurdas. Guru Hargobind carried 2 swords symbolizing spiritual and temporal power.

Guru Hargobind emphasized the need to develop a warrior spirit among his followers to oppose the persecution by Mughals.  He made it clear that he would welcome offerings of horses and arms instead of money. He mobilized an army of Sant Sipahi (saint soldiers) and had a stable of 800 horses while 300 mounted followers were always with him. He spent most of his time in martial training and built Lohgarh in Amritsar. Across Harmandir Saheb, he built the Akal Takth where ballads extolling feats of heroism were sung and military plans were made.

Imprisonment by Mughals

On the pretext of fines not settled by his father, Guru Hargobind was imprisoned at Gwalior and had to spent a year in jail. As soon as he was released he resumed his martial activities. He consolidated his spiritual and temporal hold on his people. He travelled from Punjab to as far as Pilibhit in UP and then northwards to Kashmir. Along the route he had temples built and appointed missionaries to propagate the faith. He accepted a plot of land as gift from Raja of Bilaspur and established a city Kiratpur there.

Clash with Mughals

In 1628 when Shah Jehan was hunting near Amritsar, his men clashed with Sikhs. Immediately a band of soldiers was sent to arrest Guru Hargobind. However they could not find him, instead plundered his property. Guru’s followers followed the Mughal soldiers and led a surprise attack, killing chief of the group.

2 years later, there was a second clash with Mughals near Lahira and imperial forces were defeated. Sensing danger, Guru retreated to a place near Bhatinda. After a year as he returned to Kartarpur, again troops were sent to arrest him. The Mughals were led by a Pathan who was previously employed by Guru. Even being surrounded they defeated the imperial troops and killed their leader. He shifted his headquarters to Kiratpur, foothills of Himalayas and spent rest of his life there.

During his last years, three of his sons died and only Suraj Mal and Tegh Bahadur (ninth Guru) were left. Suraj Mal was not interested in these affairs and Tegh Bahadur was too withdrawn in himself. So he appointed his grandson Har Rai as seventh Guru and passed away in 1644.