An Analysis of Ramachandra Guha's 'India After Gandhi' - Part I

I’ve been reading Ramachandra Guha’s ‘India After Gandhi’ for quite some time now. Lucidly written, it makes an easy and interesting read. Quite an important book, for there are only but a few which attempt to present a panoramic view of the Indian polity ever since Independence. Hence, any book on the subject, even if written by a partisan or a person with a clear agenda, i.e., something like Shri Advani and his ‘My Country, My Life’, merits attention.

Nice reading apart, I’ve developed some reservations on the facts mentioned in Guha’s book. Since those mis-statements pertain to events which happened in recent history, one wonders as to which other parts of Guha’s writings are factually incorrect, particularly narrations which occurred in the hoary (relatively speaking) past

A few which I noted:

Guha states that the BJP called for a mid term poll in 1999 in order to gain a better majority. Now, anyone who has followed politics even narrowly, would know that BJP tried their best to hold on to power and sewed in an inconceivable alliance with the DMK once Jayalalitha withdrew support, reducing the Government to a minority. That they lost their Government by 1 vote only underlines how poor BJP was in political management. However, for Guha, it seems that this simply did not happen and BJP made the President dissolve the parliament and of course, Sonia Gandhi never made the ‘we have 272…and more’ statement to the media.

Writing on Defence, Guha states that India has developed a formidable arsenal of ballistic missiles, i.e., Prithvi, Agni, Sagarika, etc etc… and ‘Surya’, an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile with a range of around 12,000 kms. Whoa…when did it happen? When were the tests conducted? When was the missile inducted? And why is the army keeping it a secret. The fact is that ‘Surya’ and ‘Kali’ as of today exist only in planning papers of the DRDO and security experts. There has been a hush hush talk of developing these two ICBMs for years now but not even a prototype has been built till date. Forget 12,000 kms, today Agni is not fully ready to hit even 5000 kms

In the chapter on Riots, Guha imperiously states that the Sangh Parivar attacked missionaries in Orissa and that the prime accused in the Graham Staines murder case, Dara Singh, was a Bajrang Dal member. Guha either does not know or seems to have conveniently forgotten that the Justice Wadhwa commission did not find any evidence of Dara Singh being a part of any Sangh Parivar outfit. He had his own outfit called the Bajrang Sena which was not an associate of any RSS organization.

In the same chapter, Guha gives the figures of Muslims killed in Gujarat riots at 2,000. This follows probably because 2,000 sounds so much more better than the official figures of around 700 Muslims and 270 Hindus. Lest we embarrass Guha, let us gloss over the facts that these figures have been released by the Central Government on the floor of the Parliament, a Central Government which is no friend of the BJP, forget being a friend of Modi. Guha states that post Independence, only 2 riots qualify for the monikor of pogroms – the 1984 Sikh riots and the 2002 Gujarat riots. It is worthy to compare both and be astounded that while one  of those 'pogroms' had hardly any member of the Hindu community among dead, the other ‘pogrom’ had  Hindus accounting for more than a quarter of all killed. It is noteworthy that around 40,000 of that pogrom committing community had been forced to refugee camps, something which is unparalleled in the annals of any rampaging community.

Continuing on Gujarat riots, Guha authoritatively states that the Kar Sevaks pulled Muslim vendors by beard on Godhra station and that the attack on train was in retaliation to that. Now while there have been such allegations, there has been no independent corroboration that such events ever actually happened. Guha chooses to make truth the casualty of his ‘research’ and presents unproved allegations as facts.

He further conjectures that the train fire was caused probably by a stove or cylinder preparing food. Now, even if a few beard pulls are sufficient provocation for attacking of the train, then certainly burning alive of 58 people, including 28 women and children are provocation enough for the riots. Secondly, how could one be so naive so as to believe that food was actually being prepared in the compartment which was filled to seams with people, both with and without tickets?

In the same chapter, Guha writes about the Babri masjid demolition and writes that in the post demolition massacres, in a grisly replay of partition riots, Muslims were pulled out from trains and killed. What is more shocking about this gross calumny that Guha does not even provide a fig leaf of any reference point. A ghastly lie, not even supported by a supposed news. In the same page, he gives some obscure reference to Advani’s Rath Yatra being called a Rakta Yatra. The words though have stuck post this fancy monikor being awarded by a then obscure journalist, the fact remains that no town/city which the first Rath Yatra visited witnessed riots following the yatra.

A surprising mis-statement is with regards to his comments on Jan Sangh’s performance in electoral polls. He states that Jan Sangh was not much impacted by the Indira wave in 1971 and that there seat tally came down marginally. Guha would have done good to refer to the ECI records available online. He would then have noticed that the BJS came down to 22 seats from a high of 35 in 1967. Certainly a fall of more than 35% qualifies for a setback!!

Going a bit back in history, Guha writes about a certain Acharya Karpatri who he states was among the leading lights of the Cow Protection movement. He states that he came into the centerstage all of a sudden and likewise was never heard of again post the attempted gherao of parliament wherein scores of Sadhus were killed in police firing. It is probable that Guha may not be aware for rather than being a shooting star, Acharya Karpatri was the head of ‘Ram Rajya Parishad’ which fought and won 3 seats in the Indian Parliament in 1952 General Elections. The party later merged with the Jana Sangh.  Further, Achrya Karpatri did not vanish or abscond. He simply faded the way politicians fade and remained a Katha-vachak for the balance years of his life.

These are among but a few of those factual mis-statements which I can think of while I write this post. There could be many more, quietly hidden in secure belief of their author of their never being ever questioned. The sad part of these mis-statements is that whatever has been written in this book will get quoted and reproduced again and again in form of references in works by future columnists and historians, in effect, making these falsehoods true.

It doesn’t take too much to realize that most of Ramachandra Guha’s mis-statement result directly from his ideological bias, something which I plan to analyze in the next post.

Return

It has been quite some time since I posted on my blog. A shame since I intended it to be a regular conduit for my analysis and views. Will try to be more regular nowadays

An open letter to Shri L K Advani

I happened to read Shri Advani's 'My Country, My Life' sometime back. Reading the book let loose a range of pent up emotions in me and I wrote a long mail to Advaniji, mailing it to his parliament email id. Since it was a longish mail, probably not very carefully drafted as I simply wrote it in one sitting, and anyways coming from me, I never expected any response from a person of his stature. Though must say, that I was a bit disappointed in not receiving even an acknowledgement of it.

Thought that I should post that letter as my first proper entry, something which would probably make my proclivities clear to anyone who visits this blog

Dear Shri Advaniji

Many salutations from an insignificant soul to a personality who in many ways, has shaped India, what it is today

Mine is going to be a long mail, a mix of awe and admiration and disbelief and disappointment. If this mail reaches your eyes, you might in a moment of generosity, ponder as to what made me write to you? Pardon me for adapting from prologue of 'The Hyderabad Memoirs' where another great son of our motherland, Shri KM Munshi asked for his readers forgiveness for his obsession with self: 'To the universe, I may be totally inconsequential, but for me, the Universe exists for I am' I crave your indulgence for seeing and feeling everything from my own senses, and for those biases which invariably creep in while observing others

My first impulse to write to you was when I was reading your magnum opus 'My Country, My Life'. However, this write up kept getting postponed on account of thoughts of futility behind this effort. If it is not going to reach you and more than that, it is unlikely that you would be reading it, why make an effort? Anyways, I am writing this out and would attempt to send it to you. Whether it reaches you and whether you read it, is of course like everything, dependant on the will of the Almighty. I get the courage to write to you what I am writing is because I feel a right on you and the BJP, for this is the party with which I have identified with ever since the first seeds of political consciousness germinated within me. Hence, I seek your forgiveness for those words which perhaps shouldn't have come from such inconsequential person like me.

Advaniji. Today, I am a professional working for an MNC Consulting firm in Mumbai. I am a Chartered Accountant and an MBA from a premier B School and so perhaps belong to a section of society which for many, does not represent Bharat. However, do believe otherwise. I come from a small town in Orissa, the soil of which you have graced with your presence, at least twice. I have been an ardent devotee of yours ever since I started following Indian polity, i.e. from 1989, from the time of Indian Elections when Rajiv was defeated. I was young, not even 11 then. But one feature in Sunday Colour Magazine of 'The Telegraph' of Calcutta, vastly influenced the way I had started recognizing politicians in the country. One issue of the magazine had proclaimed you 'Man of the Year'. That was followed by the BBC declaring you 'Man of the Year'.

Next, I remember running from the terrace of my house at 9:30 at night to hear you speak. You had come to our town to campaign for your candidate for the state assembly polls. You were supposed to arrive at 5:30 PM but arrived late. There were no proper arrangements for your arrival, no welcome arches, no pamphlets. Only, a solitary loudspeaker in the meeting venue kept uttering that Shri LK Advani would be addressing the public that evening

I did not know the BJP candidate and did not care but I wanted to see you, listen to you. Again and again I was scared that I would miss you. Then all of a sudden, I knew that you had come. I rushed outside, ran alongside your cavalcade and found a spot suitable enough to both see and hear you clearly. I don't remember much of what you said then. Memories remain only of a feeling of awe and wonder, at your personality and thoughts. I cannot but help comparing the size of the spontaneous crowd which had gathered then to see and hear you with the crowd which gathered to see Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he had come for a public meeting pre 1999 elections (not sure about the year, could have been 1998 polls too). In spite of days of mobilization, the crowds were only a fraction of what had been to see you in 1990. You had come as the new hope, a clear leader who believed in leading and in correcting historical wrongs which were being perpetuated even today and people came to you

Advaniji, I daresay that I have followed your political journey right from then till date, when you embarked on the historic yatra from Somnath, when you were arrested, when Hawala and subsequent exoneration happened, when Lotus bloomed on Red Fort the first time, to India Shining, to Pakistan trip to the Leader of Opposition again. I was distressed when you were implicated in the Hawala scam initially. However, I never had any reason to doubt your integrity and knew that the exoneration was bound to come. In fact, I had also written to you that time too, conveying my best wishes. I ad also received an acknowledgement of that mail from the BJP Headquarters which I have preserved till date.

All throughout my mental association with BJP, I created an image of a party and leader which could commit no wrong, moral or ethical. It hurt me to see that you proposed the name of Shri Vajpayee as the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate at the height of your glory, for I believed that you have tended the beaten sapling to a tree. So why should someone else reap the harvest of your toil?

Anyways, my disillusionment with the BJP and Advaniji, started getting stronger with Vajpayeeji's second term in office

My first twang of pain came when you declared to all those who cared to listen that the demolition of the disputed structure was the saddest day of your life. It hurt Advaniji, for certainly, mobilization of millions of Indians for those Kar Sevas, from 1989 to 1992, was certainly not to simply assemble and then dissipate after singing of some Bhajans?

In your book, you have stated how the entire road from Ayodhya to Lucknow was lined with exuberant masses, all celebrating the much delayed liberation of a shrine which you had so successfully linked with the psyche of the average Indian. In another passage, you have mentioned how that solitary tribal woman had come to worship your Roth for she believed that she was worshipping 'Ayodhya Baba'. I do not possess even a percentile of erudition and cannot claim to feel the pain that you had to endure on account of becoming a refugee from your land. You will of course appreciate that the exhilaration of Indians on liberation of the shrine was out of proportion. However, what more can be expected from a people whose collective psyche had been reduced to nothingness due to centuries of foreign oppression? My pain arose from the fact that how could the architect of the biggest mass movement of India post-independence, practically disown the entire movement in a few words?

I nowhere disagree with your belief that the spin created by Marxists post demolition of the disputed structure harmed Hindutva in the long run, the way post Godhra riots harmed the image of VHP/BJP across the country. However, at the same time, I beg to submit that had the demolition not been effected, the harm to Hindutva would have been much more greater for people would have seen BJP as a party only raising Ram slogan for electoral gains, the way it is seen now, post its paying only lip service to the construction of the Grand temple at Ayodhya. While coalition constraints were there, the image of the BJP was of a party which having reached a particular level wished to get away from its past and more concerned with getting the votes and acceptance of those people who would never support it. In this context a tale which I read first in a book by one of Singapore's Trade Secretary comes to my mind.

Once, there was a shepherd who would take his flock of sheep out to the meadow everyday. One day, a storm brewed, and the shepherd lost his way. By a stroke of luck, the shepherd found a cave and managed to shelter his horde and himself there. A few moments later, a flock of wild sheep came at the entrance of the cave but of course could not get inside due to it being already occupied by the shepherd and his tame horde. The shepherd than thought; 'If I shelter these sheep through the night, they will become mine out of gratitude and my horde would double in size'. Accordingly, he pushed off his bleating flock and let the wild horde get inside. Tired. He soon fell asleep. When the next morning he woke up, he was aghast to find that his tame flock had wandered off in the night. He ran hither and thither trying to locate the flock. Then to his greater horror, he found that even the wild horde moving off to other direction. When he tried to hold them back, he was butted by the lead sheep and he lay writhing in pain. In anguish, he cried: 'You ungrateful wretches. I gave you shelter from rain at the cost of my sheep and this is the way you repay me?' The lead sheep replied in human voice, 'You made your own suffer for us strangers and you expect us to trust you?'

This is what happens with BJP as it has forgotten its core constituency. Its claim of upholding the honor of the Kanchi Shankaracharya and the Ram Sethu sound hollow

One thing which we felt we could never fault BJP on was its commitment to National security and pride. However, even if we leave aside the Kandhar hijacking shame, BJP did not exactly cover itself with glory with issues like puny countries like Bangladesh butchering 16 Indian soldiers, Fiji kicking ethnic Indians around, Vajpayeeji giving everything away on China visit with nothing tangible in return happening with unwelcome frequency. Only, after reading about your feelings on the Swarna Jayanti Rath Yatra in your book, I find it difficult to believe that the party of the same leader ruled our country for six years.

The crowning glory was of course, your 'Feel Good' campaign. In hindsight, everyone can claim to be right. However, I would certainly bring to your notice a moment which for me defined the hollowness of this slogan. I was among the front seated audience of a Bhajan-Sandhya of Anup Jalota, organized at Netaji Indoor stadium in Kolkata, sometime in Jan-Feb 2004, before the General Elections. There your deputy in the home ministry, Swami Chinmayanand, was the Chief Guest. In the function, he honoured a couple of veteran freedom fighters and then gave a speech. He asked: 'Aaj in poojniyon ka samman hua, aap sabko isse kaisa lag raha hai?' He himself responded: 'Achha lag raha hai na? Aaj hum sabko, pure desh ko acchha lag raha hai. Aur ise kehte hain feel good'. I need not comment on the utter bankruptcy of the statement or the fact that it showed how distant the BJP leadership had become from the masses?

Not for a moment do I contend that BJP did nothing worthwhile while in power. Certainly, there are numerous achievements of the party which would do any right thinking Indian proud. However, it never did appear that BJP was being true to its promise. In BJP's obsession with control, it allowed state after state to slip from its grasp. Don't you think that making the mothballed Nityanand Swami the CM got you defeated in the first assembly polls or making the even more ineffectual Ram Prakash Gupta the UP CM, followed by on-again, off-again support to Mayawati spelt doom for BJP in the state which made you the front runner in Indian polity?

The BJP expelled Kalyan Singh, it expelled Uma Bharati, it let Babulal Marandi and Govindacharya go, all to sate egos of one or the other person. All the same, you had no hesitation in joining hands with likes of Nagmani and Babush Monserratte? As an Indian I would rather have a Uma Bharati or a Govindacharya rather than having a Amar Singh wannabe Late Pramod Mahajan as a minister.

I was disillusioned with the BJP. The crowning glory before the 2004 elections were your speech in Ayodhya where only a year back, Mahant Ram Chander Das had breathed his last, with his lifelong desire for the Grand Ram Temple unfulfilled. You stated that till the time the Grand Temple is constructed, you will not utter 'Jai Shri Ram'!!! What was that Advaniji? A tactic to remove even the vestiges of Hindutva stains from you?

Disillusionments were many and I did not vote in the 2004 elections. And honestly, I wasn't sorry that the NDA lost the elections. Again, after living through the devastation wreaked by this UPA Government in the last 4 years it has been in power, I do find the NDA dispensation much better and would probably vote for the BJP again. Only this vote would be accompanied not by hope but by a feeling of despondency and resignation that perhaps this is the lesser of two bad choices. Another feeling which would accompany this vote will be of fear. Will I be cheated again? Will this BJP which is so intent in becoming another Congress really keep lowering its professed and true standards even this time? If I have to vote for a Congress like party, why shouldn't I go for the original? At least I know that they stand for something, even if that something is power at any cost?

Advaniji. The ultimate honours were of course discovery of Jinnah's virtues while in Pakistan. Till date, I have read each and every of your clarifications multiple times and have gone through the relevant chapter in your book with great concentration. However, in spite of my best efforts to find merit in your arguments, I am left only with the feeling that this entire saga was only a part of your attempts to get a more liberal image. Advaniji, I am no one to question you but I really wonder if that effort has paid off? You would have become the BJP/NDA Prime Ministerial candidate anyway. What Jinnah homage did achieve was to make you look like some person who is so desperate to become the Prime Minister that he can jettison all what he has stood for. Even now, with all my disillusionment, such accusations and ridicule from political opponents pains me.

We as a Nation still honour Rana Pratap who did not achieve much tangible. But we being a pragmatic Nation, honour Shivaji more for he achieved a lot, even when some of his tactics wouldn't have withstood the test of ancient Indian code of warfare. I am completely with you when you state in your book or otherwise that an Ideology alone cannot rule a country like India. As a reality check, I still cannot digest BJP losing assembly elections in UP, MP and HP in 1993.

I am further with you when you state that you don't believe in political untouchability. Going further, I would say that Indians probably deserve their leaders for it is they who defeat leaders like Ram Naik and Mathany Saldhana and elect likes of Taslimuddin and JB Pattnaiks.

What isn't acceptable Advaniji, is that it seems that for long, there is nothing which BJP stands for. Its compromises come across as compromises for the sake of power, not as compromises in the short run for a greater goal. People might argue that BJP is judged much more harshly than the Congress is. But then, people don't expect anything from the Congress except for perpetuation of the broker-mentor gain-sharing nexus.

What has happened Advaniji? You were the best thing to happen to India in decades. You gave us a distinct ideology and leaders and thinkers like Uma Bharati, Govindacharya, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Kalyan Singh. Why is Uma out of BJP? What has been her real fault? Has she been treated fairly?

Advaniji. If nothing more, your party has lost totally in the arena of media management and opinion building. Right from the time when the talk of saffronization of education started to the times of Gujarat riots, Saint Sonia saga, Office of Profit, Presidential elections, N Deal, Cash for Vote scandal of today, the BJP presents an extremely sorry figure. Certainly Mr Jaitley and Ms Scindia get quite a lot of positive press but how does this benefit the party? Neither do we see any coherent public program nor do we see much logical arguments being put forth in TV debates. I am no one to comment to Shri Prakash Javdekar's competence, but do you really think that he does justice to the causes he speaks on? Compare today's state with your party's comments and agitations on Ayodhya agitation, PV Narasimha Rao's corrupt Government. Your people never shied away from taking a stand and giving a strong point of view. Ever since you came into power, that aggression has been replaced by a hesitation, a fear that something wrong might be said? Who are you trying to impress? Certainly not the jholawallahs or foreign Nationals?

Advaniji, I might be all wrong in whatever I have stated till now. But as they say, perception is reality for even this reality exits only because we perceive it to exit. Perception for the BJP, its actions and leaders are certainly nowhere compared to what it enjoyed even a decade back

Today, with great sadness I saw questions being raised by all and sundry on the authenticity of the cash for vote allegations of the BJP. A few years back, such questions wouldn't have risen or would have been much muted had they risen. Certainly, only the ganging up of Media houses cannot be blamed for this state? Advaniji, the entire Sangh Parivar is to blame for the state that in spite of stellar contribution to the Indian society, it has not produced many intellectuals of note. Most of the right wing intellectuals like Arun Shourie, Late Sita Ram Goel & Ram Swaroop etc came from outside the Sangh pale. Moreover, any intellectual/activist who courts trouble is simply cut off from the umbilical cord at the first sign of trouble. Babu Bajarangi was a BJP man till he was an MLA. The moment he got embroiled in controversies, he becomes a Bajrang Dali? Chitlangia gets shunted out from education committee on account of his RSS past and no one defends him? Someone produces a 'Mee Nathuram Godse Boltoy' and the play gets banned? JS Rajput speaks up for MM Joshi but finds no one to speak to him? Ram Chander Das is rebuffed when he wants to talk to his Home Minister? Uma is asked to resign the moment a political case is reactivated against her? The list is simply endless.

This letter can go on and on. If you feel that this write up meanders without a plot, it is because it doesn't have a plot. I have simply written it down in one sitting, putting forth whatever came to me. My sincere apologies for whatever audacity I have displayed

I do hope India does not suffer from a Congress/Third Front Government again

Vande Ma Taram

First Post

Starting on my blogging today

Posts will be my perspective on events happening around us.

I beg indulgence of my blog readers (in case there are any), for the self centeredness and bias which might pervade my posts. While I have attempted to be objective in all aspects of my life, in thought, speech and action, I am but a normal human being, with all weaknesseses which can be normally expected of such a person.

I do hope that I am able to articulate my thoughts in a coherent enough manner so that at least I can make some sense of it when I look back :-)