History cannot be part of anybody’s wish list. It can neither be erased, nor rewritten. Ingenious attempts to distort history can be tantalising for prejudiced minds but the world doesn’t exist in their fictional cocoons. Rulers and ideologues must be aware of the futility of this exercise. If somebody in Germany tries to obliterate the heinous Nazi history, the world will not play along. This is true of every nation, including India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the country was correcting the mistakes of the past while unveiling a hologram of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at the iconic India Gate. The Sangh Parivar has been obsessed with history and has been recklessly trying to recreate a new backdrop and understanding of India’s past. The problem however is that their own understanding of history is based on fantasies and delusions of grandeur. They neither know history nor have a clear idea of what they expect India’s future to be. They also suffer from a legitimacy crisis as far as their project to rebuild India is concerned. This confusion has forced them to focus on politicising Congress icons, by distinguishing stalwarts of the freedom struggle from the Nehru-Gandhi family, instead of proposing their own icons as the real national heroes. History poses a hurdle as the RSS cannot gain full respectability as long as the freedom struggle remains the benchmark of judgment. It is far easier to usurp a Sardar Patel and a Subhas Chandra Bose than legitimise M S Golwalkar, V D Savarkar or Nathuram Godse. The nation suffers in the circus of absurdities.
Patel or Bose being used to portray the Nehru-Gandhi family in poor light is not even rewriting history. This is a cheap political gimmick. This doesn’t alter facts. The Prime Minister and the RSS must realise that Indians and the rest of the world haven’t been taught history by the Congress alone. The facts of the freedom movement are elaborately recorded and analysed by political scientists and historians of repute who were not hired by the Congress party. Mistakes might have been committed by the Congress by excessive focus on certain personalities but that’s not the crying need of the country at this stage. A controversy about extinguishing the eternal flame at India Gate was avoidable; the ignorant blabber about the need to honour Indian soldiers who fought for the British Army in the pre-1947 phase is downright condemnable. That the British ruled over India is an indisputable fact and the role of the Congress in the freedom movement cannot be erased. The past is not a toy of the present. Rulers must appreciate this truth.
The Narendra Modi government would do well to concentrate its energies and vision on addressing the real concerns of the present. The economy is crying for attention, unemployment is at its peak and the savagely rising prices of essential commodities are troubling the masses. The pandemic has brought into focus the pitiable status of our healthcare infrastructure. The concentration of wealth in the hands of a few while millions fall into wretched poverty should have alerted any government to the lurking social unrest. Social harmony is in tatters and no country can progress in the atmosphere of distrust and fear. The less said the better about the Modi government’s responses to Chinese belligerence, which may have far-reaching implications for India’s future.
India badly needs good governance at this stage as the great success story is in disarray. Saner elements in the ruling establishment should convince the Prime Minister that real problems need to be solved, one by one. The dreams of becoming ‘Vishwaguru’ cannot be fulfilled by hollow rhetoric and diversionary ploys. Maligning and destroying the Congress can be part of the political agenda of the BJP but that cannot override the purpose of governance. Modi has now been Prime Minister long enough to understand the difference between statecraft and politicking. He needs to address the concerns of the present and work to build the future instead of wasting time on political one-upmanship using disputes of the past. His tenure is at a critical juncture and it is high time he delivered on his lofty promises. Building a statue or scoring political brownie points won’t help the masses. He will be judged again in 2024 and he cannot afford to waste even a day on extraneous issues. Every election cannot be fought on emotive issues. There will be a time when governance will become a yardstick. It is high time Modi prepared for that test.
