Finding My Voice

Amidst the euphoria surrounding the arrival of the new ‘Desh Rakhvala, there have been three brilliant articles – two of them in the Hindu and the third one in the Times of India. The first one ( as it appeared before the other two) deals with urgent reforms needed in the Congress,  the second proffers  sound advice to the PM-designate and the third sees  Cultural Revenge on Liberal  humanists in this stupendous victory of Modi. All three speak not much about the BJP victory as the victory of the new Indian Lincoln whose march to 7 RCR  is similar to the great American’s march to the white House from the log cabin.

These articles have helped me to recover from stupefaction over the drubbing Congress got in the recently concluded elections. A party with a 125 year legacy is now shrunk to just 44 seats in the 543 Lok Sabha.  I had decided to hang my pen( rather  my laptop)and  abjure my passionate canvassing for a leader worthy of India , for a Philosopher-King, for a  cultured, educated , decent, dynamic statesman  who speaks the language of intellect and not emotion, who shuns demagoguery on his race to power and who practices decency and probity in his personal and professional life.

The results were devastating for me, a liberal humanist by education and training, who recognizes the value of a human being as an individual and his right to liberty and happiness.  Modi did not fit into my idea of a leader; neither did Rahul nor Kejriwall. I began to lose faith in our democracy as it had failed to find  a person who could be worthy of the founding fathers of  free India- the noble triumvirate of Gandhi-Nehru- Patel. The results stunned me- not that I did not anticipate a Modi Victory nor a return of the NDA to form the government at the Centre- but the rout of the Congress in sync with Modi’s primary goal of establishing a ‘Congress mukht Bharat’.

The article Cultural Revenge by Santosh Desai, appearing three days after the pronouncement of the results is a brilliant analysis of Modi’s triumph over liberal humanism which often seeks  to erase all discriminations against marginalized people and minorities by highlighting the social divisiveness in the context of  class, religion and gender. Liberal humanists champion the cause of the poor and the weak, seeking an inclusive society and cultivating humanity. Modi’s approach in contrast had been to continue with the cultural mainstream and not bring any earthshaking structural changes in society while promising progress to all within that constituency. This had a great appeal to all sections of society as it provided the comfort of ‘social continuity with an ongoing evolutionary change’.  While the analysis is true to the last detail, it certainly raises questions about the validity of liberal humanism that some of us - sneeringly and contemptuously looked down upon as vapid intellectuals-believe in. Liberal humanism encourages critical thinking and evidence (rationalism, empiricism) over established doctrine or faith (fideism). It is also aligned with secularism and espouses  ‘reason, ethics, and social and economic justice, and makes a plea  for science to replace dogma and the supernatural as the basis of morality and decision-making’(Nicolas Walter).But unfortunately, it is today wrongly perceived as a concept of negation of all social structures and religious faiths that form the basis of cultural mainstream. In this hour of Modi’s  triumph, Santosh Desai’s article has  given me the strength   to voice my views on liberal humanism and its responsibility to human governance which  is inclusionary and does not exclude any person by reason of his faith, religion, caste and class.

The boldness to break free of my self- imposed withdrawal and silence was further inspired by GopalKrishna Gandhi’s open letter to Mr.Modi.  In it he voices forth the fears of 69% of the  population who did not vote for Modi’s  BJP even though with just 31% vote share the party had gained humungous majority in the new Parliament.  Mr.Gandhi( truly belonging to the family of the Mahatma) requests Modi to eschew the language of uniformism when speaking to a republic of pluralism,  and give up the vocabulary of “oneness” to an imagination of many-nesses that is special to our nation of such vast diversity. In a statesmanlike address, he advises Modi  to ‘requite the applause of your support-base but, equally, redeem the trust of those who have not supported you … and ‘be Maharana Pratap in your struggle as you conceive it, but be an Akbar in your repose. Be a Savarkar in your heart, if you must, but be an Ambedkar in your mind. Be an RSS-trained believer in Hindutva in your DNA, if you need to be, but be the Wazir-e-Azam of Hindostan that the 69 per cent who did not vote for you, would want you to be.’

 The third article- though it was the first among these three to find a place in the newspaper is by Abhishek Singhvi who talks about the possible reforms that Congress should undertake to regain its lost position. Though I do not wish to enumerate on all those suggestions such as full use of talents available in both the old and the young members of the Congress-that is, merging age with experience, to remain vigilant and wary of rainbow coalition and steer clear of the opportunistic alliances , to encourage the growth of strong leadership at the state level and grass root level etc, I wish to add the most important reform- to give up the party’s crutches on one family. If any of the family member displays qualities of leadership to resuscitate the party, s/he or should be welcomed. Anyone who aspires to be a leader should rise up on her/his merit and not on primogenital rights. This will save the party from charges of dynasty rule and incompetence to boot. If Rahul has failed to deliver on three occasions- in Bihar, UP and in the national elections, to insulate him from attack is going in for another self goal. If Priyanka can show verve and sparkle and has the intelligence to identify and work towards the demands of the new aspirational India, without compromising on inclusive humanism, the party can support her claims to be the leader. Otherwise the party can no longer take umbrage under a banyan tree that does not allow any fresh growth under its shade.

I am emboldened to write this taking cue from three well analyzed pieces of writing. With all modesty, I assert that I am nowhere near the wisdom of GopalKrishna Gandhi, the intellectualism of Santosh Desai and the searing honesty of Abhishek Sighvi.  I write because I feel impelled to write and voice forth my concern  for the survival of Liberal humanism, of the unity and integrity of the nation and of Congress –if not for any other reason, at least for providing good opposition without which democracy will die a slow and certain death.