Hey Ram, helpless Prime Minister
by abhay mokashi
Today is Ram Navami, Lord Ram’s birthday. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come to power at the Centre and in several states in the country by trading the name of Lord Ram, without following any of the qualities that are attributed to this deity.
The existence of Ram is a matter of belief, but the concept of Ram Rajya is a matter of practice. Those who swear by Ram cannot be said to be true followers if they do not follow the good qualities attributed to this King of Ayodhya. On that count the BJP has scored well. From the way the nation is being ruled and hatred is being spread or communities are being divided on the basis of religion, it is clear that the leaders who swear by Ram have neither read nor understood the concept of Ram Rajya as mentioned by Sant Tulsidas, Valmiki in ancient times and Mahatma Gandhi in modern times.
In an article in the Amrit Bazar Patrika of August 2, 1934, Gandhiji wrote, “Ramrajya of my dreams ensures equal rights to both prince and pauper.”
Earlier, in 1929, he wrote in Young India, “The ancient ideal of Ramrajya is undoubtedly one of true democracy in which the meanest citizen could be sure of swift justice without an elaborate and costly procedure.”
Sant Tulidas had written that even a dog had received justice in Ram Rajya.
In a country where Ram was not and is still not popular all over the nation, the BJP has been successfully in taking Ram to the masses for political gains. The traditional greeting of Jai Siyaram has been changed to Jai Shri Ram, which is not surprising, given the gender bias.
Political public meetings of the BJP start and end with Jai Shri Ram. The utterance of the Jai Shri Ram is the Ramanam, as described by Mahatma Gandhi. What he said on Ramanam is worth noting.
According to Gandhiji, “Ramanama is for the pure in heart and for those who want to attain purity and remain pure.” In another context he said, “Ramanama can be used only for a good, never for an evil end, or else the thieves and robbers would be the greatest devotees.”
How right the Mahatma was! Today it is the thieves and the robbers, who are the greatest devotees of Ram.
On this auspicious day for the Hindus, those who have come to power in the name of Ram, should do some introspection and ask themselves if there is purity in their heart or if they want to attain purity and remain so. The answer is bound to be in the negative. But those whose conscience is dead, cannot do an introspection. In such a situation, the true devote and the pure should challenge the political use of Ram’s name.
If even a dog is supposed to have received justice in Ram Rajya, it time to ask why many humans are living a dog’s life in our country.
The second wave of COVID has brought immense sufferings to millions. Many have died gasping for breath, like fish out of water and Prime Minister Narendra Modi can only give assurances that arrangements are being made for adequate supply of oxygen.
In his address to the nation yesterday, he expressed condolences to the families who have lost their members to COVID and added that he is with them as a family member. If he considers himself as a family member, he is a bad one at that. When people were dying like flies and others are suffering due to lack of ambulances, oxygen, medicines and hospital beds, Modi was enjoying political orgasms in Assam and West Bengal, getting excited by the huge crowds for his meetings.
In Ram Rajya, the ruler failing to work in the interest of the people is a sinner. In that sense, he has sinned by getting huge crowds to attend his meetings and exposing them and other people in the country to the dangerous corona virus, responsible for the present pandemic.
After having done that, he is now appealing to the youth and the children to spread the message of wearing a mask, washing hands and keeping a safe distance. It is time that people keep a safe distance from the ideology of Modi and his party; that would be in the larger interest of the country, because the communal virus is more dangerous than corona.
Modi has often been accused of being a liar and is hence described as feku. But in his speech last night, he spoke at least one truth. He appreciated that the people in the country have been patient during the entire period of the lockdown and the pandemic.
That is true, while people even in the developed countries, including the United States, came out in the streets to protest against the failure of the governments to take care of them, in India migrants came on the streets to return to their homes and Modi supporters came out to bang empty plates, knowing that the government cannot do anything to help them. Modi has thus expressed his helplessness in the current situation.
In his address to the nation, Modi passed the responsibility on others. He told the Chief Ministers of states to take a decision on the lockdown and appealed to the people to take care of themselves. Then what is the role of the Prime Minister during such a national crisis?
The youth of the country is docile and blind to the situation, hence it has failed to raise its voice on behalf of the millions, who are suffering in the country. The youth is content with singing laurels of Chandrashekhar, Bhagat Singh and Rajguru, the youth of yester years, without emulating their qualities.
If the Mahatma was alive today, the mindset which took his life, would not have got an opportunity to kill him. Seeing the situation in the country in the name of Ram, Gandhi would have died saying, “Hey Ram.”