Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Focus on modernity' that was published in Newsband

Focus on modernity

Outsiders have a more clear-sighted view of everydayness than us. Some talk against the communalism of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) But a European philosopher observed that the categories of left and right were grossly overdrawn in India. According to him, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s idea of capitalism is adequate. Mohandas Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore were more creative nationalists than Veer Savarkar or K.B. Hedgewar.

Indian parties were more vehicles for modernity. When the Congress lost its modernising impetus, the BJP became the surrogate moderniser. If the left saw economics as a classic force, history was always the collective impetus for the BJP.

It contemporarises the ancients by creating equivalences to current achievements in ancient times. The examples range from test-tube babies and plastic surgery to biotechnology. India is seen as one fluid continuity from the Vedic Age to now. While ancient history is rendered current, it rewrites the history of the last 500 years, unable to accept defeat.

It is perpetually encouraging people to rectify history at every stage, where even murder becomes an act of rectification. BJP fetishes 2019, which it sees as the end of Congress history and the beginning of Ram Rajya. It dissolves the Planning Commission not because it was a Congress idea but because it was a futurist notion. The BJP likes nationalism because it unifies time and history into a reign of uniformity. No party dreads plurality, diversity and difference as much as the BJP does.

When the south appeals to a different language, the BJP has no answer. It has no idea of the vernacular. The minute India responds either civilisationally or in the vernacular. One has to focus on modernity,

The idea of India which emerged and developed during the anti colonial movement respected all the forms of diversity and the same is reflected in the constitution. Rise and growth of regional parties and Dravidian movement in the post independence India should be study in this context.

People might interpret what BJP is communicating in a way based on their education and mindset. No one can agree on what some BJP leaders speak. They might be wrong as well as every other party. Human being has many identities. A person can have religious, linguistic, social, region based, national as well as global identity at the same time. If certain people can't get it, it is their narrow view. A Hindu considers himself as Hindu, Indian, Nationalist as well as a global citizen. Why is Nationalism a bad word? One can hold a strong national identity even after carrying other identities mentioned at one level slightly less than it. But as a Hindu for him Nation is prime and his religion and nationalism can't collide. If someone was born as a Hindu in Europe or USA or Namibia, one would still hold National identity as strong as other identities. Other people can't get it. Some people just can't comprehend his capacity to hold all identities without collision.

It is true that BJP is pro-Hindu. But it is not anti-minority. Congress was pro-minority and anti-Hindu. Congress was promoting the minority communities at the cost of Majority community. This game which they were playing cost them the PMship. Reservation policy is one example. It was the brainchild of Congress. Who were the winners and who were the losers in this dirty game is very clear to everyone.