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Second Battle of Panipat – Lessons for the indolent Right-winger

“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” is a cliché that still has not instilled any lessons in Indians. Arun Kumar ji was indirectly referring to it when he spoke in Bangalore on 9^th August 2015 in one of the most effusive speeches I have ever heard. He kept the audience spellbound with his speech in Hindi, covering some core aspects of RSS. It is one of those speeches that remain with you for a long time. I am doubtful if English could have covered same topics half as effectively; that is another topic.  

Arun Kumar ji was narrating the events that led to the defeat of Hindu forces to Mughals led by Bairam Khan at Second Battle of Panipat. While he credited the gallantry of Bairam Khan he also pointed to the dissipation that spread through the army on hearing rumors of the death of ‘Hemu’. This was narrated to stress the point that ‘vyakti’ is mortal but the ‘satya’ is not. Or so I understood.

  

Arun ji was pointing out the folly of investing too much in a person and the resultant dejection when that person perishes or fails. A mere rumor that ‘Hemu has fallen’ rendered the army of superior numbers dissipated; broke the army into groups of people that otherwise was a ferocious fighting force only moments before the fall of Hemu. Hemu was the cause that bound them together and inspired all to a purpose.

Had the purpose been alive and burning in more individuals, perhaps the turn of events may have been different. I am not grieving the outcome of the battle but am stating as a possibility.

Though the inspiration in each as Hemu is a desirable thing, it is impractical and borders on idealism, hard one to achieve. However, this blog is about two different yet related topics. 

1.       Topic 1: The eternally dissatisfied indolent RW:  We have a large constituency within RW (deluding here that BJP may be RW) who have not heard the dictum “जो बोले वो कुण्डी खोले”. If a brazen illegal act is to be challenged in court, the task is delegated to Subramanian Swamy through a tweet. Job done. If Swamy does not take it up, so be it. If Swamy does not respond to it, our RW friend is ready to live it. No changes required.

RW supporters also never tire of questions like ‘What is Modi doing?’, ‘What is Rajnath Singh doing?’ These questions fly like missiles in debates in SM. These questions are like ‘brahmastra’; once they are posed, no further discussion is possible.  The rest of the audience is supposed to hang their head in shame, shame of electing such an ineffective, effeminate party to power.These are also the narratives of MSM, borrowed heavily by the indolent RW supporters.

MSM is only full of talkers, not doers. These are people who will not find employment if the calling involves creating value for someone. These are Peter Pan ‘Adda’ addicts, indulging in all day gossips and vicious character assassination. The tragedy is, many in RW have not seen through the worthlessness of these gossip mongers. These RW have withdrawal symptom if daily toxicity is not injected into their minds every evening by the Adda anchors.  These RW supporters (for they are not really RW) in turn feel hurt that the media / opposition / have been able to show them in poor light and go into a rage and abuse, feeling inferior.

Referring to those pro-BJP supporters, Arun ji also touched on the propensity of few to imagine ourselves as people worthy of nothing. To a large extent, those who rhetorically ask ‘What is so-and-so’ doing should understand that if they like promise of false security as against individual responsibility,   they need to move from here to AAP or Naxals though that as choice of offering is a fine distinction indeed. Not that these Marxist groups will deliver on anything. They never have except delivering misery, savagery, mass killing and leaving behind a diffident betrayed society.  But they will keep feeding to their indolence. Dictators are born that way. Their business runs on customers who fail to learn lesson from history. And lessons from Game Theory that shows best options are always elusive and is full of risk of exploitation by adversary. Delhi voters included, these lessons are esoteric to the common public.

The solutions are not with ‘So-and-so’ but with all of us also. Only those who are taking Delhi for a ride make promises that they know will not be kept, for their ability to churn lies and excuses far exceeds the rate at which gullible public can discern and understand. That is why a budget of 520 Crores is required for party propaganda. It is a borrowed concept from cryptography. Do not take your eyes of processing power. And those who got sold to the first debilitating false dreams of AAP, are hooked on to the comfort of a fake Utopia (is there any other type?) , they are willing to switch from one dud merchandize to another, without becoming aware of the passage of time, till a Greece hits them on their face.

2.       Topic 2: The Karmyogis: Two names come to my mind, of Rajiv Malhotra and Subramanian Swamy. Both of them are people many RW supporters and RW ideologists looks up to and both are pursuing causes that will outlive them, as much as two who want to bring many people to see their viewpoint and accept them, while both do it without seeking any personal gain in form of money or position or power. I have listened to Rajiv ji on almost one to one basis, listened to many of his recorded speeches, read his books, and found him totally consumed by his objectives with only Dharma driving him. If you hear him, you are certain to hear him touching on aspects poorvapaksha, an approach that involves hard work to the point of being termed ‘tapasya’, that requires sacrificial characteristics in one, an essentially Indian trait.

Subramanian Swamy operates on more materialistic level. His mission is political, rooted in social and cultural ethos of India. His current initiative to bring people of ‘santana dharmic’ persuasion to a single platform as well fighting the corrupt elements in India through legal means are examples of his pursuit of nationalism as he sees it. One may have differences with his objective but none can fault his indomitability even in the face of severe adversities.  

We have Hemus amongst us but we also run a risk of dissipation should these Hemus be stopped while leading us in a battlefield. The recent attack on Rajiv by the Afro-Dalit brigade with the active support from Indian evangelical guerrilla forces, and the overwhelming pushback from Indo-centric thinkers, while reminding us of the dark forces that want to maintain its a Christian-centric Indian narratives in Indian studies, also reveals that, perhaps, for the first time, there is a viable and credible Indo-centric challenge that has sent a shockwave. For a change, people showed they can fight together. But I am not sure of the consequences had Rajiv been silenced by those forces.

While Hemus in large number is too much to ask for, the least change one can hope for is, shirking the slackness as minimum requirement to be counted amongst RW constituency. The first 60 years of Independence saw power in the hands of self-loathing Indians who were British in mind and action, who institutionalized loot of our country while holding a lure of fake socialist dream to the tyranny-tired, impoverished Indians who were looking for an easy escape from drudgery of unemployment, hunger, ill-health and other inherited ills of the British but perpetuated by Congress. 

From here to where we want to be is not going to be an easy journey. Not any less with the cacophony of the impatient RW supporters from same side, screaming for fulfillment of a list of wants with no prioritization.  Nor can it be done by those who are only willing to list out what is wrong with us, without ever raising a finger to be part of the solution. Or by those who are dazed in a sense of entitlement that makes them feel that the Karmayogis of India are indebted to solve all their problems. Or by those still clinging on to their protestantanized, Christian-Western centric mindset. 

Arun Kumar ji, who brilliantly summarized RSS and what it stands for, defined a Sangh member as one who will not ask what Sangh did in return to him/her for his /her service.  (This different from Kennedy’s “Ask not what the country has done for you, ask what you have done for the country”. The difference is subtle but substantial). In that there is a lesson to those who ask ‘what is Modi/Amit Shah doing?’ and ‘what is Rajnath Singh doing’?

By casting vote for BJP the responsibility has not ended. It has just begun.