The filthy words spoken with vehemence ― and evident premeditation, considering the ease with which they flowed over a small interval in a pause, resume, pause, pattern rather than in the spontaneous outburst of a diseased mind ― by BJP’s South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri against BSP’s Amroha MP Danish Ali in the Lok Sabha, sharpens India’s fundamental ideological contradiction.
At the level of politics, this contradiction is exemplified by the struggle being waged between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all that he has stood for ― including a meticulously directed anti-Muslim pogrom on his watch ― and the Opposition INDIA alliance.
Now, the ongoing lynching of Muslims and the bulldozing of their homes and businesses, the frequent killing of Dalits, and the burning of churches on the PM’s watch, has taken on such meaning that his devotees feel empowered enough to take the law into their hands.
They operate through tanzeems or organised cells and murderous gangs of the type seen in the late ’80s and early ’90s in Kashmir when Pakistan, just across the border, attempted to create a putsch through the ‘creative’ use of civil society.
Now, there’s no Pakistani involvement, the tanzeems are of a wholly different religious colour, and their support comes from official and police indifference or complicity. Needless to say, there are few instances of anyone being brought to justice.
Bidhuri’s flow of uncontaminated dirt has no parallel in the history of Parliament. It is in line with the mayhem that uncivil elements of civil society have been wreaking on the populace. Bidhuri’s lingo is their street lingo. Its intention is to demonise and lynch or attack the other.
Also read: Ramesh Bidhuri’s Controversial Appointment Shows Hate Is BJP’s Political Currency
The five-day Special Session of Parliament was to have featured sober reflection on its 75 years, starting from the Constituent Assembly. But the PM’s own speech was vacuous, indicating a small mind at work behind high-sounding exclamations on a manufactured occasion.
There had been no advance planning. For a contrast, recall the inauguration of the GST regime in the Central Hall of Parliament at the stroke of the midnight hour, in a sordid mimicry of Nehru’s freedom at midnight speech.
Clearly, the whole thing was a put-up job. Modi’s speech did not even make a pretence of capturing the spirit and philosophy of the Constitution, and show appreciation of what has been gained through Parliament in the seven decades of life after colonial rule.
Bidhuri was the show-stealer. He was anything but vacuous. The video of his dark intervention in a discussion to congratulate our scientists for Chandrayan-3, has gone around the world much faster than Chandrayan itself, earning him unprecedented news coverage.
It was straight out of the playbook of the ideological paathshala the MP has attended. Modi, many ministers and prominent BJP MPs derive their foundational nourishment from the same fellowship.
In light of what has transpired, the special session, sprung on the people like a clever election trick, can be said to have had dubious intent. It attained two fraudulent ends. The Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in the pre-election season with an eye on the female vote, but with a catch. It likely won’t come into effect for at least a decade if the BJP-RSS remain in the driver’s seat.
And there was the Bidhuri effect: the “sickular libtards” were left foaming at the mouth, and the faithful overjoyed. Already, too many followers are drifting away following the return of Rahul Gandhi, elections are practically upon us, and it’s time to start mobilising on the single agenda which makes the saffron brigades and their brigadiers stand out.
No less interesting is Parliament’s response to the episode. Speaker Om Birla has had it scrubbed from the record, using his power to expunge “unparliamentary” remarks. Another blunt instrument BJP MP has alleged that it was in fact Danish Ali who had invited Bidhuri’s wrath, and called for an enquiry. Probably, this is what Shakespeare meant when he said the devil can quote scripture.
But shortly after Bidhuri had left the House stunned, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, evidently the gentleman among the Hindutvawadi charioteers and not a hate-filled street fighter like his colleagues, rose to offer his regret “if anyone’s sentiment was hurt”!
Alas, he was not being true to his home turf of UP. Lucknow, over which Singh once presided as Chief Minister, is justly known for its culture and refinement. Singh’s conditional, lifeless apology, a joke to be dismissed with a wave of the hand, betrays other origins of his political make-up. Raksha Mantri, sorry, you goofed up real bad.
In truth, Bidhuri’s onslaught was on the Constitution of India, on which MPs take their oath and, more particularly, on its Basic Structure, which upholds secularism as a profound value on which rests the nation’s integrity, unity and sovereignty.
No less pitiable than the torrent of abuse issuing from Bidhuri was the sight of two former high profile cabinet ministers of Modi ― one a prominent BJP leader from Bihar and the other from Delhi ― laughing uncontrollably as their unstoppable colleague did the hatchet job on Muslims to the fullest satisfaction of his ideological mates and mentors. In those dark words that pierce through the heart of India’s unity, these seasoned political warriors found much humour.
When on another day, another BJP MP, Pragya Thakur, had unleashed vitriol against Mahatma Gandhi, the PM at least shed crocodile tears. He said in Parliament that he could never “forgive” her. But just days after the discussion in the Lok Sabha on 75 years of our Parliament, the PM has chosen silence over words after the public traducing of the Constitution, and hence of Parliament itself, by one of his “firebrand” MPs. India’s democracy is transitioning through interesting times.
As elections approach, the BJP’s top leadership under Modi’s guidance is leaning forward to sharpen the country’s primary ideological contradiction ― which is that of a communal India heading toward establishing full sway for majority community supremacist thought as against the idea of a harmonious India for all that we have nursed since Independence.
After the tawdry Bidhuri episode, other flashpoints are likely to be manufactured, with an eye on the vote. The name of the game is polarisation. How will the Congress respond? Its ideological spine has lately been stiffened by Rahul Gandhi after a long spell of the party not knowing what it stands for, but mouthing platitudes nevertheless.
Gandhi, now running on his second wind, visited Danish Ali after the incident, an act of substance and symbolism. How will other INDIA constituents respond? Ideology is very important, but its vehicle is politics. In the run-up to the national elections, the INDIA alliance, if it is to offer a meaningful challenge to the ruling clique, must be seen to be playing as a team with a common theme that ordinary Indians believe in.
Anand K. Sahay is a political commentator in New Delhi.