Kurukshetra

High Court Quashes FIRs Against Kumar Vishwas, Tajinder Pal Bagga in Punjab

Justice Anoop Chitkara said that the court’s non-interference in Vishwas’ case would result in a miscarriage of justice, while the continuation of criminal proceedings against Bagga shall amount to an abuse of the process of law.

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday quashed two separate FIRs registered against former AAP leader Kumar Vishwas and BJP’s Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga by the Punjab police over their statements on Arvind Kejriwal.

Giving a clean chit to the two leaders, the court observed that there cannot be any democracy without freedom of choice and free speech.

The judge invoked Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which preserves the inherent powers of the high court to prevent abuse of the process of any court or to secure the ends of justice, and issued two separate orders to quash the FIRs that were registered in April.

Vishwas, who is a well-known poet too, was booked by the Rupnagar police in Punjab over his “inflammatory statements” against Kejriwal while Bagga was booked on the charges of making provocative statements, promoting enmity and criminal intimidation following a protest outside the Delhi residence of the AAP convener for his remarks on the film The Kashmir Files.

Reacting to the order, Bagga said that it was a “big slap” for Arvind Kejriwal.

The judge in his order in the case of Vishwas said, “In the facts and circumstances peculiar to this case, the court’s non-interference would result in a miscarriage of justice, and thus, the court invokes the inherent jurisdiction under section 482 CrPC and quashes the FIR and all subsequent proceedings qua the petitioner.”

In the Bagga case, the judge said, “In the peculiar facts and circumstances, it is a fit case where the continuation of criminal proceedings shall amount to an abuse of the process of law, and the Court invokes its inherent jurisdiction under section 482 CrPC and quashes the FIR and all subsequent proceedings.”

Vishwas was accused of levelling imputations about the involvement of Kejriwal with certain nefarious and anti-social elements in an interview ahead of the state assembly polls.

A case was lodged against him in Rupnagar’s Sadar police station on April 12 under various sections, including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place, etc), 505 (whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and 125 of the Representation of People Act.

The Punjab police had on April 20 visited Vishwas’ home in Ghaziabad and summoned him for questioning.

After moving the high court, Vishwas, through his counsel Randeep Rai and Chetan Mittal, had submitted that the case registered against him by the Rupnagar police was “absolutely illegal, arbitrary and unjust and it is nothing but means to wreak vengeance through politically motivated criminal investigation by using the state machinery for the oblique motive of political gain.”

The court found that none of the provisions under which the petition stood arraigned are prima facie made out against him.

On the charge of promoting enmity between different groups, the court observed that even if every word of the FIR and the statement in the interview is taken as gospel truth, it will still not constitute any offence under section 153-A of the IPC, as the element of culpability and intention is missing.

The judge also quoted former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and one of the founders of the US, Benjamin Franklin, in his order, stating that there cannot be any democracy without freedom of choice and free speech.

“At the stroke of midnight, apart from liberty, we got Azadi of choice and Azadi of free speech and of expression; and we took a great leap forward by endorsing democracy, ushering equality and dignity, ensuring infinite opportunities to preserve and spearhead this fantastic diversity till eternity,” observed the judge.

“In a democracy, it is the pre-election times when people’s information matters the most. The petitioner being a social educator, while sharing the alleged exchange that took place with his ex-associate, cannot be said to have spewed the venom.”

“There is nothing to infer any intention to divide the classes on communal lines,” as per the order.

In the case of BJP leader Bagga, the judge noted that Section 153-A of the IPC applies when a person promotes enmity between different groups based on religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and acts prejudicial to maintaining harmony.

“Even if the statement made by the petitioner is taken as gospel truth, it still does not imply that such a statement is prejudicial to maintaining harmony amongst different sections of society,” the judge said.

“Merely because the language used by the petitioner is unrefined, it shall not be sufficient to import hatred, detestation, or slander to its contents. There is nothing in the statement to take the speech as an insult or threat, or an attempt to vilify the members of the targeted group or that it stigmatiSed them,” the judge further observed.

“The purported statement of the petitioner is a protest against the statement made by the leader of AAP in power in Delhi and Punjab, where the BJP is in opposition.”

“Being a political activist and an official spokesperson of a political party, as a shadow of the incumbent, it was well within his rights to make the people aware of the response of an opposite political leader. Democracy is all about informing the people and creating sentiments,” the judge said.

The judge also observed that there was no allegation that the petitioner had posted tweets by entering the state of Punjab, or any incident had taken place within its territories due to such tweets.

“Every post of the petitioner will not give territorial jurisdiction to the state of Punjab to investigate in the guise of the present FIR. Had the investigating agency of another State been given that much leverage, it would impact the federal structure under the Indian Constitution, where every state has the right to maintain law and order within its territorial boundaries,” the judge observed.

BJP leader Bagga was booked on the charges of making provocative statements, promoting enmity and criminal intimidation. The case was registered on a complaint of AAP leader Sunny Ahluwalia, a resident of Mohali, and referred to Bagga’s remarks on March 30, when he was part of a BJP youth wing protest outside the residence of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. He had allegedly criticised Kejriwal for his statement on the movie The Kashmir Files.

Counsels Chetan Mittal, Randeep Rai and others, representing Bagga, had argued that he was wrongly booked and the registration of FIR was wholly malafide.

Bagga’s case hogged the limelight in the media after a Punjab Police team went to arrest the BJP leader from his residence in Delhi. But it was stopped by the Haryana police at Kurukshetra while being taken to Punjab. He was brought back to the national capital by Delhi Police hours later. These developments triggered a political slugfest.

After the pronouncement of the verdict, Vishwas thanked the judiciary and admirers.

While BJP leader Bagga in a tweet said, “Satyamev Jayate Big slap on @ArvindKejriwal Face. Punjab High court Quashed FIR against Me & Me & @DrKumarVishwas.”

Watch | WHO Reckons ASHA Workers as Global Health Leaders, but What About Govts in India?

Since these women don’t have the status of workers, they are devoid of basic rights such as fixed salaries and social benefits.

In rural parts of India, where more than 70% population resides, it is a 10-lakh strong army of ASHA workers, which ensures the last mile delivery of healthcare services – in whatever limited form they exist. Yet, they do not have the status of “workers” from any of the governments and are recognised merely as “activists”, as the name suggests – Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA).

Since they don’t have the status of workers, they are devoid of basic rights such as fixed salaries and social benefits. India is recognised for reducing its maternal and infant deaths – an achievement in which ASHA workers played a big role. In many other routine health services such as routine immunisation of children, pulse polio drive and ensuring institutional delivery of pregnant women, they have made major contributions. And, most recently their work in COVID-19 management in rural areas has been appreciated.

Their many contributions were recently recognised by the World Health Organisation which gave them the ‘Global Health Leader’ award in May. But this global recognition has brought zero change in the lives of ASHA workers. They are back to work, and to agitations. Between September 16 and 18, ASHA workers from 20 states and Union Territories congregated for a national convention in Haryana’s Kurukshetra. The Wire spoke to some of them to understand what their issues are and what challenges they face not just on the field but also when they speak up.

To Help Us Survive This Agony, Classical Arts Must Be Authentic Not Tokenistic

As the world settles into a cautious new normal, practitioners of classical dance and music can contribute to replenishing our inner reserves.

India is breathless and in agony as its people struggle to come to terms with the pandemic and its toxic fallout. The images of death and despair that flood the media scream for our attention. In the last few months, the second wave of COVID-19 has broken the spirit of India’s millions as it continues its destructive trail into rural India as well.

At this juncture, our hope is that vaccinations administered across a sizeable population will halt the spread of the virus. The only encouraging sign is that in other parts of the world, the strategy of large vaccination drives is returning the world back to a cautious ‘new normal’.

The last few months of the second COVID-19 wave made us face some harsh truths. It made us see the urgency of valuing human life, acknowledging privilege and admitting to the harsh disparity that separates the haves and the have nots. The pandemic has revealed yet again that a large part of India lives perilously and on the edge.

It is important to come to terms with the gross inequality that marks our reality. Equally, it is important to understand that as a society, what is most needed is empathy together with swift and thoughtful action – both individually and collectively. We must see that humanity connects us all.

Just as the image of thousands of migrant workers fleeing the cities for their villages last year left an indelible imprint on our conscience, imploring us to recalibrate the way we think, relate, act and live, the tragedy of the pandemic claiming so many lives in its second phase has reinforced that we cannot survive in isolation – as a society, those who are privileged must be attuned to the problems of those who are not. Only then will we be able to see the greater ecosystem beyond ourselves, recognise the humanity in all.

To that extent, the pandemic has highlighted the need to change the way we think, by moving away from the easy route of tokenism – sending, or forwarding, outpourings of concern on social media – to the more difficult route of taking the right action at the right time so that people can start rebuilding their lives.

What is clear is that in a post-COVID-19 world, our ravaged world, the word ‘human’ can no longer be used without stirring our conscience. Being human is being aware, sensitive, empathetic, responsible and ethical.

Funerals being conducted at the Ghazipur crematorium. Photo: Shome Basu

The challenge for the performing arts

The artistic community, like others, is going through turbulent times and facing an uncertain future. All paradigms of stability and continuity have been virtually dismantled in the time of COVID-19. The complete stalling of live performances has brought with it an uneasy silence and desperation for artistes who are struggling to survive.

It is apparent that we need to renegotiate structures in our personal and professional lives to make sense of a post-COVID-19 world. The challenge to transform demands holistic action from us – as people and as artistes and, in this article, I look at the world of dance in particular.

Also read: Locked Down by the Pandemic, Culturally Important Nomadic Communities Struggle to Survive

Practitioners of both classical and folk dance from across the country have been gravely affected by the pandemic. Many have lost their livelihoods, lost family, become orphaned, lost dignity, courage, and the earnings of a lifetime. The pandemic has ruthlessly cut through the socio – economic fabric, unmindful of the privileged and the less fortunate. Several, without even the basic means to healthcare, have lived a nightmare too terrible to even imagine.

The pandemic, which has left a trail of devastation in its wake, has made us see that for our planet and its human inhabitants, the only way out is to move towards the idea of creating an inclusive space— not as mere tokenism but as an honest engagement. A space where we don’t speak from the high ground of judgment and finality but allow plurality, flexibility, empathy and understanding to guide our actions. The kind of space that does not need an external conscience keeper but demands of us that we make ourselves conscientiously accountable. A space that prompts us to course correct and move towards a fair and equitable world.

This forced pause could then be viewed as a window for artistes to review their repertoire, ask themselves why they do what they do, challenge the status quo of the tried and tested comfort zone, reflect seriously on the responsibility of inheriting a tradition and, where necessary, question tradition itself with an informed sense of responsibility, to bring it closer to its essential core by peeling away clichéd decorations.

Authenticity, not tokenism

During the pandemic we have seen the sheer hollowness of tokenism – when the seriousness of the second COVID-19 wave was not acknowledged, prompt action not taken, leaving India unprepared for the magnitude of death and devastation that has ravaged the people.

At the same time, we have also seen that when people step out and act in real time and on the ground, the difference it makes is monumental – as in the case of doctors, healthcare workers, nurses, ambulance drivers, paramedics, NGOs, etc. We owe them and the scientific community a lifetime of gratitude.

Perhaps there is a lesson to be learnt from this – as people and as artistes. For serious artistic enterprise, being authentic is vital. If one is not alert, the repetition that classical dance involves could bring with it a sense of false accomplishment, where habit and muscle memory, rather than a mindful awareness in the body, take over.

This superficial practice gives a sense of achievement but does little to deepen the study of dance in the body. If we wish to move away from tokenism to find the real pulse of dance, we must explore how we can make our dance lived, inhabited.

Also read: Why Classical Dance Must Move From Performance to Experience

The question then is – can we distance ourselves from this kind of tokenism as artistes? Granted, tokenism requires little effort and the ‘reward of accomplishment’ it offers, is huge. But there is no doubt that even as it gives an unlimited sense of grandiose fulfilment, what it does is displace the real by usurping its role. It is dangerous precisely for that reason.

So, can we live our lives with more commitment and less casualness? Can we as artistes consciously move towards a deeper understanding of the art form with an honesty in approach and execution? Can the dance speak as dance and be shorn of mannerisms? Can dance not just be about the dancer?

‘Can dance not just be about the dancer?’ Photo: Uday Kumar

This in turn raises more questions. Can tradition be reclaimed to resonate in the present? What is our intention when we dance? What is our physical and mental posture? Are we proclaiming certain ideologies to further our self-interest? How does the classical language of dance adapt to present times? Does the dance have to convey literal meanings or does it speak through metaphor, poetry and aesthetics? Can classical dance truly ‘transform’ or is it just another token statement?

And what does it mean when we say classical dance and music have the ability to transform? The dramatic consequences of the pandemic have confronted artistes with questions we otherwise might have postponed, caught as we are in the busy momentum of our programmed lives.

The fallout of the pandemic has also put tremendous pressure on the artistic community for survival – in this informal sector many have resorted to online teaching in a big way as this seemed an answer for those who are willing to learn and those needing to earn. Others have used social media smartly to make their work available online and for a price.

Having said that, there are many others who are marginalised with no access to technology. Some have chosen to chisel and upgrade their craft keeping in mind that sometime, in the not-too-distant future, performances will return to performance spaces and live audiences. Others have formed self-help groups to support those in need.

Tradition is multifaceted and pluralistic. Artistes have different approaches to dance, as do novelists. There is a range of writing, from racy best sellers to more serious books. So too in dance – the range is wide.

Dancers approach subjects with varied intentions – from literal exposition and playing up the romantic to simplifying interpretations and myths in search of novelty and popularity; emphasising the physicality of the dancing body, employing metaphors and similes to make imaginative connections; forefronting stereotyped women characters that encourage the male gaze, making dance entertaining; and reflecting philosophy and serious deliberation as elements of dance.

The repertoire that a student, dancer or artiste presents is dependent on various factors – individual temperament, stage in one’s life, lived experiences, influence of gurus, teachers, mentors, home and external environments. What finally determines the trajectory of the dance path is the purpose that each individual attaches to the dance.

Dance draws from life and expresses life in myriad ways. For instance, the distressing, shameful images of bodies floating in the river Ganga, which we as a country recently witnessed, throws up emotions of revulsion, sorrow, helplessness, fear, disgust, shock. If this were to be interpreted through the language of dance, artistes would do it in different ways.

Relatives and family wait to cremate the dead on the banks of River Ganga, in Unnao, Thursday, May 13, 2021. Photo: PTI

Some might relate to this with a contemporary poem, whilst others might connect this scene of death with lyrics from the Mahabharata (3rd century BCE – 3rd century CE), namely in Gandhari’s lament at Kurukshetra as she describes the battlefield strewn with corpses where women’s shrieks rip the air as they flay their arms like dying cranes, unable to bear the agony of death.

Both images of the present and past are about death. When we look closely at them, we realise what hits us hard are not just the images of death, but the pitch of emotions they churn within us.

Haryana: Bharat Mata Temple to Be Built in Kurukshetra

The temple will become a key cultural centre for the people and act as a symbol of unity, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said.

New Delhi: To develop Kurukshetra as a centre of religious and cultural tourism, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday said his government will build a Bharat Mata temple in the holy city, besides boosting its infrastructure to provide facilities to visiting pilgrims.

Speaking at a press conference in Chandigarh during the ongoing International Gita Mahotsav, Khattar said the temple will be built in Kurukshetra over five acres of land somewhere between Jyotisar and Brahamsarovar.

“The temple will become a key cultural centre for the people, a symbol of our unity,” said Khattar. The Haryana CM said to develop Kurukshetra as a key tourist destination and a “centre of religious faith”, the state government is mulling a policy to offer plots measuring 1,500 square metres to 2,000 square metres in Kurukshetra to various states on concessional rates to build bhavans to facilitate pilgrims visiting the city.

Khattar said besides the state government, the Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB) and various other social and religious organisations are also working for the transformation of the city into a religious and cultural hub.

Naming various upcoming temples and other religious and cultural institutions like Giogita Sansthanam, Akshardham Temple, ISKCON temple and Gyan Mandir, the chief minister said the construction of these institutions would impart a distinct, international identity to Kurukshetra.

Stating that nearly 40 lakh people had visited Kurukshetra during the last international Gita festival, the chief minister said its infrastructural development would lead to a significant rise in the number of tourists and pilgrims visiting it.

In Uttarakhand’s Haridwar, a Bharat Mata temple already exists. It was established in 1983 and shows the idol of Bharat Mata, with a milk urn in one hand and a sheave of grain in another.

Haryana: In the Time of Nationalism, Farmer Leader Foregrounds Livelihood Issues

With his focus firmly on better wages and security, Gurnaam Singh Charhuni’s campaign is in stark contrast to that of mainstream political parties.

Kurukshetra (Haryana): For the past few months, Gurnaam Singh Charhuni has been doing 20-hour shifts. His morning begins with meeting people at his home in Ladwa, a small hamlet near Kurukshetra in northern Haryana. He listens to the grievances of farmers and agricultural labourers who knock at his door, has a quick breakfast after, and then spends the rest of the day campaigning in villages.

Charhuni, a farmers’ rights activist for the last 27 years, did not believe that he had a role to play in electoral politics. But after many years as an activist, he says, he realised that people like him need to contest polls and challenge the “hegemony” of established political parties. “These parties have nothing but false promises to offer to the country’s poor,” he says.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader is now contesting as an independent candidate in the Ladwa constituency, an agrarian belt where he spent most of his life fighting for the rights of farmers. “I may not win, but I see these polls as a way to get in touch with those who do not figure anywhere in the imagination of the political class,” he says.

Also Read: Haryana Politics Has Long Been the Arena of Dynasts and Turncoats

Charhuni has led many farmers struggles in the past, the most recent being against the Modi government in January 2019. His organisation, BKU, demanded that the Swaminathan Committee report that sought to double farmers’ income should be implemented soon. In another blockade he led in Kurukshetra, he and his colleagues wanted a farmers’ manifesto that they had prepared to be implemented. Most of their demands relate to better payments for farmers and labourers and increase in agricultural subsidies.

The Wire met him late on Wednesday evening in a village called Sanwla, located off the Grand Trunk Road that links Ambala and New Delhi. His Mahindra Scorpio, with two loudspeakers connected on top, went past large tracts of agrarian fields to enter the Dalit corner of the village.

A group of 30 people, including children and women, had already gathered there to receive him. Charhuni was welcomed with garlands by the community’s elders. They offered him a plastic chair to sit and begin his address. All this while, Charhuni held a microphone that was connected to the loudspeakers in his car.

Gurnaam Singh Charhuni addresses a group of villagers. Photo: Harsh Chetwani

Before he began his speech, a friend who accompanied him switched on the car’s headlights to brighten the dim village street.

“MLA banna hamara maksad nahin hai, hum toh andolanari hai. Magar socha ki kisi ko toh in modern looteron ke khilaaf khada hona hoga ( My motive is to not become an MLA, I am an activist. But I thought that someone had to stand up to challenge the modern plunderers),” he began his speech.

“Aaj ameer aur ameer ho gaya hai, gareeb aur gareeb ho gaya hai. Aaj kewal 9 logon ke pass desh ke 50 crore logon se jyada sampati hai (Today, the rich have become richer, the poor poorer. Today, the nine richest people have more wealth than 50 crore people of the country’s population),” he said.

The small crowd listened to him and nodded in agreement. “Sahi baat hai (he is right),” an elderly person, who works as a labourer told me as Charhuni went on to speak about issues like banking sector crisis, its non-performing assets and rural distress.

“Imagine we had a Rajya Sabha member, Vijay Mallya, who fled the country with a debt of almost Rs 9,000 crore,” Charhuni said.

Not once did he seek votes but he did not spare his opponents. “I want to tell you that the BJP and Congress candidates do not owe anything to you. They are answerable to their parties which gave them election tickets. They would not have come to you asking for votes had they not been in the electoral battle. That is why I am asking you to think before you vote. Your vote is your greatest weapon,” he urged.

“We always complain that our legislators are inaccessible. But we do not think enough when we vote,” he said, adding that both the BJP and Congress were “corporate stooges, nothing else”.

Also Read: Ground Report: What Women’s Safety Means in Poll-Bound Haryana

Invoking Bhagat Singh, he said had the revolutionary leader lived on to see this day, he would have “waged another freedom struggle”.

Attacking the Manoharlal Khattar-led BJP government in Haryana, he said, “Not a single step was taken by the state government to improve the lives of farmers and labourers. Yet, the BJP claims that the government is ‘gareebon ki sarkaar’. Government schools do not have enough teachers; government hospitals are understaffed. Our children are malnourished because they do not get adequate meals.”

“At least 20 crore people of India do not have enough to eat two meals a day. Over the past five years, the income of neither the labourers nor the farmers has increased.”

He alleged that India is firmly under the grip of the moneyed class. “Yehi saare punjipatiyon ne khud ke TV channel khade kar diye hai jo din raat unhi ka gungaan karte hai (The same moneyed people have started their own TV channels which sing paeans to them every day).”

Soon after his speech, he and his friends handed over flyers to the villagers which had a demonstration of the electronic voting machine. With each one of them, he explained that his name is on the 12th slot against the symbol of a sugarcane farmer.

Gurnaam Singh Charhuni. Photo: Harsh Chetwani

A contrasting tale

Charhuni’s campaign contrasted with the prime minister’s rally in Kurukshetra’s theme park on the same day. The BJP workers were asked to mobilise crowds from as many as five districts of northern Haryana for Narendra Modi’s rally.

As Modi’s focus lay on his government’s decision to dilute Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and his emphasis on national security, Charhuni chose to address bread-and-butter issues of the poor. The audience that the farmer leader had may have been small, but they were attentive. At Modi’s packed rally, barely any were concentrating on what the prime minister was saying.

“We can’t find work. We have nowhere to go. We have come here only on our sarpanch’s (village head) insistence” a group of labourers from Ambala district told The Wire, adding that they had come to participate in the rally only because they were being given free meals and a free ride.

In Charhuni’s meeting, people freely interacted with him, while at Modi’s rally the focus of all attention was the prime minister.

PM Narendra Modi addresses a rally in Kurukshetra. Photo: Harsh Chetwani

After having spent a major part of his speech on national security matters, Modi hurriedly listed out some of the Haryana state government’s achievements. But by that time, a significant chunk of the crowd had already left.

“A common person in Haryana is worried about livelihood matters. Modi entirely omitted those issues in his speech today. The deshbhakti (patriotism) that the BJP wears on its sleeves is fake – a way to deflect attention from real issues,” Charhuni said.

Also Read: In Election-Bound Haryana, BJP Finds Ready Poll Plank in Article 370 Decision

“The constant focus on security matters and nationalism has completely overshadowed livelihood issues in the current state of politics. Is this any good?” he asked.

“Now, no politician comes to ask a common person whether he is doing well or not. BJP has completely killed grassroots democracy in Haryana,” he said, as he left Sanwla for another village to address another meeting. It was 10 pm then.

Haryana: With Vice President Ashok Arora Resigning, INLD Left In Disarray

Arora was the president of the Haryana unit of the INLD for more than 20 years.

Kurukshetra: In a jolt to the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the vice president Ashok Arora, along with his supporters, resigned from the primary membership of the party on Tuesday.

With a political career of over 35 years, Arora was the president of the Haryana unit of the INLD for more than 20 years. He announced his decision to resign from the party at a meeting of his supporters and associates called ‘Punjabi Dharamsala’. Addressing the workers, Arora said that he was leaving the party with a heavy heart as INLD patriarch Om Prakash Chautala had given him love and affection equivalent to his two sons.

Arora said that the political circumstances forced him to take the decision. “In the present political scenario, regional parties do not have much role to play so joining a national party has become the need of the hour,” he said. He also said that he would meet Chautala and seek forgiveness for resigning from the party, and also ask for blessings for his future political career.

Also read: Split in Indian National Lok Dal Aids BJP’s Victory in Haryana

According to some reports, Arora may join the Congress. However, when questioned, Arora said that he would take the decision after assessing all aspects. He also said that he was not like politicians who first remained with Chautala, then with Congressmen Kuldeep Bishnoi and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and finally joined the BJP.

According to political observers, if Arora joined any party other than the BJP, it would not only affect the results in assembly segments of Kurukshetra district but many constituencies in the state as he was considered a strong leader of the Punjabi community. The INLD has been going through rough times ever since the party split.

Arora was elected four times from Thanesar constituency. Besides being senior minster in Chautala’s cabinet, he was also the speaker of the Haryana Legislative Assembly.

The assembly polls in Haryana are slated for October this year.

The Gita and Gandhi’s Decision Against Violence

Gandhi’s act of taking vows is one of withdrawal. Not from politics, but from the politics of decisions.

Perhaps Gandhi acquired a philosophical basis for his idea of fear (and fearlessness) from his reading of the Gita. In his commentary on the text, Gandhi conceded, “I do not wish to suggest that violence has no place at all in the teaching of the Gita.” He acknowledged the ambivalence that “it is difficult to reconcile a few of the verses with the idea that the Gita advocates non-violence” but “still more difficult to reconcile the teaching of the work as a whole with the advocacy of violence.” Gandhi blamed this ambivalence on the author of the Gita.

He considered Arjuna’s question at the brink of the Kurukshetra war when he ordered Krishna to place the chariot between the two armies. Why should a reluctant Arjuna, suddenly feeling the moral weight of facing his own people, fight this battle, commit violence?

Gandhi put Arjuna’s reluctance to fight (which is seemingly ethical) in perspective: “The question which Arjuna asks Shri Krishna is not whether it is right for him to kill. His question is whether it is right to kill his kinsmen.” So Arjuna’s dilemma, Gandhi concluded, is “not concerning violence and nonviolence.”

Also Read: Why Was Mahatma Gandhi Killed?

Arjuna errs, in Gandhi’s view, by reducing a universal ethic (to be against violence) into a particular one, only concerning one’s own kin. To Gandhi “the Gita permits no distinction between one’s relation and others. If one must kill one should kill one’s own people first [emphasis added]”.

Gandhi seems to argue that even though others matter equally as one’s kin, given a choice, the latter deserves to be eliminated first. Gandhian ethics privileges the other over one’s own people.

Gandhi however, categorically said, “The Gita does not decide for us.” He acknowledged that the Gita isn’t situated outside a discourse of violence, but does not go into that problem of how for a Kshatriya, his dharma is violence. He disassociates dharma and violence, and without realising it, breaks the caste-law of violence which is part of the Gita (apart from its larger metaphysics of violence). By not addressing the question, Gandhi allows the caste-law to remain in its place and yet without disturbing it, dissociates dharma and non-violence, from caste.

A departure from political violence based on the ‘decision’

Gandhi’s politics is a departure from political violence, based on the “decision”. Decisions are central to politics, or we can simply say, politics is about decisions. As Carl Schmitt put it in Political Theology, the validity of a sovereign decision (or the decision of the sovereign) is based not upon the substance of the decision but on the fact that a decision has been taken.

The sovereign proclaims the law by taking a decision. It includes for Schmitt, among other things, the (political) decision to name the enemy. The naming of the enemy is at the heart of political decision. There is a statement by Søren Kierkegaard, invoked many times by Jacques Derrida in his lectures on Michel Foucault: “the instant of decision is madness.”

Political decisions are, in the Schmittian sense, impossible without this founding moment of madness that names, or invents, the enemy. It is the madness of instituting a permanent violence in politics.

If for Schmitt, politics is impossible without (naming) an enemy, for Gandhi, the political opponent is a potential friend. Delivering a speech at the YMCA auditorium in Madras, Gandhi said:

For one who follows the doctrine of Ahimsa, there is no room for the enemy. Under this rule, there is no room for organised assassination, and there is no room for murders…

Like Arjuna, Gandhi also postponed the decisionism of politics (and political violence) by using his method of Satyagraha to withdraw and engage with the decision of “not” to use violence.

Gandhi undertook something that may resemble decisions, but they were of a quasi-religious order, in the form of vows. Gandhi declared eleven vows when he established Kochrab Ashram near Ahmedabad, in 1915. They included, as he explained in his Madras address: Satya/truth, Ahimsa, Brahmacharya/celibacy, Sarvatra Bhayavarjana/ Fearlessness, Sparshbhavna / regarding untouchability, among others. These vows were a constitutive part of Gandhi’s politics of fasting.

Kochrab Gandhi Ashram. Credit: Public domain image

A withdrawal from politics of decisions

Gandhi’s politics, his act of taking vows, is not akin to the idea of decision in politics. A decision is a statement of action towards something. Gandhi’s vow is an act of withdrawal. Not a withdrawal from politics, but from the politics of decisions. Not to be misunderstood as indecision, but a decision against violence.

Fasting is a politics of postponement, of creating moral pressure on the opponent, with the intention of reconciliation. This postponement alone questions the moment of decision, as violence is pure decision. It is quite unfair that Gandhi does not credit Arjuna for raising the question. Or perhaps he does. To Gandhi’s credit however, he manages a reading of the Gita that exceeds the text’s ethical limitations.

Also Read: Abolishing Sedition Would be a Befitting Tribute to Gandhi’s 150th Birth Anniversary

What makes it possible is Gandhi’s making fearlessness central to the question of dharma. Departing from the Gita’s caste-law of dharma, Gandhi pronounces: “There is only one dharma”. This dharma, translatable as non-violence, moksha and realising ‘Satyanarayana’ “does not under any circumstances countenance running away in fear.”

The enemy is born of fear. Distrust and fear breeds cowardice. This knowledge is as old as history, but history disallows it to end. In Young India (2-9-1926), Gandhi wrote, “cowards can never be moral. Where there is fear there is no religion.”

Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee is the author of Looking For the Nation: Towards Another Idea of India.

Haryana: Nine Acres of Prime Land Given to Gita Gyan Sansthanam for Research Centre

President Ram Nath Kovind is going to lay the foundation stone for the research centre tomorrow.

Plan layout of the Gita Research Centre model. Credit: Youtube

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government in Haryana has given nine acres of land in Kurukshetra to Gita Gyan Sansthanam, to develop a Gita Research Cenre – an academic and meditation centre, a library and an auditorium, reported the Indian Express.

Construction of the auditorium and library is already underway, and President Ram Nath Kovind is going to lay the foundation stone of the research centre on Saturday, besides inaugurating a fortnight-long International Gita Jayanti event.

The Indian Express has accessed records revealing that in 2015, six acres of land on the road leading to Brahma Sarovar in Kurukshetra, in possession of the Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB), was given to Sri Gyananandji Maharaj-led Gita Sansthanam at Rs 5 lakh per acre on an annual lease of 99 years. Official government records have pegged the land’s value at Rs 50 lakh per acre then. The current price is estimated to be Rs 6 crore per acre.

The governor of Haryana, who is the ex-officio chairman of KDB, has also leased additional three acres of adjoining land to the Gita Sansthanam in December 2016. The Sansthanam presented the project plan to KDB and requested the governor for the additional land.

“The land is given to us by KDB in 2015 and remaining portion in December last year at a rate of Rs 5 lakh per acre. It was given on an annual lease for a period of 99 years and not for the purpose of ownership. The land is not given for the purpose of registration deed. It is given on lease and thus does not fall under the ambit of Collector rate. President of India is coming to inaugurate the centre this Saturday,” Hansraj Singla, trustee of Gita Gyan Sansthanam told the Indian Express.

State governments in the past have also given away land in prime locations to trusts and religious organisations. Since 2002, there have been 16 instances of the Haryana government giving away land to such organisations at different rates.

It is not just the present BJP-led government which is under media scrutiny for undervaluing prime land and giving it away to religious bodies and trusts. In 2014, the Indian Express reported, then Haryana government, led by chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda of the Congress, gave away six acres of land in Kurukshetra to ISKCON at Rs 38 lakh per acre to build a temple.