War as a tool for grabbing land and resources by force has been going on since time immemorial. It was the war poets during World War I who exposed the hypocrisy and hollowness of war in which soldiers’ lives are used as pawns to satisfy the greed of politicians and their financiers – the corporate world. But, when war is waged to defend one’s freedom or one’s country against aggressors, it becomes a legitimate exercise. However, it is admitted the aggressor must have politicians and money involved behind it to commence hostilities.
Honouring the men wielding arms to protect their country and even embracing death in the process becomes a sacred duty for their countrymen. Playing politics over it, it is considered, is a sacrilege. When an impression is created that such a sin is being committed on the birth anniversary of one of the greatest patriot-warriors of India – Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose – this January 23, the exercise makes people sad. In fact, the way the whole thing has been scripted makes the real intent suspect.
Had the Centre’s aim been so innocent and devoid of petty politics, it would not have rejected the Republic Day parade tableaux sent by various states highlighting the country’s efforts to develop and modernize. Bengal’s tableau had highlighted Subhas Chandra Bose’s grandeur and that was rejected too. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee vociferously protested against the rejection, but the Centre remained unmoved. Now, with the announcement of the Prime Minister to build a 28 ft high statue of Netaji and install it at the canopy near India Gate, things seem to be falling into place. Usurping other’s glory too is an age old petty effort of many.
The ruling establishment of all hues often tries to portray history in the light that suits its purpose and, for this, falsification or reappraisal distorting the truth becomes a convenient method.
The BJP government appears to have been trying to rewrite history of the country’s freedom struggle in a calibrated manner. The BJP cannot boast of any national hero in the liberation struggle from its own outfits. Instead, the party is often accused of spawning characters considered collaborators. Systematic attempts are being made by the BJP for quite some time to hijack iconic leaders of those times who made sterling contributions to the country’s freedom struggle so as to honour them in a manner the Congress, to which they belonged, had not done. A false narrative has been dished out to create the impression that the Congress had slighted them to enhance the image of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose are being used to fulfill this objective for their purported differences with the then Congress leadership. The same ‘statue politics’ is being played by the BJP government in case of Netaji as has been done in regard to Sardar Patel. The purpose seems not so much to honour the two great sons of India but to make political capital out of them.
The game this time started with the snuffing out, January 21, of the eternal flame – Amar Jawan Jyoti – burning continuously for five decades at the India Gate in honour of soldiers who died for the country. The flame has ostensibly and in an unheard of case been merged with the flame at the National War Memorial a few hundred metres away. The move sparked off a political storm with the Opposition accusing the government of attempting to rewrite history. Predictably enough, the ruling establishment scoffed at the charge. Amid the furore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the nation a ‘grand statue’ of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will be installed beneath the empty canopy at India Gate. Originally, a statue of King George V was placed under the canopy in 1936 till it was removed in 1968. The Amar Jawan Jyoti was put up in 1972 to mark India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war which led to the creation of Bangladesh. That was a singular feat achieved by the bravery and valor of the Indian armed forces and its superb commanders albeit during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s government. The BJP government set up the National War Memorial (NWM) a few metres away from India Gate with the plea that it is in honour of all soldiers dying in the cause of the country, while the Amar Jawan Jyoti specifically refers to the martyrs of one particular struggle. It is increasingly becoming clear that the NWM was being eclipsed in the presence of the Amar Jawan Jyoti that revives the memories of the 1971 war and, of course, the BJP’s arch foe Indira Gandhi. The NWM could not attract daily visitors in equal numbers that the Amar Jawan Jyoti had been doing. Many aged war veterans have opined that no harm would have been done had the eternal flame been allowed to burn at the same place as other countries have multiple such relics to honour their national heroes. In fact, the government did aver in 2019 the two flames would keep burning.
Had erasing a colonial past been the objective, the government should not have chosen India Gate to build Netaji’s statue. Any other nearby place would have been better. Some historians say the canopy should be left empty as a reminder of India’s past. It only shows the government is not only aware but probably scared of the historical value of the site which permits a historical political rival to bask in its glory and reap whatever political dividends that it may yield.
The statue politics over Netaji stands out as a mockery of the inclusive politics that Netaji championed by bringing together countrymen, irrespective of their religious beliefs and social standing, in the army he built to liberate India. Those who are trying to foist on India a monolithic, false Hindootva system are worshipping Netaji for political-electoral gains only. Undoubtedly the Congress cannot escape its share of guilt for this sordid state of affairs as it had been too miserly in giving Netaji and Patel the honours due to them in order to perpetuate dynastic politics. It left this crack to be exploited by divisive elements later.
A young Indian today, of the 21st century, may be left wondering what on earth all this hullabaloo is about. In a globalized society where children are chatting on their devices with friends from across the world, the concept of ‘nationalism’ itself has come into question. The mid 1900s saw the rise of nationalism and socialism. Both were put together by National Socialists or Nazis. The world discovered what a horrific idea was spawned by those two thoughts. Today a hologram statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose may move only those youth who have embraced a certain political motive. Condemning or disowning the past does not remain limited to rejecting a particular political party that may have succeeded to gain power in a democratic nation in the past. It may well engulf the nation’s roots by disowning one’s own parentage since that too belongs to the past. It is time for those young Indians to sit back and think how they will be perceived across the world. A nation without known parents may not be trust worthy for any one.
It is not the Congress or its leaders that built India during the past seven decades. It is the average toiling and poor Indian, with help from the taxpayer, who is responsible for everything that we see around us today. Rejecting the past would imply dishonouring every sacrifice of every Indian till today. Fortunately, politics changes and so do political parties in power. Leaders fade away, just like Indira Gandhi who, at a certain point of time, seemed undefeatable.
Unfortunately, this desire to obliterate history to suit personal likes and dislikes may not remain limited to what is being done today. This could well become the way of the future. There is every possibility that whosoever comes to power tomorrow will again attempt to pervert history. The ball has been set in motion forever.
