DUSSEHRA means slaying of demonic qualities

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

A belated Dussehra, Durga Puja and Vijaya Dashmi greetings. Though this column was written on the day of the festival, it obviously appears the day after being written, so belated.

As I sat on computer to write this column after watching Ravana going down in flames amid bursting of crackers like every year, I was forced to introspect and think afresh. Three decades ago, when I was a kid, I had asked a learned person, my teacher, “Why do we burn Ravana every year?” His reply was simple, which still remains the standard answer to the query. “Ravana symbolises evil”. Since time immemorial, every year, the day is celebrated as the triumph of good over evil.

Evil… he indeed was. Ravana kidnapped Lord Rama’s wife Sita by deceit and forcibly took her to Lanka. But there are different interpretations why he did so. A section of the scholars say that Sita was kidnapped to take revenge from Rama’s brother Laxman who sliced his sister Suparnakha’s nose. Ravana kept the kidnapped Sita in forceful confinement in Ashok Vatika but never ever touched her. There is another interpretation that Ravana wanted to win Sita over and had kidnapped her. Whatever, the interpretation and reasons, obviously no kidnapping is acceptable in any society. But the point is whether the offence is so despicable and unheard of in Indian society to be termed as an evil. 

There are people roaming around with much more serious crime. Why don’t we burn their effigies as well along with Ravana? As compared to these modern days “Ravanas”, the actual Ravana of Ramayana looks like a saint. Kidnapping of course is a serious offence. But what about the incidents of gang-rapes and murders taking place with alarming regularity? Isn’t it time we burnt the effigies of the Delhi gang-rapists and other rapists either languishing in jails or roaming scot free? Isn’t crime much more serious that what Ravana did happening with alarming regularity in and around us?

The Lanka king whose effigy is burnt with much fanfare was also accused of being arrogant. Well, if that is the criteria of terming someone evil, then I am afraid there is an evil lurking in most of the human beings and we need to cleanse ourselves from arrogance and anger.  Then, Ravana was extremely egoist. Again, don’t we all suffer from this? most of us are unable to let go of ego even if it remains a stumbling block for personal development. Ravana usurped the kingdom of his brother Kuber. But don’t we see politicians out of power plotting to dethrone those in power all the time by all means under their command—fair or foul?

Watching a popular television serial recently, I learnt a lesson — a lesson which is now deeply ingrained in me. The protagonist in the serial donates a hefty amount as donation for the local Ramleela management committee and gets the honour of shooting the arrows which would eventually burn the demon king of Lanka. The protagonist is in a joyful mood and waiting for the D-Day as he had emerged as the hero of his colony, given the opportunity to shoot arrows at the effigy of Ravana. But he had a sleepless night a day before Dussehra. Ravana appears in his dream and asks him bluntly, why was he so excited to shoot arrows on the effigy the next day? “Because you have evil qualities,” replies the protagonist. “But do you have qualities like Lord Rama to shoot arrows at me?” asks Ravana in the dream of the protagonist. The poor fellow has no answers and awakens in sweat as he himself is trying to overcome anger, aggression, ego, possessiveness, etc.

As I watch politicians firing symbolic arrows at the effigy of Ravana in the live evening television news, the protagonist of the serial comes in mind. In Delhi, one finds politicians of all hues trying to be the chief guest at the final day of Ramleela when the effigy of the demon king is burnt.

This is not limited to Delhi alone but even in Chandigarh, Dehradun, Shimla and smaller district and mofussil places. In the bigger events, you find the big politicians and at the colony level, you find local and aspiring politicians. People should now ask them bluntly, “You are welcome to shoot the arrows, but first answer one question honestly.  Can you tell us if you do not have the evil qualities which Ravana had — anger, aggression, ego, possessiveness, lust for power and authority?” A majority of them would go away if they are honest to themselves.

The story of the protagonist on TV serial was taken from the life of Jesus Christ. A woman, caught committing adultery, was brought before Christ. Those who brought her to the Christ said the punishment was stoning till death. “Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her,” was the reply of Jesus. When the crowd heard this, they all left, one by one, the older ones first.

Lord Rama had more qualities than Ravana and that entitled him to slay the demonic qualities of the Lankan king. Obviously the slaying is of demonic qualities of a person and not the person himself. As a person, Ravana had a great lineage, performed intense tapasya to please Brahma and Lord Shiva, was an exemplary scholar, a very good ruler, an accomplished Veena player said to have composed the hymn known as Shiva Tandava Stotra. Above all, he was one of the greatest devotees of Lord Shiva.

Some scholars even say that his description as a ten-headed person is a reference to him possessing a very thorough knowledge over the four Vedas and six Upanishads, which made him as powerful as 10 scholars. But his evil qualities did him in. Though his skills far outweighed his negative qualities, still the message is that if you possess even a single quality which is evil in nature, this would lead to your downfall. If this could happen to a person of tremendous qualities like Ravana, it could happen to anyone else. According to my understanding, this is perhaps the greatest lesson from the Lanka Kand of Ramayana. (October 14, 2013) 

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Congress lacks a big idea ahead of 2014

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

The poll bugle has been sounded and countdown to the big festival of democracy has begun. First it would be a semi-final in December before the big game changer final in April-May next year.

Five States would go to polls beginning next month and December 8 would see new Governments in Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. More than that December 8 would prove to be a watershed in Indian politics and likely to give a clear indication as to which way the political wind is blowing and who will assume power in Delhi in May next year.

There are 630 Assembly seats in the five States which go to polls and the sample size of voters would be over 11.5 crore in these States. Clearly, the results would show how the two parties — the BJP and the Congress are placed in the Hindi heartland and who would rule from Delhi in May 2014. If we leave out Mizoram, which may not have a national impact, together these four States send 72 members to Lok Sabha. In 2009, the Congress had a distinct edge, getting 41 members elected from these States while the BJP had to be content with only 29 seats. Percentage wise, the size of Congress victory and its margin over BJP in these four States was more or less similar to the one it had at the national-level where it formed the Government. If the BJP manages to reverse this trend this time round, first in Assembly polls and later Lok Sabha polls, obviously sun would shine much brighter on it.

Though there was speculation in political circles that Lok Sabha elections could be advanced to be held along with Assembly elections, it seems the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Government and Congress have other ideas and now it would be held as per schedule.

Elections may be six months away but the goalpost is changing at a much rapid pace stunning the political parties. The issues are changing so rapidly that in the fast changing political environment, parties are redrawing their strategy every now and then.

The Congress was badly bruised when party vice-president Rahul Gandhi rebuked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Cabinet on the Ordinance on convicted legislators. Soon after, announcement of Telangana triggered a storm in united Andhra Pradesh with every party opposed to the bifurcation of the State except the TRS in the Telangana region and Congress High Command in New Delhi. Will Rahul intervene again and rebuke the Prime Minister and his Cabinet again for the Telangana announcement? Or was he kept on board when the decision was taken? No one for sure knows the opinion of Gandhi and unless he barges in a Press conference of one of his party’s leaders, no would know it.

But whatever the opinion of Rahul on Telangana, what is sure is that the Congress will lose badly in Andhra Pradesh and could be decimated in the Seema-Andhra region though it might get a couple of seats in Telangana. Remember, this was the State, which catapulted the Congress to power in a big way in 2009 by sending 33 members to the Lok Sabha. Even the Congress sympathisers now say that the way Telangana issue was handled the figure could now be anything between 0-2 in the 2014 polls.

If the handling of Telangana left a lot to be desired so did the Ordinance on convicted leaders. As the battle of 2014 is a game of winning more and more allies in UPA and NDA, the Congress seems to have lost its edge after the fiasco on the Ordinance. Though, Rahul’s intervention would help cleanse politics, old allies are now wary of the party and most of its allies feel that the Congress does not need them anymore. Former Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav would vouch for the fact that the Congress would not even think twice before dumping a long-term ally. Potential allies would see the fate of jailed Lalu Prasad and the fiasco of the Ordinance and simply decide not to do business with the Congress.

The fate of DMK leaders too is fresh in the memory of potential Congress allies. Former Telecom Minister A Raja spent over a year in jail in the spectrum allocation scam and even party supremo M Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi had to spend a long-term in Tihar Jail. A leader of RJD said that the Congress picks and chooses whom to send to jail and whom to protect. “Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati were protected by the same CBI which sent Raja, Kanimozhi and Lalu to jail. You can never bank on the Congress for support in need,” said the senior RJD leader.

A section of the RJD believes that the Congress under Rahul Gandhi would force the party to sympathetically consider the BJP as a “friendlier” party and the Congress as “hostile”. Though, the core vote bank of the RJD is Yadav-Muslim combine, if forced to a corner, it may approach the BJP if Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) goes for an alliance with the Congress. The BJP would have nothing to do with the RJD, the very thought in a section of the RJD of a patch-up with its old enemy suggests the changing equations and how possibilities open up in politics.

The Congress may have suffered in terms of alliances but there is a silver lining in the biggest State of Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha. There are indications that the party could have a pre-poll alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party. If that happens and the trend of 2009 continues in the backdrop of declining popularity of the Samajwadi Party, there could be some major gains for the Congress.

In Bihar, Congress-JD(U) alliance, if indeed it materialises, would again help the party get respectable numbers. But beyond these two distinct possibilities, the Congress has nothing in terms of alliances. All its allies consider it unreliable and have deserted it. The DMK and the Trinamool Congress, its biggest allies in 2009, are no longer there in 2014.  

But what perhaps could be the greatest handicap of the party in the 5-6 months in the run up to the 2014 polls, is the lack of one big idea which could catapult it to power for the third time in a row.  I talked to a few Congress leaders about any big idea with which it would go into the polls in 2014 and I could only hear about various laws on “Right”. These were Right to Food, Right to Education, right to get cash in bank accounts etc. When I pose the same question to the people with whom I interact, they too consider these as their “Right” but do not associate Congress with it.

Poor people are no longer satisfied with food or obsessed how and from where their next meal would come from. That is a matter of right. Now they want education for their children, health for their elders and employment for the youth. They now have aspirations and are no longer content with 100 days of employment under MGNREGA. They want the luxuries of modern life-FM radio sets, colour TV, decent clothes, economic avenues and trickling down of benefits of modernisation. It is here where the Congress has failed them. The party has no big idea on economics and growth. It was time the party came out with a magic wand in the remaining tenure otherwise the writing is there on the wall.  (October 7, 2013) 

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Veto power of Rahul Gandhi

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA 

Who has a bigger stature in Congress and the Government — Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi? The worst kept secret is now out. The entire world now knows that Gandhi not only has the veto power in the party but also the Government.

What the entire world now also knows for sure is that the first family of the Congress always had this power but they made everyone believe that executive power had been delegated to the Prime Minister. The façade that executive leadership vests with the Prime Minister had been assiduously built for public consumption in the last almost 10 years. But the mask fell down in one blow as Rahul dashed to the Press Club of India in New Delhi in a pre planned move to disassociate himself from the Ordinance on convicted leaders.

Senior leaders and those who know the functioning of the Congress knew that the first family always had veto power pertaining to anything in Government and the party. After party Chief Sonia Gandhi started keeping unwell, it was left to Rahul to exercise this veto power first in the formation of the Cabinet some time ago, then a reshuffle in the organisation and now to derail the Ordinance. He used it to great effect to make Manmohan Singh and his Cabinet colleagues realise that he calls the shots not the Cabinet.

Even if the Prime Minister sticks to the chair and does not resign after this, he has been shown his place and told in no uncertain terms as to who is the boss. Whatever Rahul or Sonia Gandhi tell the PM in their letters and phone calls and try to console him after public humiliation, the message has gone.  In the remaining term, he will have to seek the advice of Rahul for anything and everything he does because another round of humiliation or reprimand would severely erode whatever little credibility he has as a Prime Minister.

But whatever the critics of Rahul and even the status quoists in his own party say, for the first time the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has taken a pro active stand ever since he came into politics. For the first time, Gandhi respected public opinion on an issue of wide importance. So far, his entire politics was based on NGO style operation-championing the cause of dalit one day, tribal the other and without being serious to either of the two. Rahul has not spoken anything on the deteriorating economy, international relations, political issues facing the country, on Telengana or even the victory of Indian cricket team in a bilateral series.

For that matter, after becoming Vice President of the party when a bigger role was expected, he has not spoken anything of significance which the voters expect from the prime ministerial candidate of Congress. His main competitor Narendra Modi speaks on everything under the sun every other day and the entire world knows what is good or bad about him. Now that Rahul has made a beginning by terming the Ordinance as a “nonsense” that “deserved to be torn up and thrown out”, people would expect more from the leader who has practically been anointed as the prime ministerial candidate by Congress. 

BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi may have lashed out at Rahul on Sunday in his rally in New Delhi for undermining the authority of the Prime Minister but remember as this was the first time the Congress Vice President took a stand on an issue, he should be excused. The authority of the Prime Minister in any case was always undermined in the Congress regime of this century where loyalty and lack of political base was the criteria for the top job of the country.  A hue and cry is being made as this was the first time people saw the undermining of the democratic institutions-PM and the Cabinet-taking place in public domain. 

However, Gandhi’s political immaturity is apparent when he chose the wrong place and time to debunk the Ordinance as “nonsense”. He could have barged into the meeting of the Congress Core Group which took the decision to bring in an Ordinance to help the convicted leaders to help the Government. He could have picked up the telephone and called the Prime Minister or the Law Minister and told them what a nonsense it was. But alas he chose a press conference for it.

What has happened now is that the entire system—Congress as well as the Government is demoralised.  They do not know where to hide their face. As this has come in the run up to the 2014 polls, the embarrassment is all the more serious. Ask Cabinet Ministers Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram and Manish Tewari along with a battery of spokespersons the party has about the latest stand of Rahul and all they will offer now is a sheepish smile. All of them defended the Ordinance before Rahul voiced his opinion on it.

In fact, when Congress media in-charge Ajay Maken was defending the Ordinance, Rahul barged in and termed it “nonsense”. No mediaperson would now believe Maken when he speaks on party’s stand on various issues and they will invariably ask him whether this was the line of Rahul or not. Similarly, whenever the Cabinet passes a Bill or approves an Ordinance, people would invariably ask whether it has the stamp of Rahul or not. They will also tell the Government, “be serious, first get Rahul’s approval and only then bring an Ordinance or a Law”.

My point is different. When you are all powerful and have the veto power not only in Congress but the Government as well, why pretend to be an outsider? Why behave like a kid who does not want to shoulder responsibility? Why not remove Manmohan Singh straight away and become the Prime Minister so that the next General Elections are fought under your leadership?

These are the questions which Rahul should consider in the next couple of weeks as the battle for 2014 is getting hot. (September 30, 2013)

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