As Maharashtra celebrates its 63rd Foundation Day, some politicians in the state are causing controversy over the location of a petroleum refinery at Barsu village in the Sindhudurga district. Nothing highlights the hypocrisy and doublespeak of the Shiv Sena, the principal opposition party in the state, more vividly than this. A forward-looking Maharashtra is being forced to close doors to development and take the path of negativism.
One wonders what happened to its much-touted legacy of progressivism. Maharashtra was once known for intellectual giants such as Lokmanya Tilak, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, and C D Deshmukh, social reformers like Mahatma Phule, builders of institutions that revolutionised popular thinking like Dr Hedgewar, Vinoba Bhave, Maharshi Karve and Vithal Ramji Shinde, freedom fighters like VD Savarkar, and politicians like YB Chavan. Recently, Maharashtra seems to be struggling to provide truly honest intellectual leadership.
The reasons for this decline are not far to seek. Firstly, the virus of hypocrisy has seriously afflicted the thinking circles in the state. Not a single politician or social leader who takes pride in Maharashtra's progressive legacy ever forgets to mention that this is the land of Phule, Shahu Maharaj, and Ambedkar. For many, merely mentioning these names has served as an umbrella to hide all their undemocratic, feudalistic, and even obscurantist acts.
It was the era of post-Mahatma Gandhi's assassination that saw the sowing of the seeds of hypocrisy in Maharashtra's politics. The riots and arson, plunder and loot that were witnessed in the state immediately after Gandhi's dastardly assassination met with only feeble condemnation. Selective amnesia and recognising only convenient facts were to become almost permanent ingredients of the approaches of most in the political class in Maharashtra, later!
Many from this so-called progressive cabal have closed their eyes when intellectual untouchability and thought-apartheid ruled the roost. Otherwise, known for tom-tomming about freedom of expression, they chose to look the other way when PB Bhave, a literary giant, was almost thrown out of the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held immediately after the Emergency. All of a sudden, their liberal values vanished when Ramesh Patange, a senior RSS leader and author, was not allowed to speak at a seminar held by progressives where he was an invited speaker. They were tight-lipped when a needless controversy was manufactured on the subject of Maharashtra Bhushan to be given to historian Babasaheb Purandare. When it comes to politics of hurt emotions, these tsars and tsarinas of Marathi progressivism have always taken a religion-specific approach and silently watched the gagging of the likes of Taslima Nasrin. The duplicity of their approach came to the fore when they remained silent on the ban of the Satanic Verses and created a brouhaha over a complaint against the famous Ghashiram Kotwal, decades before, both cases of alleged hurting of emotions!
What is more appalling is the progressive cabal's willingness to crawl in front of the Thackerays when, in fact, they are asked to bend. Today, whatever remains of the so-called Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA), parties that had opposed the ban on Ambedkar's Riddles in Ramayana have joined hands with those who had advocated the same from the rooftop. Shiv Sena politics was always known as anti-democratic. Balasaheb Thackeray had defended the infamous Emergency of 1975. Besides the party's openly anti-South Indian or anti-Gujarati positions and the Robin Hood brand of politics, which is many times fuelled by protection money mechanisms, there are many aspects of Shiv Sena's style of functioning that no genuine progressive would ever accept. However, simply to cater to their own pathological hatred of RSS and BJP, progressives have been turning a blind eye to Shiv Sena's uncivil activism.
Throughout these years, Marathi progressives have developed a ghettoised mindset. With thought apartheid top of mind, most of them refuse to be seen in the company of a Sanghwala, deny recognition to any artist, litterateur, or journalist with an RSS background, and totally ignore the number of social work projects started by RSS persons. In the land of Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar, the progressives have promoted crass intellectual untouchability, and that too in the name of those who were true epitomes of all liberal values. All this puts a big question mark on Maharashtra's ability to provide thought leadership to the nation.
Thanks to the complete politicisation of the creative and intellectual spheres, dominant sections of the traditional thought leadership of Maharashtra pose a much more serious threat to those who do not subscribe to their brand of progressivism. From theatre to cinema, music to literature, and education to media, these pseudo-progressives try to corner every other recognition and call names when persons opposed to their brand of progressivism are decorated by some award. More often than not, this pseudo-progressive cabal seems to be thriving on a 'you-scratch-my-back; I-will-scratch-your-back' principle. While mutual obligation mechanisms have helped them sustain their grip, the loss of objectivity and non-partisan approach has cost the thinking circles heavily.
In contrast, the approach of RSS towards this needless ideological polarisation and untouchability deserves mention. Firstly, many in RSS recognise unhesitatingly that even beyond RSS, there are many honest and passionate social workers serving society. Secondly, RSS has always tried to build bridges across ideologies. Many, not subscribing to the RSS view in its entirety, have routinely graced the Vijaya Dashmi function as Chief Guests. No gatherings of the so-called progressives have ever seen an avowedly RSS person being invited to grace and given respect.
What is more deplorable is the fact that this thought apartheid has led to a near-total demise of authentic journalism. It has become fashionable to talk about what they call "Godi-Media" today. In reality, many media persons in Maharashtra seem to toe the line of Shiv Sena. Generally speaking, whether in power or opposition, Shiv Sena continues to influence not just the news but also the edit pages of key print-media publications. So much so that the popular impression of journalists indulging in a different kind of politics, including that of vocabulary, punctuation, headlines, and placement of news items, is gaining ground with every passing day.
Apart from being caught in the web of politics of fear and crass partisanship, Maharashtra also seems to be in the grip of the politics of patronage. Movie directors, theatre artists, and quite a few men of letters have been, although obliquely, given a clear message that to wear a badge of progressivism, you have to be anti-RSS and BJP. Not just that, those obliged by the progressive echo system are made to see no wrong in dynastic politics, open threats of violence given by some 'upcoming' leaders or denigration of Veer Savarkar. The silence of a powerful section of opinion makers on issues like sugar barons exploiting sugarcane growers, or diverting waters from particular dams to select areas in an unjust manner, speaks volumes.
With the spirit of accommodation now shrinking, the days of a genuine exchange of thoughts and ideas have become a thing of the past. The trio of Phule, Shahu, and Ambedkar must be cursing all those who swear by them and behave exactly opposite to their ideals.
Vinay Sahasrabuddhe is former MP, Rajya Sabha and columnist, besides being President of Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.
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