Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday hit out on the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), accusing them of turning “gentle and benign Lord Ram” right into a Rambo-like determine and Hanuman into a logo of anger.
In an interview, the Congress chief informed The Indian Express that India was passing via a part of “provocative and aggressive nationalism” —communal strife was reported from throughout India in April — with no area for “dissent and disagreement”. He added that this might go and the Congress would make a comeback.
“Ram is embedded in our tradition. Ram is each sakaar and nirakaar (kind and formless) … We have accepted Ram in numerous manifestations. We know Kabir’s Ram, Tulsi’s Ram and Shabari’s Ram. Ram lives within the hearts and minds of each Indian. The staff have accepted Ram in a single kind, the farmers see him in one other kind, the tribals see one more kind, the intellectuals and devotees see him in one other kind,” Baghel stated.
He went on so as to add, “Mahatma Gandhi additionally noticed Ram. His final phrases had been ‘Hey Ram’ and he used to recite Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram. But as we speak, the best way the BJP and the RSS see Ram and the agenda they’re setting, the Ram who was ‘Maryada Purushottam’, the one who lives within the hearts of each devotee as a logo of affection, they’ve turned him right into a fighter. Rambo bana diya ja raha hain (They are turning him into Rambo). Akramak (aggressive). Hanuman is the epitome of humility, devotion and data. But the posters of him as we speak. If you take a look at Hanuman’s outdated footage, the Lord was so lovely, bhakti se dhyan mudra primary (meditative and devotional). And as we speak, indignant and aggressive. The means they’re setting the mindset of the society … they did it with Ram earlier and are doing it with Hanuman now. Our Ram is that of Kabir and Tulsi, the Ram of tribals, farmers, and staff. The benign Ram who’s omnipresent.”
One of the Baghel authorities’s bold initiatives is the Ram Van Gaman Paryatan Paripath or a tourism circuit envisaged to map the route that devotees consider the deity took throughout his exile from Ayodhya.
The chief minister additionally took a dig on the BJP, saying that its concept of nationalism was imported. “Who met Mussolini? It was BS Moonje … the drums, caps, everything is imported. Their model of nationalism has no place for dissent and disagreement. Our nationalism is different. Ours is rooted in traditions from the beginning, evolved by the likes of Shankaracharya, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa…”
Asked why his occasion had not been capable of convey this message to the voters, Baghel stated that it took the RSS 75 years to make the nation perceive its model of nationalism. “Remember, it was rejected throughout Gandhi’s time. (VD) Savarkar and his concepts had been rejected. But it’s like bubbles within the water. A time will come when they may burst. This interval will even finish.”
On Congress and Rahul Gandhi
Asked what, in his view, the Congress was not doing, Baghel stated, “See, the society is facing a period of provocative nationalism and aggressive nationalism. There is no respect for dissent, there are attempts to stifle dissent. The Congress will not be able to do that. It has never done that, is not doing it, and will never do that. But people are supporting it. But this country belongs to the Buddha, Mahavir, Kabir, Guru Nanak, and Tulsi… the Indian society values love, brotherhood, and tolerance. That has been our tradition for thousands of years. In the end, love and brotherhood will emerge victorious.”
The Congress chief stated he was hopeful that this part the nation was going via would finish when folks notice “enough is enough, there has been too much violence”. Baghel added, “The violence that is taking place in different states, I don’t want to take the names of any state. Is anybody leading this violence? Nobody is leading, it is headless. And if headless people set the country’s agenda, then it is very unfortunate for the country. Wherever the violence is happening, it is headless. And if stone-pelters and slogan shouters set the country’s agenda, then it is unfortunate.”
The chief minister stated former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was the one chief preventing the BJP with out holding again. “He is the only person who attacks the BJP directly. He is not scared. He is the only leader who has been talking about people’s issues, be it price rise, unemployment, faulty implementation of the GST, demonetisation.”
Asked why the Congress was shedding regardless of Gandhi elevating folks’s points, Baghel stated, “It is up to the people to accept it or not.”
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
