The predictable noises over an undemocratic action by the Government which evicted Ramdev at midnight from Ram Lila Maidan in Delhi and deposited him at his Ashram in Haridwar in proper shape. What better Bollywood action movie could one watch at the break of dawn on a sunday? Let us give the devil his due. Yes, uncle Manmohan Singh has proved that by showing you the carrot it does not mean he is nervous because the Santa Claus also has a stick ready should you be over enthusiastic to disrupt peace with your theatrics.
And as I watched the news unfolding at dawn, a thought just went through my mind. What if such an event would have been organised by the Archbishop or Imam of Delhi where over one lakh followers were assembled to protest corruption of an NDA government in power? Would the BJP and all its camouflaged civil society supporters of 'India Against Corruption' have the same repsonse as today? We are not new to the repeated protests by BJP when religious leaders of the Church and Masjids raise their concerns on civic issues and injustices by Government. The reason given is that they must be concerned of religious affairs and not dabble in politics. So how was it different for a religious guru like Ramdev who gathers his yoga followers for political action? Should this initiative have been taken by the Catholic Church or the Muslims, which side of the fence would the so claimed nationalists have chosen to sit upon and what would have been their response? The saffron forces just cannot overcome their obsession over an Italian born and Indian married Sonia Gandhi who is so popular in this country. They have to drag her into any and every controversy. Projecting a Fantasy Bharat where crores of black money will return and there will be no poverty just because a foreign born frustrates the political attempts of the fascists to topple democracy in this country. I am no fan of the Gandhis or the Congress either, but at the end of the day there is a limit to how much abuse one can hurl at one individual and her family often without cause. Just because it helps generate some emotional frenzy in some quarters of this country? Is this our Bharatiya Sanskruti? For right thinking citizens, the action and timing though harsh, was warranted as with such a huge mob in town one cannot be certain of which side it may go. From the looks of it the excuse was illegal foreign money but the motive was to bring down an elected government. If a brick laying program for a Ram Mandir at Ayodhya can erupt into demolishing the Babri Masjid and with the same elements again on the dais at Ram Lila grounds, anything could be possible for which in the same breath the same Government would have been held responsible for not taking timely action. The cops have conducted the operation in a most professional manner without any casualty considering the size of the mob. But it is only that, when it is a Congress Government anything and everything is but undemocratic for BJP, but under an NDA Government anything and everything could only be nothing but a shinning democracy. Is BJP really interested in eradication of corruption in this country or will political compulsions come in its way to justify corruption no sooner it comes to power? -Soter D.
