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Sangh Parivar Antipathy Towards Nehru  Difficult To Understand

Prof Pradeep Mathur

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New Delhi | Thursday | 14 November 2024

It is difficult to understand the contradiction between the Sangh Parivar's Hindu upper caste- centric politics and  their antipathy towards Jawaharlal Nehru to whom they  run down every now and then.. Nehru came from the Kashmiri Brahmin community which considers itself the pure carrier of the Aryan blood of the Vedic period. Therefore , 'Pandit' was always attached to his name.People of the older generation always called  him as'Panditji'. Nehru was not only a high class Brahmin , but also belonged to upper caste feudal aristocracy , whose waning clout  the Sangh Parivar is determined to preserve at all costs and resorts to every possible tactics to do so.

Nehru was a secular and progressive in  thinking and  he was cetainly not a casteist in his approach.But he was not a  social reformer either.He made no attempt to change the social order that the Sangh Parivar wants to maintain. It is also an irony that Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a founder and the most  prominent leader of the BJP , was a great admirer of Nehru. Vajpayee's speech on Nehru's demise was perhaps the best tribute paid to him.Therefore, the question arises why BJP leaders today constantly criticise Nehru even 60 years after his death  when he is not politically relevant.

It is also surprising that most of Nehru's   critics are those who have never seen, heard or read even one word written by him.And most certainly they know nothing about his contribution to our freedom struggle and making of modern India. Yet they leave no opportunity     to run down Jawaharlal  Nehru. And they are as vehement in their criticism as they are ignorant in their understanding of our political history.

Article at a Glance
The article explores the paradox of the Sangh Parivar’s Hindu upper caste-centric politics and their ongoing criticism of Jawaharlal Nehru, a prominent figure from the Kashmiri Brahmin community. Despite Nehru's secular and progressive values, the Sangh Parivar seeks to preserve the waning influence of the upper caste feudal aristocracy he represented. Critics of Nehru, often uninformed about his contributions to India's freedom struggle and modern development, target him posthumously, fueled by a new generation shaped by a market-driven culture devoid of ethics. This demographic, comprising various professionals, aligns with the RSS-BJP mindset and harbors disdain for Nehru's ideals of institutional discipline and social responsibility. The article argues that attacking Nehru is essentially an assault on the democratic and moral fabric of India, reflecting a broader societal shift towards self-serving economic pursuits.

Nehru lost much of his appeal and the  God like image after Chinese attacked our north-eastern borders and humiliated us in the border war in 1962 .Nehru died a disillusioned man one and a half years later. But neither during those 18 months nor after his demise even his worst critics attacked him the way he is being attacked now --  more than  six  decades after his death. With most of his friends and contemporaries gone Nehru is now defenceless in his death. And there is nobody to tell these Nehru critics that you are absolutely  wrong.

The generation which felt the pain of Chinese betrayal and humiliation did not abuse Nehru. They neither questioned his patriotism nor his political wisdom .His economic development model was often criticized as being too heavily tilted in favour of industrialization  but none questioned his commitment for making India a  self-reliant country .If the economy of the country is on sound footing now it is largely because of its sound infra-structure the basis of which was laid by Nehru in the teeth of opposition from many people  who could not  to see beyond their nose.

So why this anger against  Nehru ?  Who   these  Nehru critics  really  are and  why of all persons they  pick up  Nehru to vent their anger?

Though deeply influenced by the RSS-BJP mindset ,Nehru bashers  do not come from a particular area or profession. They  are a motley crowd. However, their way of thinking and source of inspiration is the same.

They are young and not so young people who do  jobs in  retailing, banks, BPOs and financial marketing, They are management executives who run or manage small and medium scale businesses and are engaged in cut throat competition to make money  by hook or crook.They are people benefiting from construction boom who are committed to the doctrine that the solution of the country’s housing problem is by selling dreams and not residential units to the lower middle class and middle class people They are people from airlines, hotels and hospitality industries.

The interesting thing is that none of these persons know anything about Nehru.. Their knowledge of  India’s  history—recent or medieval-- is of the level of Munnabhai. Yet they are neither ashamed of their ignorance nor have any desire to shed it.

To give them company there are   others .—pseudo intellectuals in academia, media  and middle classes .Since it is difficult to comprehend the changing scenario  ,     to attack a defenceless Nehru comes easy to them.

Then there are  compulsive minority(read muslim) haters both in and outside Sangh parivar who seriously need some lessons India’s history.

There is one thing in common in all of them. They hate   self-restraint, institutional discipline ,rule of law  and transparency and do not have a democratic temper. They are impatient to succeed and  worship  “ sub chalta hai ‘ creed.

The Nehru bashers belong to a new post 1990  generation of  Indian society which is a product of the new age of  globalised market economy.Money is their only  God and money making businesses,fair or foul , the way to reach their God. They are  product of a market  culture  sans  ethics .Management  education has given them skills and efficiency but  no social perspective. For short term success they can break all  behavioural norms—personal, social and professional. Harshad Mehta can be their model and Guru their favourite movie. Any comparison with Shylock, the blood sucking greedy money lender character of the Shakespeare’s tragedy does not offend them.

Though Nehru died when most of them were not  born yet  they know that Nehru had  said that the State must have a controlling  hand on business.—economic progress is not the same thing as corporate loot--- when you plan big construction like highways, flyovers, multiplexes and malls you should also think of poor of the country who need a roof over their heads---economic strides should not be made by breaking institutionalized working and procedural norms and the state machinery is there to control malpractices and not to support business in its questionable dealings.

It is the tremendous moral strength that Nehru gave to India’s small but determined middle class minority to stand for what is right and correct that this new class of  ruthless economic predators hates. Nehru was a symbol for all modern-minded, decent and conscientious Indians who  want the country to develop on right  lines in keeping with our ethos and the idealism generated in the wake of our freedom  struggle. Such people have been in public life, bureaucracy,judiciary,police, education, media and social work.Despite best efforts of “environment managing corporate bosses “ many of them are still  not corrupt .Though considerably weakened  such people are  still putting resistance to insensitive corporate loot of this country. And for this Nehru is responsible  An attack on Nehru weakens this resistance and leaves the door open for these   money hounds. Hence plan, promote , support and sustain the vicious hate Nehru campaign.

This anger and contempt for Nehru is actually that of those new, self-centred people whose approach to economic development is focused only on personal gain. This class has grown up in a market culture without morality, which is completely opposite to Nehru's thinking. They do not understand that  to undermine Nehru's ideals is to attack the democracy and moral values of India.

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