Markism and the Saffron wave

[Guest guest]

>

>Francois Gautier

>

> Marxism and the Saffron wave

>

> The other day I visited a tribal village, which was only

>20 kms

> away from Bhubaneswar. The poverty I witnessed there was

> appalling: no drinking water, no proper housing, the

>children to

> whom we distributed food packets were sickly looking,

> undernourished, dirty and badly clothed.

>

> The whole village was in a kind of wasteland, where one

>could

> not see a single tree, or any newly planted sapling.

>Paresh Nayak

> of Odisha International told me that thousands of crores

>had been

> sanctioned by the government in this area, for housing,

> development, or afforestation, but every single paisa

>goes in the

> pockets of corrupt officials, from top to bottom.

>

> In fact the only organisation which is trying to do

>something -- and

> which was responsible for the food distribution as well

>as the sole

> tribal school in the whole area -- is the much maligned

> Washington-based IDRF, which is supposed, according to

>the

> Western and Indian press, to only 'fund Hindu

>fundamentalism.'

>

> Nevertheless, when one witnesses such awful and unfair

>poverty just a few minutes

> away from the nouveau riche glitter of Indian arrogant

>cities, one cannot but think that

> all the Arundhati Roys, Praful Bidwais, N Rams, Shabana

>Azmis, Prannoy Roys and

> other die hard Marxists are right: only a revolution will

>bring fairness and justice to the

> poor and downtrodden of India.

>

> In fact, one can even go further: when people like

>myself, who keep defending a

> certain spiritual idea of India, the greatness of Hindu

>culture and ethos, are suddenly

> confronted by that 'other' reality of this country, our

>lofty drawing-room idealism is

> blown away by what we see, whether in Bhubaneswar, in

>Uttar Pradesh, or Tamil

> Nadu. If I were born an untouchable or a downtrodden,

>there is no doubt in my mind

> that I would have become a Naxalite -- given my militant

>propensities!

>

> And if tomorrow missionaries descend upon the village I

>just visited in Orissa and

> open a dispensary, a school, then a church, why shouldn't

>these poor tribals convert to

> Christianity, when their own more fortunate Hindu

>brothers and sisters not only never

> cared after them for centuries, but stole the money which

>was meant for them?

>

> Yet, all my years in India have taught me that there is a

>third way, which is neither of

> capitalism nor of communism. One could call it

>'spiritualised socialism,' as envisioned

> by Sri Aurobindo and today practiced by Sri Sri Ravi

>Shankar's Art of Living. A Hindu

> temple or a Hindu organisation has no meaning unless it

>also acts as a social centre,

> helps the poor, gives away money, houses, imparts

>education and hygiene.

>

> Indeed the Art of Living foundation does just that with

>its volunteers going in thousands

> of villages all over India and selflessly bringing

>hygiene, housing, harmony and human

> values. It is true that there are countless NGOs all over

>India doing the same job, but

> unless they pass on along with their material help some

>spiritual values pertaining to

> India's ancient culture, they are failing in their task.

>

> Finally, I would like to tell my Marxist friends that

>instead of crying themselves hoarse

> over the BJP's victory in Gujarat, of screaming about the

>'saffronisation of India,' or the

> 'fascist trend set by these results,' they should look at

>it in a different manner. If this is

> a Nazi trend, then the millions of Gujarati Hindus: upper

>and middle class, low castes

> and tribals, who voted for Narendra Modi, are all Nazis.

>

> Yet the Indian voter has always shown that he is smart

>and that he usually casts his

> ballot in a certain way because he wants to put across a

>message. What if Gujarat

> was the first sign that tolerant, peace-loving Hindus who

>for centuries have accepted

> other religions and ethnicities and allowed them to

>practice and prosper in peace

> (UNESCO recently released a report saying that out of 128

>countries where the Jews

> lived up to 1948, in only one -- India -- were they not

>persecuted), are fed-up of being

> made fun off, sullied, harassed, killed, their temples

>sprayed with bullets and

> grenades, their train burnt, their Parliament attacked,

>their markets blown up, their

> women raped?

>

> What if it was a warning to the Muslims of India that the

>majority community of this

> country will no more allow the burning of innocent

>children and women, for the only

> crime that they are Hindus? What, however reprehensible

>their acts was, if

> peace-loving Hindus have shown, for the first time, that

>they can retaliate in kind and

> that Islam doesn't have a copyright on hatred, bloodshed

>and mad violence? At a time

> when India's government is the laughing stock of the

>world -- as shown by the

> contempt that much smaller countries such as Malaysia,

>Portugal or Saudi Arabia

> have shown to India by refusing to extradite criminals --

>the common Hindu is telling

> his government, his countrymen, whether they are Hindus,

>Christians or Muslims, and

> the world, that he has had it…

>

> Francois Gautier

 

 

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