Immediately after the unfortunate URI attacks took place this month, media started pouring with breaking news and prime times. The call for aggressive action against the Pakistani army started catching the headlines. There were demands for fighting a war, applying sanctions and even banning Pakistani artists in India. And I felt that finally, the demand for a strong action against Pakistan (except maybe symbolically trying to ban Paki artists) is gaining traction in Public. Moreover, this view was echoed by almost all news channels at least until the attacks were still fresh in our memory.
And then started another trend- Branding those who were talking about stricter action against Pakistan as “Jingositic Bhakts”. There was an entire wave of defense by the so called “liberal lefts” who started feeding- “Oh Bhakt Gan are behaving like a mob and war is not the solution”, “Let us not stoop down to the level of fighting for Indus waters”, “Music and Art are above Ind-Pak war”, “Chest thumping nationalists on News hour are spreading hatred” and that the “current proto-nationalist government is spreading divisive politics”.
Really???
Instead of shouting back at them with even a greater bang, I thought why not use Nietsche’s ‘Genealogy of Morals’ model to deconstruct why and what was happening. Nietsche talked about the rise of Slave Mentality vs the Master mentality in the medieval age. Oppression and aggression by rulers led a lot of societies including those in Europe and India, to develop the foundations for their own versions of Slave Morality. To forgive was Holy. Controlling your impulses and remaining nonviolent even in the event of war was a virtue. And Why? Because forgiving was the only option, we did not have the courage, power or resources to fight. Be nonviolent, because you are a slave and passive resistance is your biggest weapon. In Nietsche’s words Unable to put up a fight and cope with its struggle against itself, the sick will see its animal instincts, its earthly nature, as sinful, and horrible. Unable to free itself from these instincts, it attempts to subdue and tame itself as much as possible. Nietzsche concludes that “man would rather will nothingness than notwill.” And it was this thinking, which guided the moderate brand of politics in Congress during the 19th century and the majority of Gandhian led Freedom movement. I still believe, it wasn’t all that impractical considering we were being ruled by our masters- the British rulers. Though its important to note that India did not quite win its freedom with this brand of slave politics either. It was a freedom served to us by our erstwhile masters. Just as how the 2nd World War and the economic impracticality of ruling large colonies led to the freedom of the rest of South Asia in 40s and 50s and Africa in 60s, so did India.
But even after independence and becoming “free”, this brand of Slave politics continued.Internationalizing the issue of Pakistan in UN, was our way of showing to the world, how “Great” and “Virtuous” we were. Sending back the captured POWs in the 1971 war without even extracting a strong bilateral agreement from Pakistan on the issue of LoC, was another stunt to show how “forgiving” we were. And now in the present times this has taken different forms- A home grown terrorist becomes a martyr; Azadi slogans which promote breaking India into pieces becomes an aspect of Freedom of Expression; Instead of pushing for conviction of Nirbhaya rapists; journalists run about making a documentary sympathizing with his weeping mother (which in fact she should) and worse if a News Channel is talking about a strong action against Pakistan, he is termed as a false “Jigoistic Bhakt”!
The answer to this lies in the age old slave morality that we have been carrying over our shoulders. We as a nation are afraid of our strengths. Or lets say we feel uncomfortable and awkward when it comes to doing what it takes to set things right. So many people in the recent past have told me that they are scared of the new brand of “Bhakts”. They think that the bhakts are all too powerful and that they are afraid to support this brand of divisive politics. Is standing up and fighting against those who inflict terror on us in the name of religion, divisive? Well I thought vote bank politics based on the rhetoric of social and religious identities has been way more successful in dividing us than this. Another accusation is that the Bhakts are invoking hatred? Well is speaking an uncomfortable truth spreading hatred? The fact is, that the so called liberal elite English media, finds it “virtuous” to cover up the hard realities of terrorism and appeasement politics but derides the “virtue” of the so called “Bhakts” in standing up against what’s wrong.
So let us pull away this shroud of Slave Morality and rise up to be Masters of our own fate.Be proud of our strengths and call a spade a spade. Though this does come with a warning to all of us, standing up and acting against Pakistan or Terrorists or Terror sympathizers doesn’t mean creating a brigade of Neo Nazis who are ready to take out swords on the drop of a hat; whether on Twittter or on the streets. Integral Humanism has been at the core of the Indian way of living. Though this Humanistic outlook should not be used as a proxy to shy away from strict action against the separatist elements.
Finally, if after all that I speak, write and do makes you still believe that I am a Jingoistic Bhakt. Then Yes, I don’t mind being branded as one!!
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