Upon watching the biographical film titled: “Main Atal Hoon” which was released on 19 January, 2024 and which has been based on the extraordinary life and political journey of ex-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, an iconic figure in Indian politics and whose poetry laden debates in the Lok Sabha have always been critical of the policies of the Indian National Congress.
Vajpayee who was elected to the Lok Sabha (House of the People) nine times and to the Rajya Sabha (House of the States) twice, has been a critically acclaimed poet who was born in the family of a humble school teacher on December 25, 1924 in the erstwhile princely state of Gwalior (now a part of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh).
The movie ‘Main Atal Hoon’ portrayed the early career of Vajpayee when he had embarked upon a journalist’s career, which was cut short in 1951 when he joined the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the fore-runner of today’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
The movie not only sheds light on the person himself, but the biography helps the viewer to assimilate the inception of the Bharatiya Janata Party which has sprung from the ethos of integral humanism that was a set of concepts drafted by Deendayal Upadhyaya as a political programme and adopted in 1965 as the official doctrine of the Jan Sangh and later BJP.
The creation and adoption of the concepts sarvodaya (progress of all), swadeshi (domestic), and Gram Swaraj (village self rule) by Upadhyaya helped to suit the major discourses in the Indian political arena of 1960s and 1970s. This highlighted efforts to portray the Jan Sangh and Hindu nationalist movement as a high profile right fringe of the Indian political mainstream.
According to Danish anthropologist Thomas Blom Hansen (1999) in his book titled: ‘The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu nationalism in modern India’, published by the Princeton University Press:
“...the use of the word “Bhartiya” which Richard Fox had translated as “Hindian”, combination of Hindu Indian. Due to the official secularism in politics, it had become impossible to invoke explicit reference to “Hindu” and the usage of the word Bhartiya allowed to circumvent this political reality.”
In fact, in viewing the ideological inclinations of the erstwhile Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh from the lens of a critic such as indian lawyer: A G Noorani, in his book titled: ‘The RSS and the BJP: A Division of Labour (2000)’,
“Its three founding members were Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Balraj Madhok and Deendayal Upadhyaya. Jan Sangh was the political arm of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation.”
Au contraire, India’s grand 0ld party i.e. the Indian National Congress which led India to independence from the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1947, the Congress emerged as a catch-all and secular party, dominating Indian politics over the years.
On social issues, the Indian National Congress advocates secular policies that encourage equal opportunity, right to health, right to education, civil liberty, and support social market economy, and a strong welfare state. Being a centrist party, its policies predominantly reflected balanced positions including secularism, egalitarianism, and social stratification which has been drafted in Chapter 6 of the NCERT Textbook titled: Political Parties (2022-23).
In understanding the underlying tenets of traditional Indian secularism, Justice R. A. Jahagirdar, in his article entitled: ‘Secularism in India - The inconclusive Debate’, that was published in the International Humanist and Ethical Union on 11 May 2003, observed that:
“secularism has been interpreted as the equality before law, including of all religions, while the state is neutral.”
While the term secularism in India also differs from the French concept for secularity, namely laïcité according to Christophe Jaffrelot (2011), whereby the French concept demands absence of governmental institutions in religion, as well as absence of religion in governmental institutions and schools;
Contrastingly, in India, the word secular means thorough-going separation of religion and state, as opined by Donald Eugene Smith (2011) in his book titled: ‘India as a Secular State’.
According to E.T. Mohammed Basheer in his article titled: ‘India’s Temple is its Secular Constitution’, published in the Wire:
“Indian secularism has civilisational and constitutional roots that are invincible beyond the muddling of party politics. Indian secularism is based on the doctrine of Sarva Dharma Samabhavana or equal treatment of all religions, unlike its European counterpart.”
And this is where the 2024 Manifesto for contesting the Lok Sabha Polls released by the Indian National Congress seems to excel in upholding secular values in our country.
In the section entitled: ‘RELIGIOUS AND LINGUISTIC MINORITIES’ of the Chapter titled: I. Equity, of the Manifesto (2024)
“The plurality of religions represents the history of India. History cannot be altered. All people living in India and all children born in India are equally entitled to enjoy human rights that includes the right to practise one’s religion. Pluralism and diversity constitute the ethos of India and are enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution of India. Given the history and the democratic traditions of India, the Congress believes that there is no place for authoritarianism or majoritarianism. Linguistic and religious minorities are granted human and civic rights under the Constitution of India. Congress pledges to uphold and protect these rights.”
Therefore, Goa needs to effectuate its choices well during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls with a view to securing the most democratic representation of its interests in the LS.
In fact, upholding the constitutionality of the State’s endeavours can no longer be understated during these decisive times of nation building upon the pillars of democracy.
