There is a Lautan Ram Nishad-shaped hole in Uttar Pradesh’s social justice politics today. In just the last one week, the promise of Nishad’s politics and ideology, as a counter to the BJP’s Hindutva, has been betrayed by his own Samajwadi Party and its leader Akhilesh Yadav. It also shows that there is no political space in the Hindi heartland for a Periyar-style ideological atheism.
Until last week, Lautan Ram Nishad was the state chief of the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) OBC cell. In a media interaction in Ayodhya, Nishad was asked about his views on Ram and the Ram Mandir. Because of his socialist-Lohiaite-Ambedkarite training, the SP leader has been an atheist and a supporter of separation of religion and politics. So, Nishad bluntly answered: “I don’t believe in Ram or any other god. He is a fictional character. I am of the opinion that the life chances of the lower caste people in India have improved not because of any imaginary god and goddesses. Rather it was because of leaders like Dr B.R. Ambedkar and Jyotiba Phule that the OBCs and the SC-STs have got their constitutional rights.”
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The Hindutva antidote
Lautan Ram Nishad holds an antidote or counter-narrative of Hindutva politics, but the important question is will the likes of Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, SP’s Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Mayawati listen to him? Last week’s political developments prove that either Nishad’s idea is too bold to be called pointless, or these politicians are so overwhelmed by the ideological victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (BJP-RSS) combine that they are unable to think of alternative politico-ideological narratives. The events after Nishad’s statement have also demonstrated that the politics of social justice has no chance of revival in the electorally crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, at least not in the near future. The reaction that Nishad’s views have evoked is absurd, and it looks starker in the state of Uttar Pradesh where nearly three decades ago, the SP-BSP combine had given the slogan of ‘Mile Mulayam Kanshiram, Hawa Men Ud Gaye Jai Shri Ram’ to win one of the most crucial elections in India. The slogan had stopped the BJP in the assembly elections in 1993 despite a communally charged atmosphere in the state in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition.
Nishad’s statement on Ram and the Ram Mandir has created an uproar in the political circles of Uttar Pradesh. While the BJP sought clarification from SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav, many media platforms reported the development as if being atheist was blasphemy. The SP panicked and removed Nishad from his post. The party did not cite any reason for his removal, but it’s no guesswork that Nishad’s utterances have left SP’s top brass uncomfortable.
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Towing the BJP line
Of late, the SP has been towing the BJP-RSS line on most ideologically critical issues. It had supported the BJP on the scrapping of Article 370 (Akhilesh Yadav walked out just before voting in the Lok Sabha), triple talaq bill (six SP MPs and four BSP MPs were absent while voting took place in the Rajya Sabha), reservation for upper castes, and the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
जय महादेव जय सिया-राम
जय राधे-कृष्ण जय हनुमानभगवान शिव के कल्याण, श्रीराम के अभयत्व व श्रीकृष्ण के उन्मुक्त भाव से सब परिपूर्ण रहें!
आशा है वर्तमान व भविष्य की पीढ़ियां भी मर्यादा पुरूषोत्तम के दिखाए मार्ग के अनुरूप सच्चे मन से सबकी भलाई व शांति के लिए मर्यादा का पालन करेंगी.
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) August 5, 2020
2. लेकिन इसका माननीय सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने अन्त किया। साथ ही, इसकी आड़ में राजनीति कर रही पार्टियों पर भी काफी कुछ विराम लगाया। मा. कोर्ट के फैसले के तहत ही आज यहाँ राम-मंदिर निर्माण की नींव रखी जा रही है, जिसका काफी कुछ श्रेय मा. सुप्रीम कोर्ट को ही जाता है। 2/3
— Mayawati (@Mayawati) August 5, 2020
The Congress and BSP are no different. They too have similar views on these issues. But it appears that the ideological difference has either blurred or vanished between these parties. Or it could be that the BJP-RSS combine has defined Uttar Pradesh’s politics in such a manner that other formations have become too meek and docile to even utter a single word against the ideological positions of the Hindutva brigade.
सरलता, साहस, संयम, त्याग, वचनवद्धता, दीनबंधु राम नाम का सार है। राम सबमें हैं, राम सबके साथ हैं।
भगवान राम और माता सीता के संदेश और उनकी कृपा के साथ रामलला के मंदिर के भूमिपूजन का कार्यक्रम राष्ट्रीय एकता, बंधुत्व और सांस्कृतिक समागम का अवसर बने।
मेरा वक्तव्य pic.twitter.com/ZDT1U6gBnb
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) August 4, 2020
The SP and BSP have gone to the extent of promising grand statues of Parashuram in a bid to garner Brahmin votes. In less than three decades, the BJP has decisively defeated the opposing ideology in Uttar Pradesh, and now no leader of the SP and BSP can even think of saying something even remotely similar to ‘Hawa Men Ud Gaye Jai Shri Ram’. Even their personal beliefs—being an atheist—can lead to their ouster/sacking from the party. Nishad’s ouster from the post has happened in a party that professes allegiance to the ideology of Ram Manohar Lohia, an atheist leader.
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Nishad: a product of socialism
In an interaction with me, Nishad said that he is not anti-religion. He says that everyone has the right to profess their religious views and that includes one’s right to be atheist. He points to Article 25 of the Indian Constitution.
Nishad’s ‘offence’ was that he was providing an ideological counter-narrative to the hegemonic upper-caste Hindutva ideology of the BJP-RSS. But he might be doing so at a time that is not conducive to such thoughts — or, maybe Akhilesh Yadav thinks so.
Born on 8 March 1971 to a poor family in Ghazipur district, Nishad had risen in the ranks of the SP. He was a student leader of the Banaras Hindu University and was attracted to the politics of socialism and social justice in the early ’90s. He was impressed by the political ideology of V.P. Singh, and when the ‘Mandal Messiah’ became ill and required a kidney to save his life, Nishad readily offered his. But that transplant never took place. Nishad was also the editor of the magazine Nishad Jyoti for almost 16 years. This made him popular among the boatmen and fisher communities in Uttar Pradesh. He took part in many agitations and worked for the welfare of the OBCs. He has always been staunchly anti-caste and anti-superstitions.
Sensing the rising popularity of Nishad, Akhilesh Yadav had given him the task of winning back the lower OBCs who have joined the BJP in large numbers. On 16 March this year, Nishad was appointed the chief of the OBC cell of the SP. But only after five months, he has been removed for uttering the same things that had made him popular among the OBCs.
Nishad has said that he will remain in the SP and work to make Akhilesh Yadav the chief minister of UP again. But with such ideological dilly-dallying, can Akhilesh challenge the ideological hegemony of the BJP? It’s difficult to say yes.
Dilip Mandal is the former managing editor of India Today Hindi Magazine, and has authored books on media and sociology. Views are personal.