New Delhi: The BJP’s win in four out of five assembly elections this month, the issues of privatisation and unemployment, and the depiction of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus in Bollywood film ‘The Kashmir Files’ — these are the subjects that dominated the pages of publications affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP, and sister organisations.
Organiser and Panchjanya, the RSS-affiliated journals in English and Hindi, respectively, had cover stories on Yogi Adityanath’s win in Uttar Pradesh, with a full size photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the chief minister-designate.
Meanwhile, several Right-wing organisations are making strategies on how to eradicate unemployment, a major economic issue the country is facing currently.
Dealing with unemployment
Swadeshi Online, the monthly magazine of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM), ran a cover story this month on the ‘Swawlambi Bharat Abhiyaan’ — a movement being run by eight Right-wing organisations to tackle unemployment.
“Even though India is considered the youngest nation in the world, unemployment is one of the biggest challenges that face the country today. Our aim is to bring every Indian citizen above the poverty line and provide employment to every citizen,” the magazine said.
The eight bodies are the SJM, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Sahkar Bharati, Laghu Udyog Bharati, Grahak Panchayat, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, and the BJP.
They held a three-day meeting in February where the organisations presented their respective plans and strategies. But the discussions are yet to translate into a final plan.
In another article in Swadeshi Online, author and former civil servant K.K. Srivastava raised the question of corporate freedom versus national interest.
Citing the example of Tata Group’s choice of former Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci to lead Air India — Ayci later refused to take up the position — the author asked how a corporate organisation could remain “insensitive” towards issues of national importance.
“Air India has trained pilots, huge aviation assets but is unprofitable due to poor management. The Tata Group may have selected a commercially successful Ayci to sort out the management, but before the appointment, the needs of the country should have been kept in mind. He should not have been appointed without a thorough investigation,” Srivastava wrote.
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Praises for Modi, Yogi for UP results
In an article in Panchjanya on 21 March, RSS National Executive member Ram Madhav listed three factors responsible for the BJP’s win in four of the five assembly elections held in 2022.
Firstly, calling PM Modi a “father figure”, Madhav said the PM establishes a direct connection and takes care of everyone like a father — from children’s education to healthcare facilities for the elderly.
Secondly, he said, the BJP’s organisational network has strengthened significantly since the 2014 parliamentary election. Madhav, who was allegedly sidelined in the BJP due to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, didn’t shy away from giving credit of the party’s win to the former BJP president.
The third reason, he added, is the cultural, nationalist political philosophy of the BJP, which is termed hateful and majoritarian by critics, but is the soul of India’s culture and civilisation. He wrote that the PM’s “double-engine” government is not merely a slogan, but it keeps the pressure on state CMs to perform better.
Madhav also praised Yogi Adityanath for proving himself as a leader with a clean image, and an efficient, development-centric administrator, and a politician working for people’s welfare.
In an article titled ‘M-Y: UPYogi Combination’ in Organiser on 14 March, author Nirendra Dev wrote that the “thumping victory of Yogi Adityanath shows that his political victory is neither a flash in the pan nor a product of circumstances”. The author gave major credit to PM Modi, along with Yogi Adityanath, Amit Shah and J.P. Nadda (in that order).
About Modi, he wrote: “He has packaged and presented his winning image of a Hindu leader who struggles hard for Bharat’s development. Even UP Chief minister Yogi Adityanath figures in that scenario.”
Organiser Editor Prafulla Ketkar wrote an article titled ‘Assembly Polls Results: Redefining Bharat’s Destiny’, stating that the results are a “resounding endorsement of its [BJP’s] kind of politics characterised by its commitment to Hindutva, uncompromising stance on issues of national security, development and meticulous implementation of welfare schemes”.
“The election results also reflect the enduring appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has brought a lot of energy and purpose into politics. Taking a cue from PM Modi, the ‘double-engine’ Government of UP altered the way the administration used to function in the state,” wrote Ketkar.
Ketkar said, under Adityanath, “UP has seen strong economic and social growth, multi-faceted development initiatives, effective delivery of services and implementation of welfare schemes and improved law-and-order situation”.
“His zero-tolerance on corruption and crime has earned him the epithet of ‘Bulldozer Baba’… His crackdown on criminals had a telling effect on the law-and-order situation in the state, which even his staunchest rivals would admit,” the Organiser editor added.
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‘Land jihad’
On 16 March, Organiser also carried a piece on what it termed “land jihad”, accusing Muslims of building mosques on the land of Hindus in Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
“As part of the land jihad, Muslims are now keen on building mosques in Hindu-dominated residential areas which have gained momentum after DMK’s victory in assembly and the recent local body polls,” the article said.
“Mosques are mushrooming in Tamil Nadu. Emboldened by DMK’s victory, Islamists have been grabbing and building mosques in Hindu-dominated areas,” it said, seeking to detail the chain of events that led to a conflict between a group of Hindus and Muslims over ownership of land.
‘Don’t join BMS if you’re clever, want to become PM, President’
In the March edition of its monthly magazine Vishwakarma Sanket, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) said that it will not support the market listing of state-run Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).
The LIC, India’s biggest life insurer, is set to launch its initial public offering (IPO) soon. The BMS claimed this is the first step towards LIC’s privatisation.
“The BMS will also launch a movement against Centre’s policies of privatisation,” it said. “We will organise a rally on 17 November 2022 against privatisation in which lakhs of insurance sector employees and agents will also participate.”
Former BMS president Hasubhai Dave gave some leadership tips in an article titled ‘Individual-centric leadership’.
“There is no organisation in India where it is forbidden to hail a person, but then the entire organisation seems to be based on the charisma of one person. But such leaders do not try to help the organisation grow, because they are afraid of losing the grip from members of the organisation,” he wrote.
“When an approval is received in any department of central government units, then the leader tries hard so that the organisation does not move forward. Because by expanding the organisation, new workers grow and these new workers may come forward. But these days, the leader thinks about how to keep others at bay,” Dave wrote, without taking any names. “A leader might shine, but the organisation may weaken. This is the primary difference between central leadership and collective leadership.”
“So do not join the BMS if you are clever. Become the prime minister, president, but we will work to regain the nation’s glory. People may come or go,” he added.
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On ‘The Kashmir Files’
Meanwhile, the Right-wing platforms and commentators are also promoting The Kashmir Files — a film based on the Kashmiri Pandit exodus, made by film-maker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri. It was released in theatres on 11 March and is running to massive commercial success.
In an article on 14 March, Panchjanya claimed that elderly people are encouraging their young children to watch the film. Some people are even organising free screenings for those living below the poverty line, it said.
Former BJP Rajya Sabha member Balbir Punj wrote an article in Punjab Kesari on 16 March explaining why he thought a “certain section” is opposing The Kashmir Files.
“Such people include some self-styled secular political parties, Leftists and self-proclaimed liberals, who are challenging the religious horrors faced by Kashmiri Pandits. They are describing the film as a symbol of “propaganda” and “Islamophobia”, while minimising or marginalising the number of casualties among Kashmiri Pandits in the name of religion, Punj wrote.
“In fact, they are defending the jihadi mentality that has killed countless local residents in India over the past 1,300 years, forcibly converting, making their women victims of lust, destroying hundreds of temples, waged a blood-soaked Partition in the name of Islam,” he added.
Punj argued that apart from the Modi government’s efforts to scrap Article 370 and 35A, the government, courts and “self-proclaimed human rights organisations” have not made any serious efforts towards the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.
Amit Thadani, a surgeon and Right-leaning commentator, said in a 15 March article in Swarajya that the film is doing well, not because it is “violence porn” as claimed by Left-wing critics. He then quoted former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
“’A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.’ The Kashmir Files is that moment for our time to redeem that pledge,” he wrote.
Thadani claimed that several characters in the film are based on real individuals — actor Pallavi Joshi’s character is seemingly based on Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor Nivedita Menon; the terrorist played by Chinmay Mandlekar is based on a fusion of Kashmiri separatists Bitta Karate with Yasin Malik. He noted that the latter also called on PM Manmohan Singh at his residence, with Thadani also sharing a picture of the two shaking hands.
Journalist Anant Vijay in Dainik Jagran compared the film to Gulzar’s Maachis and Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider and wrote that the section that is opposing the film today never opposed films made on Muzaffarnagar and Gujarat riots.
(Edited by Amit Upadhyaya)
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