New Delhi: Those who cried for Nirbhaya are “silent” over the “daughter of Bengal”, Hitesh Shankar, editor of Panchjanya—RSS’s Hindi mouthpiece—wrote in an editorial dated 19 August 2024, referring to the aftermath of the rape-murder of a trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
“Politics has always divided, it will continue to divide … but are we divided over our daughters as well,” wrote Shankar. He went on to say that the Trinamool Congress’s politics, which is “growing more violent with each passing day, marks a new chapter in the plight of West Bengal”.
“West Bengal, which has been burning in the heat of this political violence for decades and where people have accepted this heat as normal, and where civil society can be seen taking a step back in the face of this tragedy. This is a degenerated state for any society,” he added.
Shankar goes on to emphasise that Bengal, which carved an identity for itself around the world owing to its contributions to art, culture, literature, cinema and science, has now become the centre of political violence, human trafficking, illegal arms manufacturing and fake currency trade.
Referring to the history of political violence in Bengal, he writes that those who expose it and other illegal activities are accused of defaming the state and arrested. Citing the state government’s decision to ban the film The Kerala Story last year, Shankar says actions like these are indicative of an effort to not anger the “carefully nurtured” Muslim vote bank.
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‘UCC should’ve been implemented in 1952’
In his column for The Indian Express dated 17 August, RSS national executive member Ram Madhav underscored the need for a “secular UCC (Uniform Civil Code)”.
“Laws that divide the country on religious lines must be done away with. They have no place in a modern society. The times demand a secular civil code. And then we will be free of religious discrimination” he wrote.
Madhav, who was earlier this month appointed as one of BJPs’ in-charges for the upcoming J&K Assembly elections, went on to opine that Modi’s pitch for a secular civil code for all Indians is perfectly in line with the arguments made by B.R. Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly.
He quoted Ambedkar as having said, “… if it was found necessary that for the purpose of evolving a single civil code applicable to all citizens irrespective of their religion, certain portions of the Hindu law, not because they were contained in Hindu law but because they were found to be the most suitable, were incorporated into the new civil code projected by Article 35, I am quite certain that it would not be open to any Muslim to say that the framers of the civil code had done great violence to the sentiments of the Muslim community”.
Madhav added that the Uniform Civil Code “should have been implemented” after the formation of the first government under Jawaharlal Nehru in 1952. “However, Nehru couldn’t muster the courage when the best opportunity came during the reform in the Hindu law in 1954.”
“He (Nehru) evaded the issue, arguing that ‘I do not think that time is ripe in India for me to try to push it through’,” wrote Madhav.
Bangladesh turmoil a ‘Western ploy’
Prafull Ketkar, editor of Organiser magazine—the RSS’s English mouthpiece—wrote in an editorial dated 19 August about the “anarchy (in) and plight of Hindus in Bangladesh. If the protests that led to the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina were all about opposition to quotas for families of freedom fighters from the 1971 War of Liberation, why are minorities in the country, especially Hindus, being targeted, he asked.
Holding western powers responsible for the turmoil in Bangladesh, Ketkar added, “Fuelling protests in the name of democracy has been the favourite ploy of Western powers. In the end, they ultimately orchestrate anarchy and pave the way for the Islamist-Left combined forces to take over the system. The same pattern is emerging in Bangladesh.”
He went on to say that “all sections of society” must come together and stand up for the Hindus in Bangladesh. Adding, “The Government of Bharat and international agencies should also use all diplomatic means to pressurise (sic) the interim Government in Bangladesh to protect the minorities. Internally, we should remain vigilant as attempts to fuel the protest industry and discredit elections are also happening in Bharat.”
Quoting a 1949 speech by Ambedkar, popularly known as the ‘Grammar of Anarchy’, Ketkar argued that the presence of constitutional methods leaves no room for justification for unconstitutional methods.
“All democrats should fight this trend of using selective issues, fuelling protests, manipulating media and technology as misinformation tools and challenging democracy in the name of democratic protests. This subversion of electoral democracy through street politics will always be used against Hindus by the Islamist-Left cabal,” wrote Ketkar.
Bangladesh & infiltration in NE
In his column for Organiser dated 25 August, Dibya Kamal Bordoloi shows concern about escalating tension in Bangladesh which can create problems for India, particularly North-Eastern states.
Quoting Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, he wrote, “There is a concern from two perspectives. Individuals in Bangladesh may attempt to enter India if the conflict persists.”
“Bangladesh was cleared of North East Indian insurgents during Sheikh Hasina’s administration, but now the situation may change. This is another concern for India,” Bordoloi added.
He went on to say that most “separatist organisations in the region were brought back into the mainstream through a series of peace initiatives led by Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah”.
“But the sudden power shuffle in Bangladesh is being considered as a matter of concern for the Northeastern states.”
Against this backdrop, Bordoloi writes that it is not only India’s border with Bangladesh but also the one with Myanmar which may cause problems for India. “On 28 February this year, the Mizoram Assembly unanimously voted to reject the Centre’s proposal to fence off the India-Myanmar border and do away with the Free Movement Regime (FMR). The Government of the Nagaland opposes the border fence and the removal of the FMR, as do practically all state organisations,” he pointed out.
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