The Faulty Trendsetters

In recent couple of weeks amongst a lot of hue and cry, something has come up again. A trend. A trend that has been visible for some time now. Trend of a corrosive strain of American Left-wing identity (CAL) politics has taken root among the progressive sections of the young, urban elite in India. This politics is defined by purity, where no more than minor differences of ideology are tolerated. Anything more instantly makes you an enemy, fit to be despised or, in the vocabulary of the modern woke Left, ‘cancelled’. The only way out for Indian progressives would require a concentrated effort of engaging with ordinary people holding so called ‘problematic’ views, listening to them and trying to convince them of your own viewpoints, rather than dismissing them as “waste-of-time bigots”. RSS Karyakartas have spent many decades on the ground, working selflessly in small towns and villages, gradually convincing people of their ideology and the potent of commitment. The ideological hegemony that the RSS enjoys today is built on their sweat and blood. Meanwhile, many on the progressive side display little patience to even engage with their family and friends with opposing viewpoints. This by no means suggests that these viewpoints don't have credibility or vigour to take on the majority view, but only that they fail to achieve their objective because the process fails to counter the narrative of the majority view.

If you look on the other side, the cohesive acceptance can be gauged from the fact that RSS invited Dr. Pranab Mukherjee, a lifelong congressman, to the annual conference at Nagpur as a guest of honour to respect opinions of dissent. For the progressives’ following this CAL style, the very reason why they have miserably failed at being an opposition is because of their lack of groundwork and accepting behaviour. The Vice-President very beautifully says, “let the government propose and opposition oppose”. Even Dr. Shashi Tharoor pointed out that “you need to appreciate the government where necessary, the opposition just cannot feed on the mistakes of the government.” When emergency was declared it was these “waste-of-time bigots” who provided Jay Prakash Narayan with the organisational strength and took a backseat in favour of the Loknayak being the face of movement. The reason BJP and RSS continue to strengthen themselves despite all the dissent and protests is because they've actually gone to the people and heard them over the years. Even at the peak of their power they are seen during the Patna floods with more than 11k volunteers, they are seen working with tribals through their Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and they are seen organising protests in form of Sabrimala agitation. This groundwork, however, has lacked in all other social and political organisations challenging them. Our country before being a nation state is a civilisational state. No one has understood this concept better than the RSS. Culture and emotions are two things that humans have fed on and are the binding factors. The CAL stylers’ are happy fighting their battles on Social media and fulfilling their appetites for being activists, and in process just being the pseudo ones. Ever imagined why despite the economic issues, some farmer distress here and there, even with the so-called communal tag they carry, they've been successful and continue to strengthen themselves? The reason is simple, despite all their failures they're the ones who have actually gone to the people and assured them that the problems will be resolved soon and thus become the healing hands. When they win an election, the first priority is to strengthen organisationally. On the other hand, when the current opposition wins, here and there, they sit back in their AC rooms and go back to being Social Media Warriors. When the BJP loses election, the first thing that they do is something like a membership drive. One other major difference is type of cadre that they can build. Normally any cadre of any organisation, especially political ones, require the so-called dosage of power. When in government they want their ways and that special treatment as a sense of entitlement. It would be foolish to think that RSS/BJP cadre doesn’t but it’s their commitment towards fighting that ideological battle that drives them more. And importantly this drive starts from places like Nabrangpur in Odisha or Ballia in UP or Khunti in Jharkhand or Forbesganj in Bihar or Shikaripura in Karnataka or Nemom in Kerala instead of Akbar Road and Jantar Mantar in Lutyens’ Delhi. Good section of them would not have heard of all these places. Indeed, in woke speak, ‘engaging’ is often considered as ‘indulging’, and is thus deemed as a moral failing. And that my friends, has made all the difference!

NOTE: Mainly written as a part of discussion with shreyamanb@gmail.com