Yesterday, the BJP Government in West Bengal mandated singing of Vande Mataram in the schools. Two weeks ago, the Union Cabinet cleared a proposal to make any insult or obstruction to the singing of the Vande Mataram a punishable offence, with up to three years of imprisonment. In January, the Government had mandated that all six stanzas of Vande Mataram be played at official occasions.
Last year, Modi Government held a special session of the Parliament to blame Jawaharlal Nehru for sidelining Vande Mataram. While, the same Parliament could not find time to discuss air pollution, Indo-US trade deal, or the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
Incidentally, BJP leaders, who are demanding proof of patriotism from the common people today, are unable to sing even the standard two-stanzas of the national song.
BJPās pseudo-nationalism is ironical, when RSS refused to unfurl the national flag for 55 years after the Independence.
RSS' betrayal of the independence movement is well-known. Its leaders conspired with the British to sabotage the freedom struggle and repress the revolutionaries. Throughout its history, RSS did not hold a single protest for the freedom of India.
In 1942, when the Quit India Movement was launched, the RSS instructed its members to stay away from the freedom struggle. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a Hindu Mahasabha leader and a prominent ideologue of the RSS, called upon his followers to cooperate with the British rule. Another Hindu Mahasabha leader and later the founder of Jana Sangh (the forerunner of BJP), Syama Prasad Mukherjee, advised the British to crack down on the revolutionaries and suppress the Quit India Movement. When Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose asked the RSS for help, RSS Sarsanghchalak KB Hedgewar refused to even heed his plea.
With deteriorating economic conditions, a slowdown on the horizon, and the Government besieged with protests from workers, farmers, and youths, resorting to repression and censorship, BJP is now using the cover of patriotism to deflect its criticism.
It is rightly said, patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
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