Ram Puniyani
Posted November 14, 2000

 Currently while many a diverse signals are being put forward by Sangh Parivar, one of these has very disturbing portents. It has been asserted by the RSS supremo, Mr. Sudarshan, that Indian Muslims should join the "cultural mainstream" by treating Ram and Krishna as the National icons and by accepting country's heritage as their own. This prescription of his for being part of the "cultural mainstream" displays the hegemonic agenda of the Sangh Parivar (SP), as Ram and Krishna despite anybody's proclamations can not and are NOT the markers for "national Mainstream"

 To begin with one disputes the very concept of cultural mainstream as we are a conglomerate of different cultures interacting and developing in the process without regarding any 'culture' as primary and other as the subsidiary or peripheral one's. SP regards the upper caste, north Indian culture as THE national culture, the culture of Hindi,Hindu, Hindustan as the one which is the National culture, which it calls as the  'cultural nationalism'.

 During last 250 years or so with the introduction of Industries and emergence of India as a unified market the interaction between different parts of the country became more intense and while the 'nation in the making' concept operated at political level, at cultural level an intermingling started taking place without accepting the hegemony of any one of them. More than competition there was a spirit of cooperation at cultural level. It is because of this that National movement, which took
along different cultures on equal footing, could draw the people from different regions with equal amount of zeal and enthusiasm.

 Religion based Nationalism, which was the politics of elite presented one version of culture, the one prevalent amongst the Jagirdars and Jamindars of North India. That's why we see the Muslim League predominantly drawing in people from Urdu speaking North India and the Politics of Hindu Maha Sabha- RSS drawing the parallel elite from Hindu society (landlords and Brahmins). The majority of the Hindus rejected this politics and opted to be with the National movement led by Gandhi,Nehru and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

 RSS gave centrality to the Ram as the icon, calling him-Hero of Hindu race. But again at that time also the subalterns, the Dalits and the Adivasis either rejected or were unaware of these elite Hindu icons. Dalit aspirations got reflected in the writings of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Ramasamy Periyar. Dr. Ambedkar grasped the elite nature of Ram and Krishna in particular and of Vedic Hinduism in general. His 'Riddles in Hinduism' is a good exposure of the Brahminical Hinduism; the one based on Vedas as holy book and Ram as the holy deity. He shows the humiliating character of Ram's attitude to Dalits and women.

 Though like the writer of these lines there are millions in the country who bear his name, in current times we do need to introspect before we submit to the dictates of SP in accepting Ram as the Hero of the Nation. Forget Muslims and Christians, has Ram been accepted as the central cultural progenitor of all those who come under the broad umbrella of Hinduism. Surely Adivasis are unaware of the exploits of Lord Ram and Dalits will definitely not identify with a Lord who killed Shambuk, a Shudra, as he violated the norms prescribed by caste predecessors of Mr. Sudarshan, the Brahmins, the norm that Shudras can not go in for education
or tapasya, a type of meditation reserved for upper castes only. The murder of unarmed folk king Bali, who was a popular king, from behind raises many a question marks about Ram's cultural acceptability amongst vast sections of populace who even today swear by Balis's name, when they say 'ida pida javo-Baliche Rajya yevo (Let Balis's Kingdom return- that will ensure happiness for us).

 Will women like to identify with a Lord who had many wives, probably in tune with the times he lived, who after defeating Ravan in the battle tells his 'dear' wife that he has regained his lost honor by defeating a king who abducted his wife and to tell her that he has not taken all this trouble for her sake. Will the women slightly aware of their honor, rights and dignity accept Ram as their idol when they know that it is Ram who in the face of gossip about character of his wife, despite taking her 'angipariksha' abandoned her at a time when she was pregnant?

 RSS has been able to create a Hindu vote bank for the BJP around the Ram JanmBhumi campaign. Discovery of Ram as the cementing factor for the elite Hindu vote bank was the major landmark in the trajectory of SP politics. It is beyond any doubt that Ram's acceptability to this section is also meant to give the message emanating from his life. Message vis-a-vis Adivasis, Dalits and women. Ram's life is a commitment to status quo, honoring the words given to Brahmins etc. This imposition at cultural level on all the people of the country is against the spirit of Indianness and is a blatant exposition of the values of Brahminical Hinduism. Before making such prescriptions to Muslims and Christians it will be good idea for SP to introspect and assess whether Ram can be an acceptable icon to all the Hindus, their success in demolishing the Babri Masjid and unleashing the anti-Muslim pogroms in the name of Ram, notwithstanding. The National mainstream is constituted by those who owe allegiance to the Indian constitution and outfits like SP,who want a Hindu Rashtra (not Secular Democratic India) are the one's and not minorities, who need to be brought to the mainstream