The intensifying Menace of
Right Reactionary Intolerance of Our Rulers
While the fringe elements of
Hindu communal brigade have
been dictating what the people
have to think, read, eat, speak and
behave in the society through their
attacks, violence and lynchings on
people, the political leaders and
the government that is supposed
to control and maintain law and
order itself is indulging in acts of
right reactionary intolerance
against academicians, journalists,
social activists and even
administrators who dissent with the
actions of the government. The
vindictiveness of those in power
and in administration is intensifying
day by day against those who differ,
dissent and oppose their views and
opinions with unwarranted
intolerance. The following
occurrences in recent months
exemplify such right-reactionary
intolerance shown by those who
are in power.
The Bharatiya sikshan Mandal
affiliated to RSS, which claims to
work with the objective of national
resurgence in the field of
education, which ostensibly
concedes that the JNU-Delhi was
a remarkable university stating “the
academic standards, the rigour, the
kind of research that is done in JNU
is marvelous and it is one of he
best universities in the country”,
demands the name of Jawarharlal
Nehru University be changed to
Jayaprakash Narayan University,
with the argument that there are six
to seven central universities in the
name of Jawaharlal Nehru and
even roads and stadiums are
named after him. Such is the
perverse logic resorted by BSM
which intends to be little Nehru and
his fame in accordance with the
views of RSS and is part of the
18
recent episodes of smear
campaign on Nehru started by the
BJP leaders.
The administration of JNU too
wanted to prove its loyalty to these
communal forces in power. With
such a zeal it asked eminent
historian Romila Thapar along with
several other distinguished
academics like molecular biologist
Ashis Datta and theoretical physist
R.Rajaram for Curiculum Vitae.
Romila Thapar is a critic of present
government’s stand on history, it is
apparent that the revenge seeking
ruling BJP wants to humiliate
Romila Thapar over intellectual
differences in academic matters, by
asking for her CV which is already
up on the JNU website. While this
act of vindictiveness is criticized
throughout the world, now the JNU
administrators are attempting to
justify their act with lame excuses
like that the JNU is just following
Rule 32(g) of Academic Rules and
Regulations of all emeritous
professors at the age of 75 which
is consider their health status,
willingness, availability to university
needs etc. The RSS pundits like
Viswa Adluri and their henchmen
like RajivSrinivasan are arguing
with perverse logic like that “she
has done nothing lately for a life
time sinecure and that she is
making JNU look silly”; and that her
Aryan migration theory is highly
questionable. Since she is innocent
of all classical languages of India
– Sanskrit. Pali and Tamil – her
entire opus must be based on
translations of primary texts usually
the work of biased or motivated
European scholars, hence her
opinions are unacceptable. Such
has been the height if right
reactionary intolerance being
expressed by Hindu communal
forces against the intellectuals of
progressive understanding to insult
them. This is nothing but insulting
our very tolerant culture and ethos.
Following the footsteps of
leaders in power the Delhi police
filed an FIR against Kashmir activist
Shela Rashid on a lawyers
complaint against her for sedition
since she had tweeted rumours that
the Army had tortured four boys in
Shopian in South Kashmir. Though
Ms Rashid’s tweet is an hyperbole
as less tha an handful of Kashmiris
have died during police action on
protests after the /august 5
announcement to end JK’s
autonomy, it was not an
exaggeration of a larger clamp-
down and crackdown on Kashmiri
society in comparison with BBC’s
reportage
of
August
9
demonstration in Srinagar in which
around 10,000 participated and
many were injured in the
consequent police action, or the
reports and commentary of the
New York Times against the
Kashmir policy of New Delhi. This
is a deliberate attempt to muffle the
local voices raised against the
policy being pursued by the
government.
The journalists who are
exposing corruption and wrong
doing are being depicted as
criminals slamming their job of
disseminating news as mala fide.
The government of UP has been
indulging in booking false cases
against the journalist Pawan
Jaiswal who works for Mizapur
daily, Jansandesh Times, who
reported of children being served
only rotis and salt for their mid-day
meal at a primary school through
contd. on page 21
Class Struggle