A tribute on his 97th birth anniversary. Deendayal Upadhyaya
Ramachandra Gowda
SENIOR BJP leader Ramachandra Gowda recounts Deendayalji’s baudhik at the Sangha Shiksha Varga, held at Doddaballapur, a taluk headquarters in Bangalore district held on January 2, 1968. Deendayalji’s thoughts are relevant in the current context of illegal migration from Bangladesh.
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, the front-ranking leader of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jan Sangh, was a great visionary whose capacity to envisage the future with mathematical precision was exceptional. In his baudhik at the annual Sangh Shiksha Varga at Doddaballapur, a taluk headquarters in Bangalore district on January 2, 1968, Deendayalji emphasised the need for the people of Bharat to ‘care, share, empathise and act’ by rushing to mitigate the problems faced by our fellow countrymen in other parts of the country.
“If there is a problem, say in North-East, the entire country must stand up like one man and try to resolve the issue in the long-term interest of the nation. Every individual Bharatiya must think that the problem is his and take appropriate steps. If the leg stumbles upon a stone or a thorn pricks the foot, the brain gives command to the hand to rush to the rescue of the leg. The brain then commands the waist to bend. It is because the entire human body is one homogeneous unit and not a condominium. Similarly, the entire nation is one unit and hence, it is the duty of every Bharatiya to think and act in the interest of our fellow countrymen,” Deendayalji said, to the swayamsevaks, who heard his scholarly treatise with rapt attention.
I was fortunate to be present as one of the delegate in the Sangha Shiksha Varga. Going by the present threat to the national integrity and Indian identity in many parts of Assam due to illegal infiltration from Bangladesh, I suffered a rude shock, when I recalled what Deendayalji had said in the baudhik. How true he is and what a great visionary he was! Remember, Deendayalj echoed and amplified these thoughts – need for Bharatiyas to think as a homogeneous unit instead of condominium – when the present Bangladesh was still East Pakistan.
It only became Bangladesh in the aftermath of 1971 Indo-Pak war.
Deendayalji had, by then, left us in February 1968.
Illegal infiltration from Bangladesh is a hydra-headed menace. Its implications and consequences are multi-dimensional. It is not that Assam is the only State that is affected. The illegal infiltrators have spread to other parts of the country, including, Karnataka, thereby being a perennial source of threat to internal security, given their extra-territorial loyalty and diabolical intentions.
Unfortunately, the Congress governments at the Centre right from day one have turned a blind eye to this ever-increasing problem of illegal infiltration. Worse, it has aided and abetted illegal infiltration guided solely by sordid electoral consideration. It is atrocious to learn that illegal infiltrators constitute a crucial electoral game-changer in most of the Assembly constituencies in Assam. The recent violent clashes in Kokrajhar and other neighbouring districts of Assam between native Hindu-Bodos and illegal infiltrators from neighbouring Bangladesh was due to the threat faced by the Bodo tribals to their resources, identity and land.
It was the All Assam Students Union (AASU) which highlighted the problem of Bangladeshi illegal infiltration in a major way in early 80s. That the Congress government headed by late Smt Indira Gandhi neither had a clue of the gravity of the situation or deliberately maintained a stoic silence, goes without saying. The blunder, perhaps, the first and the major one, of Smt Gandhi government was to hold Assembly elections in Assam in 1983, despite the decision of the people to boycott the polls.
AASU’s stance was clear and correct; no elections till the illegal infiltrators are deported out of the country. It warned of a violent backlash if the elections are held, much against the wishes of the people. Smt Indira Gandhi, however, insisted that the Centre would take the responsibility of maintaining law and order during the period of elections. She told the Parliament; “We have airlifted the security personnel, we have airlifted the election personnel; we have airlifted the ballot boxes; we have airlifted the arms and ammunition. There is nothing to worry.” This evoked a sharp and wittiest but telling response from Atalji, who was the then BJP president. He said, “Madamji, you airlift the voters also.” This was an apt repartee to Indira because the voters of Assam had decided to boycott the polls.
Realising that the national mood in so far as the problem of Assam is concerned was crystallizing against the Congress, Mrs Indira Gandhi brought in the now-infamous Illegal Migrants Determination (by Tribunal) Act, known as IMDT Act. Though on the face of it sounds to prevent illegal infiltration, in reality, however, the Act proved to protect the illegal migrants instead of identifying and deporting them. That IMDT Act was declared anti-vires of the Constitution and was struck down by the Supreme Court is a proof that the Congress government was trying to hoodwink the people of the country.
IMDT Act was a cruel joke played by the Congress on the people of Assam. As per the Act, the onus of proving that such and such a person was an illegal migrant rest on the complainant. If, for any reason, the complainant could not prove, then he had to face action! This ridiculous Act made the people not to give any complaint that, in turn, encouraged illegal migrants to enter India like a flash flood.
That was the second major blunder committed by the Congress government. From then on, infiltration has been going on unabated, thanks to the insensitivity of the successive Congress governments both at the Centre as well as in Assam.
I shudder to think the geometrical proportion in which the illegal infiltrators have grown, both in terms of number as well as in terms of geographical spread. As per the Home Ministry and IB report, there are about three crore illegal migrants from Bangladesh settled in different parts of the country, including the national capital of Delhi. In about 200 Assembly constituencies throughout India, illegal migrants are crucial game-changers. In Assam, 11 of the 21 districts are predominant of illegal infiltrators.
Let’s see the proportion in which the population of Hindus and Muslims have changed in Assam. Between 1951-61, Hindus were 33.71 per cent and Muslims were 38.35 per cent. However, between 1991-2001, Hindus were 44.08 per cent but Muslims were whopping 89.25 per cent. This is mainly because of illegal infiltration from Bangladesh. Infact, the United National Front of Assam, a political party headed by Badruddin Ajmal, draws its strength and logistics from illegal migrants. He is a Member of the Parliament from Dhubri, a parliamentary constituency, which has majority illegal infiltrators!
Given the gravity of the situation in Assam and its implications to the internal security in the entire country, it is high time, nay, long overdue, for the people of entire Bharat to ask the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre to take decisive steps to deport all illegal migrants and seal India’s border towards Bangladesh. USA has been taking effective steps to seal its border towards Mexico to check illegal infiltration. Similarly, China, North Korea, though friends, have effective border management. Unfortunately, India’s track record in border management has been abysmally dismal, solely due to the absence of concern for national unity and integrity.
On his 97th birth anniversary (September 25, 1916), Deendayalji’s sane and clarion call to the people of Bharat to stand up like one man and raise their voice against cultural, demographic and territorial invasion, is more relevant than ever before.
The second chief of the RSS Shri Guruji Golwalkar was supposed to do the baudhik in the Sangha Shiksha Varga. But when Deendayalji came to the RSS camp straight from the just-then concluded all India session of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh in Calicut, Kerala, Guruji announced that Deendayalji would take the baudhik varga. The three-day Jan Sangh session at the Communist-stronghold of Calicut held on 28, 29 and 30 of December 1967, was an unimaginable success which made even many critical media write editorials with a caption, “Ganga Flows to Down South”.
What made Shri Guruji to coax Deendayalji to take the baudhik varga is inexplicable. But that baudhik of Deendayalji has an all-time relevance, especially at the present crucial juncture when India’s integrity is at stake from Assam and other North-Eastern states. I bow my head with great reverence to Deendayalji, for his visionary thoughts on his 94th birth anniversary.
(The writer is a MLC, Former Minister, Government of Karnataka).
Comments