Sarsanghchalak’s enforcing narrative – “each crisis impregnates with huge opportunities” – should be the guiding light for the Indian society and government to conduct and operate in the changing world scenario.
Dr Gyana Ranjan Panda
In a crisis entangled society, people usually look up-to leaders and crisis managers to anchor the difficult situation and convert challenges into opportunities for the larger social-economic and political benefits. Such kind of situation makes rare historical appearances and has destined to be the definite footnotes in the annals of human history. Consequentially, true leaders are born from the debris to lead from the front to create new, positive and innovative society out of the crisis.
While PM Modi and the BJP led NDA Government has already defined the leadership in global – national – local landscapes in mitigating the crisis, the ideological backbone of the government, the RastriyaSwayamSangh(RSS), are working continuously silently without any public glare and acknowledgement to reach out to the needy, poor, the people in distress, migrants, unorganised communities and preparing the nation to accept the crisis as opportunities by underlining the need for embracing the core civilisation values of the country.
India is not a just a country, it is a civilisation, whose core values rest on love, peace, selfless service, sacrifice, togetherness, unity, inclusiveness, dialogue and debates among contesting stakeholders. These values have very often shown to the world how to steer clear the crisis in the Bharatiya way. A true India is not made out of purely scientific expression and values like the western civilisation; on the other hand, this crisis, however, shows how society’s traditional knowledge and value systems, that India carries all along, can actually complement and supplements the scientific communities in a very complex global environment to find ways and solutions.
Indian society is now well prepared, and, it can be well-said as“made prepared” by the traditional value system and knowledge to face this global pandemic and establish itself the most resilient society before global communities. When SanghSarchanchalakMohan Bhagwat ji addressed the nation, he actually reinforced same old value systems of Indian civilisation, which this modern India has forgotten since Independence in the guise of accepting western value system, west-moulded individualism, lop-sided policy priorities and the resultant competitive politics. His timely and insightful speech on Corona is expected to hug limelight of public scrutiny and critical appreciation.
Several aspects of his speech warrant scrutiny from the perspectives of its relevance on post-Corona society that everybody going to interface within daily-life eventually. The so-called critics may brand him conservative, anti-liberal, regressive and divisive. Such criticisms are unfounded and are based upon their erroneous understanding of civilisation values and fundamental value systems of Indian society.
Irrespective of all diversities characterised by religions, castes, class, ethnicity and livelihood opportunities, Indian civilisation rest on certain cardinal virtues: community living with love and peace, bhaicharra, Seva hi Param Dharma, Lokhita hi Deshhita, and many other positives value systems. Sarsanghchalak has underlined the needs for embarking upon accepting the same such age-old traditions to help the corona infested communities within society and helping the nations to be resilient and stand tall against such the contemporary global crisis. This shows that RSS works and ideology are outgrowth of social and ethical revolution that this society needs to reflect in the Post-Corona stage of development. Evidence from the fields show that thousands of Shakhas and Karyakartas and the affiliated organisation likeSevaBharati are working tirelessly to reach out the affected people, selflessly without any acknowledgements and benefits in difficult working atmospheres, without discriminations among communities, fearlessly, patiently and with compassion. This needs to be applauded and should be accepted by well-protected arm-chair critics sitting in well-furnished bungalows and residences. Merely throwing tantrums in the social-media platforms won’t diminish the nature of contributions that the army of selfless volunteers undertaking on the fields.
Bhagwatiji attacks into the disinformation campaign undertaken by the political and intellectual vested interests community need to be seriously looked into. Since the advent of web 2.0 (broadly define the Social Media exercise), getting actual and fact-based information has always been challenging task. Citizens are purposely being infuriated and their emotions are getting heightened deliberately by some political groups back by external agencies. These divisive moves are targeted to divide society on political and social lines. Killing Sadhus in Palghar, attacking doctors and paramedics in various hotspots can be attributed to the effects of a well-designed disinformation campaign and its nefarious outreach in the communities. The SanghPrakukh has asked for vigilance, discipline and patience from the people at large to remain united against these vested interests and prepare themselves not to fall into those fear-mongers segments of society. Indian civilisation has provided huge space to promote dialogue and deliberations among diverse communities and build a partnership for collective living and protection against internal and external enemies. These are strengths of Indian society and that needs to be built upon. Citizens of this country are always law-abiding and discipline, the Indian value system has taught this in the making of a family and our schooling system.
Drawing solutions from age-old traditions is the only way out and need to be reinforced in mitigating the current crisis. An important character of Indian civilisation is to be self-reliant and self-sufficient that attaches huge significance in the context of resources inadequacy and dependency. The current model of globalisation has exposed significantly to Chinese manipulation of global supply chains systems pushing many countries’ economies into crisis. Bhagwatiji policy prescription of being Swedeshi and self-reliance will certainly run counter to the Chinese led policy narratives and global dominance. In this context, PM Modi’s Make India and Skill India projects would help significantly to develop the rural economy and strengthening livelihood opportunities for those who have displaced economically due to Corona outbreak.
Sarsanghchalak’s enforcing narrative – “each crisis impregnates with huge opportunities” – should be the guiding light for the Indian society and government to conduct and operate in the changing world scenario. Indian civilisation believes in Seva hi ParamDharam, justifying Government’s huge initiatives to reach out to many Corona devastated countries distributing whatever the country had in terms of experiences and resources. India has always stood with the global problems and has provided with timely leadership, unlike China and his propped up proxies. Indian civilisation and its golden virtues will certainly create the pathway for the global communities to functions and operate in ways and means subscribed by the Indian Society and which will eventually lead for acceptability of the country as Viswa Guru. This is the moment of opportunities for the country; we the people of India should help the nation to attain such glory. The essence of Mohan Bhagwat ji timely speech to the nation should be construed as the guiding script for the Government-in-power to embark upon new policy priorities in the changing realities. Otherwise, it will always be described as the great missed opportunities in modern Indian history.
(The writer works in the Department of Public Policy, Law and Governance in the Central University of Rajasthan)
