All those who are seeing Gandhi in Prashant Bhushan are suffering from classical Mandela effect. They’ve misattributed Gandhian values to Rahul Gandhian person. That is the only way the reference to Mandela falls in place. They don’t deserve our scorn. They require help, good psychological help
Prashant Bhushan and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
Prashant Bhushan’s refusal to apologise puts him in the same league as Gandhi and Mandela”. Shivam Vij, the “Intellectual Left Liberal” journalist, wrote this hilariously ironical piece on Prashant Bhushan. He wrote this after Bhushan claimed he won’t apologise to the Supreme Court in the Contempt of Court proceedings against him. The entire Leftist-Congress Ecosystem, including the media, lapped this up and hailed the new Gandhi.
The Supreme Court’s ingenious verdict of One Rupee fine or three months jail hasn’t deterred the fanboys of this Neo-Gandhi. They are hailing this verdict as a victory of Bhushan’s values. But the other end of the spectrum claims, the SC has slapped a fine commensurate with his actual value. The 15 days given to arrange One Rupee is rubbing salt on the wound. Twitter verse went berserk with Prashant Bhushan memes replacing One Rupee with his face. “Jan Aushadhi Suvidha sanitary napkins now available at just one Prashant Bhushan per piece”, was one of the hundreds of memes that swarmed social media.
Being the oxymoron of “Left-Liberal”, Shivam Vij has all the “freedom of expression” to eulogise people from his Ecosystem. But since the comparison is with Gandhi and Mandela, it calls for some analysis. Ever since Modi came to power, Prashant Bhushan has been more loyal to Congress than even Rahul Gandhi. The best example of “More loyal than the King” phenomenon. In fact, Bhushan has exhibited more vehemence and venom in attacking Modi compared to Rahul. Hence the Gandhi comparison suits. Only the first name isn’t Mohandas but Rahul.
Rahul Gandhi went all over India shouting “Chowkidar Chor Hai” in Rafale deal, and Bhushan went to SC with single-minded devotion to stop the deal. SC refused to interfere with the deal because it found no irregularities. In 2017, Congress and the Luteyen’s media accused Modi of taking bribes in the “Sahara-Birla Diaries” case. Once again, Bhushan went to Court to file a case. The Court chided Bhushan, asking him to bring “something admissible as proof” before approaching the Court. Bhushan has done most of the dirty job for Congress in the Courts. In other words, Bhushan did in Courts, what Rahul Gandhi did in his public meetings; both with equally disastrous results.
Here is a brief recount of the miserable existence of Prashant Bhushan, especially in the past decade and a half. He was one of the signatories to the letter demanding US Visa ban on the then Gujarat CM Modi. Modi went on to become PM and now gets Rockstar’s welcome in the US. Bhushan joined India Against Corruption (IAC), and IAC just fizzled out rapidly. Bhushan went to SC with some other lawyers at midnight to save Yakub Memon from the gallows, and The Indian Express reported the next day, “And they hanged Yakub”. Bhushan joined Aam Aadmi Party, and Kejriwal shunted him out. Bhushan demanded plebiscite in Kashmir and the NDA Government lead by PM Modi repealed Article 370 and 35A. All Bhushan got was black ink smeared on his face.
Bhushan sold that colossal aggrandisement for a grand sum of One Rupee when he readily and happily agreed to pay the Supreme Court imposed fine rather than go to jail for three months and lose his practice for three years. Though the Ecosystem still hails him for not apologising, what he has done isn’t much different from what Rahul Gandhi did. Be it the RSS defamation case or for attributing his “Chowkidar Chor Hai” slogan to Supreme Court, Rahul repeatedly lied and repeatedly issued apologies to stay out of jail. Bhushan paid the fine of One Rupee to stay out of jail
Prashant Bhushan thought Rahul Gandhi was better for India than Modi and Congress ended up with a total of less than 100 seats in two General Elections, in 2014 and 2019. He opposed law against Triple Talaq, and the Supreme Court demanded a law to stop the menace. Bhushan opposed Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, and the temple construction began on August 5, 2020. He supported anti-CAA agitations, and more people are in jail today than outside. In what could be termed most ironical, Bhushan demanded jail for Justice Karnan for Contempt of Court, and a contempt case promptly landed at his door.
Shivam Vij compared Bhushan to Gandhi and Mandela. In return, Bhushan sold that colossal aggrandisement for a grand sum of One Rupee when he readily and happily agreed to pay the Supreme Court imposed fine rather than go to jail for three months and lose his practice for three years. Though the Ecosystem still hails him for not apologising, what he has done isn’t much different from what Rahul Gandhi did. Be it the RSS defamation case or for attributing his “Chowkidar Chor Hai” slogan to Supreme Court, Rahul repeatedly lied and repeatedly issued apologies to stay out of jail. Bhushan paid the fine of One Rupee to stay out of jail. More ironically, he paid the penalty with a coin carrying the head of Mahatma Gandhi.
Mandela Effect: The whole article by Shivam Vij and the gleeful concurrence by the Ecosystem is a classic example of the Mandela Effect. Mandela Effect in the psychiatric field is “False Memory Syndrome”. It involves the incorporation of misinformation and source misattribution and many other mechanisms leading to false memory phenomena. In 2010, self-appointed “Paranormal Consultant” Fiona Broome explained her false memory of the death of South African leader Nelson Mandela in the 1980s, though he died three decades later in December 2013. This “False Memory Phenomenon” has been named “Mandela Effect”.
All those who are seeing Gandhi in Prashant Bhushan are suffering from classical Mandela effect. They’ve misattributed Gandhian values to Rahul Gandhian person. That is the only way the reference to Mandela falls in place. They don’t deserve our scorn. They require help, good psychological help. Prashant Bhushan, on the other hand, will continue with his only job of litigations against anything that could be good for India. He will continue his Rahul Gandhigiri in Supreme Court.
(The writer is a columnist and writes mostly on Politics, Cricket and Cinema)
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