Fauzia Sardar Niazi
The revered veteran of Indian Navy, Admiral (r) L. Ramdas, joined the thousands
of voices being raised across India against the Modi government’s attitude
towards the minority communities, warning therefore the Prime Minister of
greater repercussions “which may lead to disintegration of India.” He served in
the Armed Forces of India and became Chief of Indian Navy Staff in 1990 to 1993.
He himself was brought up under the Hindu faith. “The Hinduism I knew and
experienced was gentle, inclusive, and filled with extraordinary diversity. My
religion taught me values of love and respect for all beings. My brand of
Hinduism was not filled with the kind of violence, intolerance represented by
the current brand of "Hindutva" that seems to be fanning the flames of division
and fear across the country.”
In his open letter addressed to the President of India, Mukherjee, and the Prime
Minister of India, Narendra Modi, Admiral Ramdas argues with reason and
irrefutable logic. He appeals the two leaders to defend the rights of
minorities. The ‘open letter’ has widely been published in Indian and regional
newspapers. Ramdas’s initiative is being considered as very bold and
appreciable, because he has written this letter at a time when the overall
environment is very hostile due to Modi government’s deliberating backing of the
fundamentalist Hindu militant organization Shiv Sena’s fanaticism. The Admiral
is no other than himself a Hindu and expresses concern over the path of violence
India is heading to. This all has “forced to hang my head in shame”.
It is with a heavy heart, he says, that I write this open letter to you at a
time when our beloved country and people are facing severe challenges and
threats to our shared heritage. “Today, as a veteran in my eighties, I am forced
to hang my head in shame as I witness a series of incidents and assaults on our
fellow citizens, especially minorities and Dalits. Our armed forces which I have
had the honour to serve for 45 years, have been an exemplar of India's secular
ethos. Be it in ships and submarines, or in planes and battle formations, we do
not discriminate on the basis of caste or religion – we train, we fight, we
live, we eat and we die together.”
So, he asks, why are we bearing witness to increasing attacks on minorities
across the country? It appears that certain communities are being singled out
for special attention – for instance Muslims. “Today a Muslim has to prove his
or her loyalty, and they are being repeatedly put in a situation where their
places of worship are under attack, as indeed their eating habits, and other
basic freedoms. The instances of completely unacceptable and unilateral mob
behaviour leading to many deaths as well as direct insinuations being made by
senior leaders, are too numerous and well known to be repeated.”
The Admiral sees a systematic and well orchestrated attempt to impose a
majoritarian single-point agenda of creating a Hindu Rashtra in India – led by
the RSS and their network of groups, which is disturbing to say the least. “This
in turn has resulted in a dangerous pattern of mob behaviour including
intimidating and lynching people merely on the basis of rumours – in total
disregard for the established rule of law. In many cases those responsible for
implementing the law, have themselves displayed blatant partisan tendencies and
behaviour.”
The Admiral terms ‘most shocking’ the ‘indifference’ of Modi government meted
out to the Muslim minority of India, that no condemnation of such actions has
been made by anyone in the government. “There should be outrage and a
demonstrated will to ensure that this society will not tolerate such behaviour.
That there are MPs, Cabinet ministers and elected Chief Ministers who are in the
forefront of these comments and actions, leads one to believe that the ruling
party and its satellite organizations are working to a plan.”
Admiral Ramdas warned that this was playing with fire in a nation where
minorities – especially Muslims and Christians, as also Dalits and adivasis, are
already feeling discriminated and marginalized. “Instead of treating this
amazing diversity as our strength, today we are being seen by the international
community as increasingly insular, parochial, intolerant, racist and even
fascist. The violence visited upon vulnerable sections reinforces the image of
India as an imperfect democracy where all forms of dissent are discouraged and
human rights trampled upon with impunity.”
The Prime Minister and his ministers in the government, he wrote, are sworn in
by the President of India, and they take an oath pledging to uphold the Indian
Constitution. “Their failure to do so, as evidenced in the foregoing, is a
serious matter and does not augur well either for national security or national
integrity. The Central and State Governments must act swiftly, unequivocally
condemn all such incidents and ensure that justice will be done and the guilty
are punished. Such action alone will have a salutary deterrent effect on all
those, be they fringe or mainstream, who are speaking and acting in many voices
that are totally against and inimical to, our traditional ethos and the
syncretic culture of our country and its people.”
The Admiral reminded that India represented a unique blend of peoples and
cultures which had evolved over 5000 plus years in a constantly changing and
dynamic process. “This diversity and unique nature of our society and people can
probably never be replicated anywhere on this earth – and for this reason alone,
the concept of a single religious identity or mono culture represents an insult
to this ancient civilizational heritage.”
Admiral L. Ramdas, the former Chief of Naval Staff of India, reminded the
President and Prime Minister of India that they had both sworn to honour the
right of every single citizen to freedom of speech, worship, association as
brilliantly articulated in the Indian Constitution. As a former serviceman and a
veteran, he said, “I too have promised to uphold the same Constitution. It is
our bounden duty that the elected government of this nation must honour the
rights of every citizen of this land as amply spelled out in the Preamble of the
Constitution and further elaborated in the Directive Principles of state
policy.” “As Supreme Commander and the Chief Executive – this is what you must
ensure and implement by all the powers vested in you by the people of India.”
In case of failure, he warned, “if we do not stem the rot now – it might be too
late. Indeed we the people of India look to you to take all steps necessary to
restore faith in our democracy and in the promise of bringing dignity,
fraternity and equality to each of our citizens.”
Admiral L. Ramdas is not alone. In fact all the saner elements in India and
abroad, the intelligentsia and journalists, senior educationists and politicians
belonging to moderate parties are worried over what they call the
government-sponsored extremism. The ink throwing incident fame figure, Mr
Kulkarni is due to visit Pakistan next week, which makes the world believe that
the Indian polity is ready to stand the wave of violence and coercion that is
poised to sour both internal situation and external relationship.