Idols, Ideals

By Kartik Lokhande

Last week, the nation celebrated the ‘Samvidhan Din’ to mark adoption of the Constitution of India, whose drafting was overseen by Dr B R Ambedkar, on November 26. Within a couple of days, the nation also paid tributes to a champion of the cause of downtrodden – Mahatma Jyotiba Phule. Some time ago, the nation also remembered Dr Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The last month, the nation paid tributes to Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. Unfortunately, these and other titans have been reduced only to the status of ‘idols’ mostly in physical terms, with the ideals that they upheld throughout their life forgotten long ago.

The people who claim to be the followers of Mahatma Gandhi, Mahatma Phule, Dr Ambedkar, Maulana Azad or any great person have dwarfed these titans by proclaiming to be belonging to a particular caste or religion. In the process, all the great personalities and social reformers who fought against the social evils have been turned into objects of hero-worship. The saints across India dedicated their lives to the cause of removing discrimination on the basis of caste, religion, sect, region etc. But, today, the followers of the same saints are happy claiming those on the basis of caste, religion, sect, region etc. What a paradox! In doing so, the same followers deny others the right to speak or write about the iconic personalities.

Why is it so? There is one simple reason – politics. No doubt, the giant leaders and reformers had a following in the era of their work. No doubt, they united people for a common cause. However, their idea was clear. They wanted people to get united for a cause that was beyond the restricted frame of politics or money. They wanted to effect a change in the circumstances of the time. They never took up a cause to become an object of mere worship years later. They never intended that their idols should be erected almost in every other city. They never intended that roads in different cities, towns, villages be named after them. They never intended that the cause they upheld should be forgotten. Their work was selfless in true sense of the term. They fought not for themselves, but for others.

Today, sadly, their names are being utilised for political gains and also to create a societal discord. So, some party invokes Mahatma Gandhi for years together and claims inheritance to power. So, some leaders invoke Dr Ambedkar – who favoured ‘Annihilation of Caste’ – to justify using caste to further petty political gains. So, some groups invoke Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and raise pitch for religious identity. So, some invoke Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, some invoke Saint Thiruvalluvar, some invoke, Gautam Buddha, some invoke him, some invoke her… the list goes on. In most cases, the present-day leaders quote the immortal reformers to justify the means adopted to serve political interests. As a result, often, the proposals of land grabbing are given the name of erecting memorials or places of worship. Often, groups are radicalised in the name of furthering the cause taken up by the titans years ago. Often, the historic statements of the casteless, religionless, timeless reformers and leaders are presented with venomous annotations and connotations.

All this creates social disharmony. And, there are anti-national forces like the Maoists who thrive in the cushion of social discord. These forces utilise such social discord to further their goal of weakening the country from within.

Did the historic greats work so that the things came to such a pass? Definitely not. All of them never thought of themselves as a leader of a particular caste, religion, region, or sect. They took a stand in favour of justice, an idea that was beyond these barriers. They stood up for the cause of a stronger nation that had enough room for all, of a society that was an example of unity in diversity. Have we, as a nation, been able to stand by these ideals in a manner visualised by the greats? Or, have we, as a nation, corroded the greatness of our icons by way of merely using them for political gains?

As India moves ahead in the light of a strong youth force -- which is not restricted by the narrow ideas of caste, religion, region – time has come to shun mere idolisation or deification of heroes and follow the ideals they left behind for us to emulate. Else, as a nation, we will be failing the champions. 

(29-11-14)