The foundation of Indian political struggle was laid down by the mighty warriors like Mangal Pandey and Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, this struggle was further continued by the stalwarts like Bhagat Singh, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru and the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi. Just like two sides of the coin these distinguished stalwarts also had to face opposition. Often, did they give statements against the Opposition Leaders and also raised questions which were relevant to the Indian context. This public discourse had a level of decency that seems to be decreasing as the country steps in the new era of politics.
Earlier the public discourse had substance and the government fully accepted the folly they had made in policymaking. Jawaharlal Nehru had, for instance, taken full responsibility of the Sino-India was of 1962, in which India had incurred losses. The Government was then accountable, something that we as a citizen cannot expect today. What can be expected by the ruling party today is to make unrealistic hilarious, silly or controversial statements in public. Such statements are made to deviate attention from the emerging economic crisis, political instability in troubled areas and to pass religion-centric discriminatory bills.
The great Indian Political System has turned into The Great Indian Political Circus thanks to a few leaders and their quick-witted mind or their PR specialists. For example, if a partisan resigns or a politician defends the basic structure of the Indian constitution, the BJP would ask them to go to Pakistan. If the real issues of poverty and rising unemployment are raised the those who question become anti-nationals. This is more prevalent, if the statement is given by a Muslim leader, a community BJP supposedly hates. Here is a compilation of 16 such hilarious statements that would make the voters believe that they made a wrong decision.
Curse is it?
The hermit Turned politician Pragya Singh Thakur is a BJP MP from Bhopal provided the fact she is an accused in the Malegaon terror bomb blast. She had said that the 26/11 martyr Hemant Karkare died because of her “curse”. The ATS officer had grilled Thakur for her alleged involvement in the Malegaon blast case said he tortured her. She had sparked another controversy by calling Mahatma Gandhi’s assassinator Nathuram Godse a “patriot”. This had flagged off a major controversy which led the PM to reprimand her. Such is the state of our nation that even a terror accused can talk of patriotism.
Wordplay gone wrong
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been hitting headlines. Be it for the so-called effective management of COVID in his state or the arrangement of the grand Shilanayas of the Ram Temple. However, above all, he loves creating a religious divide, and he showed it once again, before the state polls. Taking a jibe at Opposition, he said, they might have faith in “Ali”, but he has “Bajrang Bali” with him. Taking the matter into consideration, the Election Commission had banned him from campaigning for 72 hours.
He was also slammed for calling the Indian Army “Modi’s Sena”.
Indian Innocence
BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj has always been the flagbearer of controversial statements. Taking a dig at a specific religious group in India he had said that population rise was due to a certain community and it allowing four wives and 40 children. Speaking at a religious event in Meerut, the BJP MP had said, “Desh Mein samasyaein khadi ho rahi hain jansankhya ke karan. Uske liye Hindu zimmedar nahin hain. Zimmedar toh wo hain jo chaar biwiyon aur chalees bachchon ki baatein karte hain.”
Shah Jahan -the traitor
BJP MLA Sangeet Som had in last October said that the Taj Mahal, which is one of the seven wonders of the world, was built by ‘traitors’ and cannot be included in Indian history. He had totally relegated the magnificence of the monument by his anti-sentimentalism. He further went on to change the course of history and said, “What type of history? Is this history that the person who built the Taj Mahal imprisoned his father? Do you call it a history when the one who built the Taj targeted many Hindus in Uttar Pradesh and Hindustan?” He had not only distorted facts by saying that Shah Jahan had imprisoned his father whereas, he was himself put behind bars by his son Aurangzeb but had also targeted the imperial history of the Mughals. Guess, history was not a favourite subject of Mr Som in elementary school and neither he tried making his facts clear.
Changing the Constitution
Through the course of political history, the BJP has gotten a slim opportunity to taste victory, therefore it is pumped before every election poll. Continuing with the enthusiasm, a BJP leader revealed way too much, way too early. Union Minister of State Anant Kumar Hegde said in December that the BJP had come to power to “change the Constitution” and would do so in the “near future”. However, that is fundamentally not possible, because the ‘basic structure of the constitution cannot be amended. Hedge went on to shoot the ‘secularists’ by terming them ‘people without parentage’. Yes so, India might be a country of orphans since the roots of secularism are in our Preamble.
Sanskrit- language of the bots
Mr Nishank, will now lead the Education Ministry after the New Education Policy has been approved. The same person who would be deciding for each student in this country made such a statement which is hard to not laugh on. He said “National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is saying that soon if a walking-talking computer will live, then it will only be possible because of Sanskrit. NASA is saying this because it is a scientific language in which words are written exactly the way they are spoken,” The statement was said while he was addressing the 57th convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay). What an irony? Then what would the Artificial Intelligence scientists do? Give up their job and seek hermitage.
Climate Change what?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi shares not only cordial relationship with US President Donald Trump but also share the same ideology. Where on one hand Trump had blatantly denied Climate Change, Modi suggests that the immunity of people has decreased but the climate has not changed. While addressing students on the matter of climate change he said: “sardi zada hai, unki sehne ki kshamta kam ho gayi hai.”. “It’s not colder, their capacity to tolerate cold has reduced due to ageing. In the same manner, the climate hasn’t changed, we have changed.” Then the glaciers are melting because, the capacity of glaciers to bear with the sun has definitely reduced.
NASA and ISRO- a sham
Bilap Dev the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Tripura is another bhakat in the band of BJP. He went on to say that India has been using the internet for ages. In Mahabharata Sanjay was blind but he narrated what was happening in the battlefield to Dhritarashtra anyway. This was due to the internet and technology Satellite also existed during that period. If this is true then all the Space Research centres should intricately study Indian mythology
Humayun- the first Mughal Emperor
Madan Lal Saini doesn’t seem to have read the medieval history of India. It seems that BJP leaders are fond of distorting history like they are distorting the present incidents. Mr Saini said that ‘when Hamayun (2nd Mughal Emperor) was dying, he called Babur (1st Mughal Emperor) and said, “that if you want to rule Hindustan then, you must keep three things in mind – respect cows, Bharamins and women. As a sad saga, Humayun had accidentally died falling off the staircase and Babur had died long before Humayun went on exile out of India. This elementary fact might have skipped Mr Saini’s mind as his organization is busy spreading anti-sentimentalism.
Cow is the only animal that BJP knows of
Not only the BJP leaders have an affinity to Hindutva, but they also have a special place for cows in their hearts. Talking about the positives of cows, Union Minister Ashwini Choubey said AYUSH Ministry wants to use its urine to develop medicines. “Cow urine is used in the preparation of several types of medicines. It is used even for the treatment of incurable diseases like cancer,” Choubey, who’s the MoS of Health Ministry, said. There is no scientific research indicating this. Being the MoS of the health ministry, he mistook himself for a cancer specialist.
Who were Mughals?
While the other BJP leaders selectively forgot the facts of the medieval history of India, Satyapal Singh altogether refused the theory of Human evolution. Satyapal Singh refused Darwin’s theory of evolution and called it ‘scientifically wrong’. Said that we all have evolved from Rishis or sages of ancient times. He further went on to say that our ancestors have not documented the evolution of an ape to the man in mythology. If such an evolution existed, it would have been documented either in mythology or in scriptures. The scriptures also don’t say that we need oxygen to breathe, what should we do stop inhaling. The mere basis of this comment is nothing but a pseudo pride of a pseudo patriot.
Child marriage a viable option
The parallel female narrative of the BJP leaders is also not very different. Now that they have won twice, they think we would rule forever. Shoba Chauhan a BJP MP said, “We have Satta (power) and Sangathan (government) at our disposal. We should not intervene in child marriages.” These children are the same children for whom revolutionaries like Savitri Bai Phule and Jyotirao Phule fought two centuries back. What is this hypocrite era, a time travel?
Yoga- the ultimate cure
The CM of Uttar Pradesh is a staunch supporter of Whatsapp University or might be a graduate himself. While making a speech during a week-long International Yoga Festival held at Rishikesh early March this year, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said that deadly diseases such as coronavirus can be cured by practising yoga regularly. He also added that people need not worry about the virus if they overcome mental stress. The world we know is still searching for a permanent cure for COVID-19, guess the health experts didn’t meet with Yogi Adityanath.
Taj Mahal to Tejo Mahalaya
The BJP leaders are selectively biased towards the history of the country. Another illogical statement by BJP leader Kapil Mishra who claimed that Taj Mahal is a temple. To prove his claim he shared a link of a dubious and ambiguous blog that vaguely backed his claim, Mishra tweeted, “All scientific evidence prove that Taj Mahal is Tejo Mahalaya, ancient Hindu Vedic temple. For 300 years the world was fooled to believe that Taj Mahal was built by the Shahjahan.” Shahjahan’s soul would cry after listening to this.
Kalyug’s Corona
Ever Since COVID broke out, weird statements have been doing rounds. One such statement was passed by Swami Chakrapani claimed that “Corona isn’t a virus but an avatar for the protection of the poor creatures. They (coronavirus) have come to give the message of death and punishment to the ones who eat them”. He even had a solution to the pandemic and urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to “create an idol of Corona and seek forgiveness” and all non-vegetarian Chinese populace “pledge of not harming any innocent creatures in future, then the anger if Corona will come down”. He assured that Indians who “worship Gods” and are believers of “Gau Rakshak” are immune to this disease because of their faith. How reassuring? What if Xi Jinping considered this?
WHO who?
Assam BJP MLA Suman Haripriya made a bizarre statement concerning the cure of coronavirus, which has left everyone bewildered including those voted him in. “We all know that cow dung is very helpful. Likewise, when cow urine is sprayed, it purifies an area… I believe something similar could be done with ‘gaumutra’ and ‘gobar’ to cure Coronavirus (disease),” she said during a discussion on smuggling of cattle to Bangladesh during Special Mention on the first day of the budget session of the Assembly.
These are some of the imminent politicians that India, the world largest democracy has chosen to represent itself. Most of them don’t even qualify logically to be made a leader, yet they are the rulers. The only question that arises is should people like these make to decide for the fate of 1.3 billion people? Do they know what they are standing for? Will India be a free country as it continues to be? These people are standing for the exact reasons what the forefathers of India were against- Religious Intolerance.
