Mahatma’s Gandhi’s favourite hymn, Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, is being appropriated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on his birthday as its new theme-song.
The Sangh shifts focus from North to South, from Ayodhya to Ram Setu
NEW DELHI: Mahatma’s Gandhi’s favourite hymn, Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, is being appropriated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on his birthday as its new theme-song. Freshly rejuvenated by the UPA government’s goof-up denying the existence of Lord Ram in a recent Supreme Court affidavit (subsequently withdrawn), the Sangh Parivar is now planning to use the song’s potent words to shift the Ram movement’s focus from North to South, from Ayodhya to the Ram Setu.
Ram Setu is the undersea Adam’s Bridge that connects Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka, and which the controversial Sethusamudram project will have to plough through to build a canal to reduce the shipping time from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal.
The BJP thought hard before appropriating the Mahatma’s legacy. The party is hoping that Gandhi’s image, juxtaposed with his dying words Hey Ram, would justify a slogan coined by a section of partymen: Jo Ram Ka Nahin, Who Kisi Kam Ka Nahin (If you don’t believe in Ram, you are of no use to anybody).
The Sangh Parivar, which has sometimes been seen as inimical to Gandhi’s ideas, now wants to use the Mahatma’s hymn to add firepower to the Ram warhead it plans to unleash against the UPA. BJP president Rajnath Singh told DNA: “Gandhi’s faith in Ram was unflinching. His political vision was of Ram Rajya, his spiritual vision was of Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram and his ultimate vision was Hey Ram. Can anyone in the Congress say that Gandhi’s commitment to Ram was an illusion? This is not a question of appropriating Gandhi or claiming closeness to his ideology. We cannot allow anyone to raise questions on Ram’s existence.”
The Sangh Parivar is hoping to recreate the same popular passion around Ram that was once visible during the Ayodhya movement in 1990-92. The propaganda is expected to peak around Dussehra and in November, the Ramcharitramanas will be recited in blocks and villages by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad-led Ram Raksha Samiti.
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