The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.
– Marcus Tullius Cicero
Politics is nothing but theology in action
– Ambedkar
Right-wing politics suffers from a common syndrome everywhere.
It never feels confident to project its own icons for the rest of the humanity, whatever might be their claims about their worldview, it knows that its own icons are detested by a wide spectrum of people.
The easiest way it finds to overcome this lacunae is to appropriate already established icons – who were even opposed to their world view as well and claim them their own. In fact, it does not have any qualms in utilising dates – bearing special significance for exploited and oppressed and marginalised of the world – to put their stamp on it.
The project of Hindutva Supremacism – which yearns / strives to transform a Secular, Socialist, Democratic and Sovereign Republic into a Hindu Rashtra has perhaps achieved near perfection in this kind of politics.
KAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006 
India has achieved the rare ignominy of a devastating fall from grace led by cowards and the sycophants of utter idiocy. The infamous Swastika has come home to roost.
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*Shri Subhash Gatade writes that the memory of the burning alive of Graham Staines & his children 25 years ago has come to back to “haunt” the Hindutva supremacist forces. Has it, really ?
*PM Modi,on the contrary,has claimed that the Republic Day (Jan 26) celebrations have now “widened” & the “auspicious” Jan 22 “consecration” of Ram temple has become part of the “festival of democracy” (THE HINDU/Jan 24,2024). The then President of India K R Narayanan aptly described the killing of the Staines’ family as belonging to “the world’s inventory of black deeds.” That was in 1999. Since then this dark deed has hardly been mentioned in official discourse..
*However,we need to recollect,reflect & repent it — so that we, as a nation,may renew our sense of humanity.
*The ideal of humanity has to be continuously nurtured in our society/polity. It must stand up against the creeping Hindutva theocracy. Shri Gatade’s piece is a timely reminder of this momentous struggle..
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