SWATAHSIDDHASARKAR

B
hanubhakta, a literary figure born in
Nepal, did never come to Darjeeling
even then the educational institutions of
the Darjeeling district remain close on 13th
July for the celebration of Bhanu Jayanti (the
birthday of the Adi Kavi). Why the Nepalis of
Darjeeling should celebrate Bhanu Jayanti
when Bhanubhakta happened to be a poet
from Nepal? Awkward it may seem but ques-
tions of this sort occur in the minds of the non-
Nepalis every now and then whenever the day
- July 13 comes in. Such questions were even
raised by the Gorkha National Liberation
Front (GNLF) men who allegedly demolished
the bust statute of Bhanubhakta (located at
Chowrasta, Darjeeling on July 11, 1992)
labeling him as the 'national poet of Nepal'.
The attempt here is to demystify this position
as to why Bhanubhakta or for that matter why
Bhanu Jayanti has been a matter of celebra-
tion for the Indian Nepalis too.
Bhanubhakata Acharya took his birth in
1814 (July 13) at Rangkha (Ramkha) village
located in the Tanhu (Tanahu) region of
Central Nepal. His father Srikrishna Acharya
was an acclaimed Sanskrit pundit. By virtue of
his parentage he got an opportunity to become
familiar with Sanskrit language and literature
at a very tender age. Much like his father he
started his career as a royal official yet he
remained busy mostly in literary activities. He
was not widely published nevertheless he has
innumerable unpublished verses, lyrics, Sloka,
and stanza written in colloquial Nepali to his
credit. Most notable among his literary works
include the Nepali translation of Ramayana,
Badhu Siksha, Prasnottori, and Bhaktamala
among others. One distinctive trait of
Bhanubhakta's literary genre was the sponta-
neous use of prosody in all possible ways. It is
said that Bhanubhakta did even write a protest
letter in the form of a verse to higher officials
soliciting mitigation of a long standing prop-
erty dispute. The importance of Bhanubhakta
has to be judged not on the basis of the volume
of his literary works. In fact, Bhanubhakata's
contributions had made huge socio-cultural
impact that went beyond the literary appeals
the pieces actually contained. Bhanubhakta's
poetic creations did actually fulfill the require-
ments of time and they brought forth a pro-
gressive direction of change in the existing
social order of the then Nepal.
As a translated work Bhanubhakta's
Ramayana can be considered as one among
the major Nepali classics. Although
Bhanubhakta's Ramayana is not very different
from the ones prepared by Tulsidasa or
Krittibasa, but the recognition and admiration
that his Ramayana has fetched was hardly
attributable either to Tulsidasa or to
Krittibasa. This was so only because of the
fact that the rise of Bhanubhaka and his
Ramayana along with his other literary works
- all were contextually relevant; and this con-
textual relevance is linked with the require-
ment of the then socio-political order of
Nepal, which Bhanubhakata's Ramayana has
well met. Translation of Balkanda Ramayana
was over by 1841, followed by Yuddhkanda
and Uttarkanda by 1853. Motiram Bhatta has
published the Balkanda Ramayan as translat-
ed by Bhanubhakta in 1884. Soon after his
demise (in 1869) complete Ramayana was
published in 1887
posthumously.
Much like
other translated
w o r k s
Bhanubhakta' s
Ramayana also
shares some
uniqueness of its
own. Folk
approach to trans-
lation and the
judicious use of
local Nepali
idioms did project
Bhanu's Rama as
more 'humanitari-
an', Sita as 'daunt-
less' and Bharata
as 'flexible'.
Colloquial Nepali translation also helped
Bhanubhakta substitute the 'doctrine of devo-
tion' of original Ramayana for the 'cult of
heroism'. This was how the cultural artifact of
the Hindu great tradition was brought into the
everyday life of the poor down trodden mass,
most of whom were outside the pale of Hindu
caste structure even. What is worth recalling
here is the fact that all this had happened at
that period of time when Nepal was yet to be
a nation in cultural terms though political uni-
fication has already taken place. Prithwi
Narayan Shah though was successful in polit-
ically consolidating his empire spread
throughout length and breadth of Nepal but
the process of cultural homogenization in gen-
eral and linguistic solidarity in particular did
not start until Bhanubhakta appeared on to the
scene. Bhanubhakta's Ramayana fuelled the
process of linguistic homogenization amongst
the polyglot population and therefore played a
major role in the nation building process of the
then Nepal. Researchers like Mary Des Chene
has aptly remarked that, if Prithwi Narayan
Shah is to be credited for the political unifica-
tion of Nepal then the credit for cultural unifi-
cation of Nepali nation goes to Bhanubhakta.
Bhanubhakta and Darjeeling
It is fascinating to note that though
Bhanubhakta's life and work was confined in
Nepal but the 'literary excavation' of
Bhanubhakta was made not in Nepal but in
Darjeeling, a place where he never arrived.
Despite the fact that Bhanubhakta's Ramayana
was available since the late nineteenth century
in Nepal but the efforts to recognize
Bhanubhakta's contribution as the 'nation
builder' did originally start in Darjeeling dur-
ing the mid twentieth century. Pratyosh Onta,
a well known historian of Nepal, mentions
that Nepal was a late starter in recognizing
Bhanubhakta's significance while in
Darjeeling concerted endeavours were taken
by the Nepali
S a h i t y a
S a m m e l a n
(founded in
1924) and the
famous literary
trio - Surya
Bikram Gewali,
Dharani Dhar
Sharma and
Paras Mani
Pradhan (popu-
larly known as
S u - Dh a - P a )
since the 1940s.
Similar attempts
were made a
decade later in
Nepal during
1950s. Soon
after the Darjeeling initiative took a concrete
shape Bhanubhakta has gradually become sig-
nificant in Nepal too.
Cumulative efforts of Nepali Sahitya
Sammelan of Darjeeling and the instrumental
role played by Surya Bikram Gewali has
resulted in the commemoration of
Bhanubhakta's 70th death ceremony for the
first time in Darjeeling. In the same occasion
Gewali has also published a commemorative
volume Bhanubhakta Smarak Grantha
(1940), which included two articles and the
introduction written by him and several other
contributions made by the then prominent
Nepali literary figures of both India and
Nepal. The various articles included in the col-
lective had a single message - to situate
Bhanubhakta as the 'father of the Nepali
nation'. Gewali represented Bhanubhakta as
the 'hero' of poor downtrodden Nepali folk.
However, Bhanubhakta's heroism was not
referred to the military prowess of a 'colonial-
ly derived Gurkha' but to the ability of
enabling the mass 'invent a national identity'
through the contributions that he made. The
image of Bhanubhakta that emerged out of the
'literary excavation' made in Darjeeling during
1940s portrayed him more than a literary fig-
ure. At best such efforts have constructed a
new image for Bhanubhakta as the 'father fig-
ure' whose contributions prepared the cultural
basis of 'Nepali nation'.
Institutional measures of Nepali Sahitya
Sammellan and the personal initiatives taken
by Dharani Dhar, Parasmani and Surya
Bikram Gewali highlighted Bhanubhakta as
the 'ideal icon' of a fledging Nepali nation
whose roots and branches were spreading
with a great pace in Darjeeling. Besides taking
earnest attempts to popularize Bhanubhakta's
poetic genius Nepali Sahitya Sammelan has
also taken initiatives to popularize
Bhanubhakta's figurative image. In 1945 for
the first time Bhanu Jayanti was celebrated in
Darjeeling with due preparedness. This was
how the yearly tradition of observing Bhanu
Jayanti as one of the most significant cultural
occasion of the Indian Nepalis got started. In
Nepal, however, the attempt to organize cul-
tural festivities for commemorating
Bhanubhakta was taken for the first time in
1952. Another pioneering effort to propagate
the figurative image of Bhanubhakta was
taken by Nepali Sahitya Sammelan by putting
up the bust statue of Bhanubhakta at
Darjeeling. For the first time such a statute
(made by the British sculptor Thompson) of
Bhanubhakta was erected in 1949. Dharani
Dhar did play instrumental role in this regard.
Bhanubhakta Acharya was regarded as the
'national poet' of Nepal since the early 1950s
but in Darjeeling he has been projected as the
'icon' of Nepali nation and not merely as a poet
of Nepal. The political project of identifying
nation within the territorial limits of a State
cannot help us understand why Bhanubhakta's
life and works are a matter of celebration for
the Darjeeling Nepalis. If we acknowledge
that the idea of nation is in fact, a fluid notion
that often defies the territorial limits of a State
we can possibly understand the need and jus-
tification of celebrating Bhanu Jayanti by the
Nepalis of Indian origin located in the
Darjeeling hills or elsewhere in India. It is to
be noted in this context that the West Bengal
government's declaration (such a declaration
was made during the reign of the Left Front
and the tradition is still continuing) of 13th
July as Bhanu Janyanti in the holiday list of
educational institutions of Darjeeling district
is indeed an attempt to recognize the distinc-
tiveness of Nepali nation in India besides pay-
ing homage to the Adi Kavi.
*Dr. Swatahsiddha Sarkar is on the
Faculty, Department of Sociology,
University of North Bengal, Darjeeling
(ss3soc@gmail.com)
4
GANGTOK, SUNDAY 13 J ULY 2014
HI MALAYAN MI RROR
EDI TORI AL
ENGLISH DAILY PUBLISHED FROM GANGTOK
HI MALAYAN MI RROR
J ULY 13 2014 VOL 8 NO. 297
My idea of good company is
the company of clever, well-
informed people who have a
great deal of conversation;
that is what I call good com-
pany.
-Jane Austen
Bhanubhakta and Nepali Nation in Darjeeling
Team Germany vs
Lionel Messi
Changing terms of
engagement
Whatever happens at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro on
Sunday (early Monday morning for the bleary-eyed in
India), history will have been made. Either the World
Cup will have its first European champion on South
American soil, or world football will have a new king to
place beside Pele, Diego Maradona and Zinedine
Zidane. Team Germany versus Lionel Messi: the narra-
tive writes itself, a rematch 24 years in the making.
While it isnt without truth, it suffers from a reduction in
nuance. German football has evolved since 1990, when
an Andreas Brehme penalty won the Cup. Efficiency and
collective play remain the substance, but there has been
a refinement of style. Under Jurgen Klinsmann and then
Joachim Low, a new German generation has showcased
skilful, tactically fluid football while continuing the tra-
dition of going deep in tournaments. But without a tro-
phy, patience has begun to wear thin in Germany.
Argentina, on the other hand, appears not to have
escaped the personality cult. It was Maradona in 1990
when he nearly managed a repeat of 1986; its Messi
now. Much as with Maradona, the oppositions extra-
defensive attention limits Messi, but it extracts a cost:
the other team cant commit to attack without risking a
match-turning moment of Messi magic. It can only
work, however, if the rest of Argentina privileges an
individual for its greater good.
The finalists could not have taken more contrasting
routes. Argentina has managed eight goals in six match-
es, often leaving it very late; Germany nearly scored that
number against Brazil, and has 17 in total. Argentina and
the Netherlands set out not to lose their semi-final, two
cautious, disciplined sides cancelling each other out.
Neither could seize the initiative over 120 minutes.
Germany and Brazil, in the other semifinal, went out to
win, even if the host did it with absurd recklessness,
running into an open knife as a German writer
described it. In a sense it was surprising to see Brazil
play thus. It had led the tournament in fouls, yellow
cards, and tackles per game: this was a pragmatic unit,
which despite the gaps at the back was capable of churn-
ing out results. But without Neymar, its creative force,
and Thiago Silva, its leader and defensive organiser, the
five-time champion crumbled. Despite inflicting such a
heavy defeat, Lows men can count on Brazils support
in the final; not only has Germanys football captivated
the spiritual home of the game, Brazilians will rather see
anyone win it but Argentina. Alejandro Sabella has
sought to lessen the pressure on his side by portraying
Argentina as the underdog. But big finals know no
favourites. All one can hope for is a contest that a thor-
oughly enjoyable World Cup can be remembered by.
Hind Swaraj vs Hindu Rashtra
ANANYAVAJPEYI
T
he 2014 national elec-
tion, resulting in a deci-
sive victory for the
Hindu nationalist Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP), seems to
have thrown the Indian com-
mentariat into ideological
disarray. Intellectuals and
opinion-makers who have
professed particular beliefs
and held certain positions for
the longest time, appear now
to be changing their views.
This began happening during
the campaign, continued
through the election, and has
become routine in the new
dispensation.
Larger changes in the
media, in institutions of
research and higher educa-
tion, and the electoral rout of
the Congress and Left parties
add to the general climate of
confusion and mistrust. Each
day it appears that one more
person whose voice carries
weight comes out to endorse
Narendra Modi's regime.
Criticism is replaced with
qualified support, while in
some cases the reverse is true
- heartfelt enthusiasm is
replaced with bitter condem-
nation of the Prime Minister
and his team. Nobody knows
any more who is with us and
who is with them; who is on
the left and who is on the
right.
Fading secular opinion
In an earlier piece in The
Hindu (April 9, 2014), I had
suggested that the
"euphemistic contract" lead-
ing some commentators to
pass over Mr. Modi's
Hindutva agenda and turn a
blind eye to his complicity in
the violence of Gujarat 2002
needed to be broken if there
was to be some chance of
curbing or defeating the BJP
at the hustings. Others argued
that his veiled and explicit
stances against minorities
worked in his favour, and
increased his popularity
rather than damaging his
image. Whatever the case,
his party won the majority of
seats and he was able to form
the government.
Mr. Modi has begun
appointing individuals who
are adherents or sympathisers
of the hardline Hindu funda-
mentalist Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
to serve as ministers and as
heads of cultural and educa-
tional institutions. He has
shown little interest in the
services of former secular-
ists, liberals and feminists
who had indicated their will-
ingness, even eagerness, to
work with him once he took
office. The fact that neither
the Congress nor the Left
seem any longer to be con-
versant with or proud of the
left-liberal political traditions
that dominated Indian poli-
tics since independence, dri-
ves the final nail into the cof-
fin of secular opinion.
Aface-off between majori-
tarians and egalitarians,
between the Sangh Parivar
and secular-liberal parties,
has been a long time coming.
This election may have
turned the tide, but the build-
up began close to a century
ago. The RSS was founded in
1925. The Bharatiya Jana
Sangh was founded in 1952.
The BJP was founded in
1980. Considerable gains
were made by the Hindu
Right during the Ram
Janambhoomi movement,
climaxing in the demolition
of the Babri Masjid at
Ayodhya in December 1992
and nationwide Hindu-
Muslim rioting.
The National Democratic
Alliance, headed by the BJP,
had its first substantial stint in
government from 1998 to
2004. Seen in this chronolo-
gy, Hindu nationalism punc-
tuates the entire 20th century
at intervals of 20-30 years,
but it is never able to deci-
sively transform the mindset
of most Indians. Even today,
when the BJP polled 31 per
cent of votes cast, it is not
clear whether it is the party's
Hindutva face or its face of
economic growth that
appealed to voters.
The problem with
Hindutva
The problem with
Hindutva, which has imped-
ed its capture of the average
Hindu's political and cultural
imagination, is that it is the
outcome not so much of
hatred for others, especially
Muslims, but rather of Hindu
self-hate. It's a historic and
possibly doomed attempt to
change everything about
Hinduism that makes it what
it is - its ability to accommo-
date mind-boggling diversity,
its avoidance of strict defini-
tions and boundaries, its
amorphous, heterogeneous,
tolerant and fluid character.
Hindutva wants to
"Semitize" Hinduism, giving
it a god, a book, a revelation,
a prophet, an ecclesiastical
order, a pontiff, a race, a lan-
guage, a country (or a holy
land), a history, a canon, doc-
trinal stability and missionary
zeal. It's an attempt to stan-
dardise, essentialise, codify
and systematise a vast uni-
verse of incommensurate
beliefs, practices, rituals, the-
ologies and narratives - to
render Hinduism modern and
modular.
Vinayak Savarkar's mani-
festo for Hindu nationalism,
Hindutva (1923, 1928), was
conceived and written over
several years of solitary con-
finement and hard labour in
British jails on the Andaman
islands and in coastal
Maharashtra - Savarkar was
sentenced to two consecutive
life-terms for anti-govern-
ment activities. His sentence
was later commuted but the
trauma never left him.
Hindutva opens with its most
definitive claim: "A Hindu
means a person who regards
this land of Bharatvarsha,
from the Indus to the seas, as
his Fatherland as well as his
Holy Land, that is, the cradle
of his religion." Savarkar
wants to imbue Hinduism
with all the qualities it lacks -
and thus his coinage,
Hindutva. A true Hindu, in
his estimation, has in him
something better than and
apart from mere Hindu-ism -
he has Hindu-ness.
In order to possess
Hindutva, a man (because
Hindu nationalists tend to
think in rigidly gendered,
masculinist and patriarchal
terms) must regard India as
his "fatherland" (the land of
his ancestors, pitr-bhumi) and
his "holy land" (the land
where he accumulates the
fruits of good karma, punya-
bhumi); he must be attached
to this land, this territorial
expanse called "Bharat"
through the fact of his birth
there, through ties of blood to
his family, his forefathers, his
race of fellow-Hindus, and
moreover through a love for
Hindu "civilization" (sanskri-
ti) "as represented in a com-
mon history, common heroes,
a common literature, a com-
mon art, a common law and a
common jurisprudence, com-
mon fairs and festivals, rites
and rituals, ceremonies and
sacraments." His insistence
on what is "common"
between the innumerable
"Hindu" cultures of the sub-
continent comes precisely
from the impossibility of stat-
ing where exactly lies this
commonality, so fervently
desired by Savarkar.
If Hinduism is centrifugal,
Hindutva is centripetal.
Savarkar responded to the
demands and pressures of
modern nationalism - he was
not only disinterested in, but
perhaps even averse to, the
religious life of millions of
Hindus. It's interesting and
entirely reasonable that
Savarkar was a thorough
atheist. For him, being a
Hindu was a political identity,
not an identity based on reli-
gion. Even Muslims,
Christians, Sikhs and
Buddhists, so long as they are
born and raised in India, and
follow the Indian way of life,
are thus de facto "Hindus."
Hindutva is a pure construct,
a completely empty envelope
that Savarkar creates from his
own mind as he spends
decades locked away, utterly
segregated from the shared
collective life of his fellow-
Indians.
Gandhi vs Savarkar
Mohandas Gandhi's vision
for the future was swaraj or
self-rule, where the "self" was
at once each individual strug-
gling to master inner demons,
and a vast aggregation of mil-
lions in search of India's inde-
pendence from British rule.
Gandhi himself was deeply
religious, but he never
defined the "self" of "self-
rule," the swa- of swaraj, as
Hindu, Muslim or even
Indian. It was Gandhi's quest
for the self and for its sover-
eignty that carried the day,
creating the decades-long
struggle which eventually lib-
erated India. Savarkar
became president of the
Hindu Mahasabha - the pre-
cursor to the BJP - in 1937,
firmly opposing Gandhi's
non-violence, his "Quit India"
movement, the rise of the
Muslim League and the cre-
ation of Pakistan through
Partition. When Savarkar's
acolyte Nathuram Godse shot
at Gandhi on January 30,
1948, at the Mahatma's daily
public prayer meeting, ironi-
cally, Gandhi's dying words
were those of a devout Hindu:
"Hey Rama!" In the wake of
the Mahatma's assassination,
Savarkar had to retreat from
public view for the remainder
of his life. He was regarded
with intense dislike, suspicion
and contempt by Nehru and
other leaders who constituted
the top echelons of the
Congress administration.
Nobody from the
Maharashtra government
attended his funeral in
February 1966.
Today, for the first time the
RSS can dream of a restitu-
tion of Savarkar in the mod-
ern national pantheon. The
question is, have decades of
official secularism made
Indians, more than 80 per
cent of whom are Hindu,
receptive or hostile to the
father of the Hindu Right?
Can ordinary Hindus look
upon him with a fresh per-
spective, or has history left
him behind in the dust?
Recently, I was startled to
see in the Central Hall of
Parliament a portrait of
Savarkar staring at Gandhi's
portrait directly across the
length of the room, symbolis-
ing a foundational antago-
nism written into the very
genealogy of our nation-state.
It is Hind Swaraj pitted
against Hindu Rashtra. Indian
intellectuals, understandably
feeling bruised and buffeted
by enormous political
changes, would do well to
remember that the roots of
their present ideological con-
flicts go back to the begin-
nings of organised nationalist
politics, and that questions of
ideology are unlikely to be
settled in a hurry.
Hindutva is a historic and possibly doomed attempt to change everything about Hinduism
that makes it what it is its ability to accommodate mind-boggling diversity, its avoidance of
strict definitions and boundaries, its amorphous, heterogeneous, tolerant and fluid character
The visit to India by British Foreign Secretary William
Hague and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is
part of a growing trend of major powers stepping up their
engagement with the Narendra Modi government before the
new administration imparts decisive direction to its external
policies. Ahead of the arrival of the visitors from London,
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin was in New
Delhi to give fresh direction to a deep-rooted but complex
special relationship between Russia and India. Significantly,
the guest from Moscow signalled Russias intent to rope in
India as a strategic energy partner as a consumer of
Russian gas that would be transited through China.
The other visits have been less ambitious in scale, but the
French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, who followed Mr.
Rogozin, pursued an ambitious agenda, pushing for the pos-
sible sale to India of Rafale fighter jets as well as French
nuclear reactors. The high-profile John McCain, the Senator
from Arizona in the United States, also landed in the nation-
al capital his visit preceded by his powerful advocacy for
Washingtons active participation in Indias perceived mili-
tary rise. The defence element also seemed strong during
talks between the two British Ministers and their Indian coun-
terparts. The British evidently have still not lost hope in
upstaging the French by trying to convince their Indian inter-
locutors that the Typhoon jets that the British are involved in
producing, would better protect Indian skies than the French
Rafale. However, it will be erroneous to brand the Hague-
Osborne visit as a window-dressed exercise in military sales-
manship. Though trade between India and the United
Kingdom has not picked up sufficient steam, and pales in
comparison to New Delhis commercial relationship with
many other countries, India along with China remains central
to Mr. Camerons economic revival strategy. Besides, the
terms of Indias engagement with the U.K. are rapidly evolv-
ing. Unlike as in the past, Indian companies have become
major investors in Britain, the mutation amplified by the stun-
ning success in the turnaround in Britain of the ailing Jaguar
Land Rover venture by the Tata Group. Even during the lat-
est visit, Indias Cipla announced it would invest $171 mil-
lion for drugs research in the U.K., while the Mahindras will
pump in a little over $34 million to develop electric cars in
Britain. London remains a leading financial centre, and no
country in the world can ignore its importance to global com-
merce. As India diversifies its diplomatic and commercial
ties, a thriving relationship with Britain can be leveraged to
bolster its finely nuanced relationships with other major con-
stituents of a multi-polar world.
Disclaimer: All views expressed by the
author are their personal and doesn't
reflect that of the newspaper.- Publisher