Divyakirti and blinkered Hindutvawadis

A fake wound adorns Hindu souls and is shown to the world complaining of hurt, but there is no real hurt there, everyone is aware of this game

Vikas Divyakirti, the founder-teacher or chief coach of Drishti, one of Delhi's most famous coaching institutes for administrative services, is the latest target of Hindutva wrath. He has been a celebrity for generations of aspirants for administrative service jobs in Delhi.

Hundreds of administrative and police officers across India know and respect him. But even he feels unsafe now. You have to ask Divyakirti to understand what this virulent attack on him means for him. He says that for the first time in his life, his family, children and neighbours are apprehensive about his safety. He has been told that an FIR has been lodged against him somewhere in Uttar Pradesh. Everyone knows how sensitive the police of Uttar Pradesh are on matters related to Hindutva sentiments.

We know it from the arrest of Mohammad Zubair. How risky it was for him to bring to the notice of the wider public the statement of a Hindutva 'saint' who wanted Muslim women gang raped. The police and the state's advocate general aggressively defended the arrest in the court, arguing that even if the 'saint' had given an objectionable statement, Zubair committed a crime by publicising the same because it hurt his reputation and the sentiments of lakhs of his sincere followers. After all, he is revered by millions of devotees.

So Divyakirti's apprehension that the police might knock on his door at any time is not unfounded. His fault is that in one of his classes, in order to explain the tradition of Ramakatha and the point of view of its different creators, he discussed some episodes of Valmiki's Ramayana and the Ramopakhyan of Mahabharata and quoted from those works to show how the same incident is treated differently by different writers.

Mohammad Zubair had not said anything on his own. He had only quoted the rape loving Hindutva 'saint'. Divyakirti has also quoted from Valmiki Ramayana and Mahabharata. He wanted his students to think about the standpoint of different narratives. But the Hindutvawadis are obviously not interested in the analysis of the vision of these creators at all. That is because that analysis will clarify the context of the quotes. And then the allegation that Divyakirti had insulted Rama and Sita would fall flat.

Reading about this threat to Divyakirti, another similar incident came to mind. A few years ago, at a seminar at the University of Jodhpur, Professor Ashok Vohra, then a professor in the Department of Philosophy of Delhi University, read a paper criticising Western scholars of Indian traditions. In his paper, Professor Vohra quoted those Western scholars he wanted to criticise. With the help of these quotes, he tried to explain why he disagreed with them. But a complaint was lodged against him with the police that he had said objectionable things hurting the Hindutva sentiments. Poor Vohra sahib even wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, complaining that all he was trying to do was to debunk the western claims of scholarship for which he himself was being punished. One does not know whether the leader admonished his followers for their misreading of Prof Vohra. But I remember him spending anxious nights for quite some time.

You will remember a recent incident in which 'Hindutva sentiment' was hurt by a statement made by the Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University. She was talking about the views of Bhim Rao Ambedkar. The Vice-Chancellor had merely recalled what Baba Saheb, nowadays revered by the RSS and Bharatiya Janata Party, had said about the status of women in Hinduism. But she was attacked for uttering such objectionable things. The poor VC had to clarify that if people have any objection, they should argue with Ambedkar saheb, not attack her! The views belong to him, and all she had done was bring them to light again.

There are many such incidents. Divyakirti had also quoted from the holy scriptures of the Hindus - Ramayan and Mahabharata. That too from their Gita Press editions. The most authentic versions even for the Hindutva lot. He is being attacked just for repeating what is written in those texts.

It must be said that he has faced this violence calmly and with great restraint. Despite the fear, which is very real, he did not say that he was misunderstood, nor did he apologise. Putting all the copies of the books in front of him, he calmly challenges the Hindutva miscreants to come and read those episodes in Ramayana and Mahabharata published by Gita Press and see why Rama refused to accept Sita even after defeating Ravana. How harshly did he treat Sita, how cruel were his words for her, she who had been waiting eagerly for him! But for the Rame of these two scriptures, his maryada was more important. Even if pure, Sita should not expect to be welcomed by Rama since she had been at Ravana's abode. Now she was untouchable for him!

Divyakirti wants them to read all this and think on their own. But he also knows that a whole machinery is working ceaselessly to produce 'hurt Hindu sentiments'. This machine is not interested in reading, discussion or debate. Its job is to manufacture fake hurt sentiments. It is a fake wound adorned on the Hindu souls and shown to the world complaining of hurt. But there is no real hurt there. Everyone is aware of this game.

It is a matter of satisfaction that many people have come out in support of Divyakirti. He cannot be accused of being a leftist. He is a well-known name in the dream industry of India's youth competing for jobs in top levels of government. He is part of the business of providing tips to crack the entrance examinations for different Indian Administrative Services. In an interview, he explained that it was his job to provide different readings and all the references so that candidates could answer questions, which are likely to be asked in the examination in a holistic manner.

Questions like: Why does Valmiki create the episode in which Rama reprimands Sita, or, Why does Tulsidas, the favourite of the conservatives, not include this incident in his Ram Katha? And why, in Valmiki's Ramayana, does Rama not even blink an eye while killing Shambuka, and why does the Bhavbhuti's Ram feel conflicted and his hands tremble before this murder? How does Tulsidas deal with this literary memory of the murder of Shambuka?

These questions will arise in the minds of those who are interested in the Ramayana. But for those for whom Ram is only a tool or weapon useful for gaining political power, what is the need to get curious about this strange journey of the Ram Katha? Why should they bother about the choices of Valmiki, Bhavabhuti, Tulsi or Krittivas? They are not storytellers!

When the history of the different versions of the Ram Katha is written, will we have only a version crafted by the Hindutvawadis? They are busy grabbing properties in the name of the lord, claiming to be the 'guardians of Ram'. In Ayodhya, these guardians have managed to usurp a piece of land which belonged to a mosque in his name. Ram, in our days, is not an imagination of the poets anymore.

But this is all digression. The 45-second video clip taken out of a 3-hour-long discussion which took place three years back and meant to incite Hindu sentiments is watched by many Hindus with surprise! They are revolted by what Divyakirti makes Ram say. He could not have done it! It tells a lot about the willful ignorance of the devotees of Ram about his own life as created by our great poets like Valmiki or Vyasa. But who cares? They have been busy getting back his Janma Bhumi. They are no longer a reading public. All they know is the slogan 'Jai Shri Ram'.

There is one more thing to be said. Divyakirti wants his students to read, analyse and think to succeed. But there is no longer a need for criticality or the power to analyse for success! When the purpose of education has been reduced to singing the glories of 'Bhartiya Sanskriti' of the RSS brand, then there remains no possibility of the type of questions which Divyakirti thinks would be asked in competitive examinations.

Can any examination of any administrative service ask the examinees to reflect on the abandonment of Sita or the murder of Shambuk in Valmiki Ramayana from the point of view of Dalits or women? Nowadays, this is impossible. No examiner will dare or be so foolish as to ask this question. That is why the suggestion of Divyakirti to read the texts is irrelevant when there is no possibility of such questions being asked. Why should any candidate waste their precious time on these books?

All this should have been understood long back when Delhi University removed AK Ramanujan's essay "Three hundred Ramayanas" after the violence carried out by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and FIRs filed by the Hindutvawadis. The university authorities defended the removal of the text, saying that it is not necessary for the students to read it. There are so many things for them to read! Even if they do not read this essay, their life would not have been in vain!

Now the police can say the same thing to Divyakirti or tell the court in the charge sheet against him. That the accused wanted to 'deliberately create disturbance' in the minds of the students by introducing them to these uncomfortable incidents. What could be a greater crime than this?

My friend reminded me of the scene in Satyajit Ray's film Hirak Rajar Deshe where the king asks the courtiers, "What to do with the teacher?" The courtiers reply that it is dangerous to keep him free. The more you read, the more you will think. And thinking only creates all the trouble. The teacher asks us to read so that we think. So why not arrest the teacher himself?

(The writer teaches at Delhi University)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.