Swami Agnivesh: Light without fire
If Swami Vivekananda were to be alive today, he would have been termed as ‘anti-Hindu’, attacked, or simply called ‘urban naxal’ by the government and sent to jail. The Sangha Parivar would not have definitely tolerated Swami Vivekananda who raised his voice against orthodoxies, and upper caste atrocities. When Swami Vivekananda visited Kerala and saw the caste practices of Namboodiris, he had burst out angrily that ‘this is a mental asylum’. When the country was in drought and the priestly class sought funds to protect cows, he rebuked them for doing so. He minced no words in criticizing the discrimination in the name of caste. Today, if saffron robes have got some dignity, it is due to the social reforms of Swami Vivekananda. But unfortunately, groups that use Swami Vivekananda’s photographs as a front but oppose his reforms have emerged. Those who try to implement Swami Vivekananda’s thoughts are labelled as ‘anti-Hindu’ and are beaten down. The same forces mounted an attack on Swami Agnivesh and are now publicly celebrating his death.
It is very easy to abuse religion and beliefs. Religions are born to reform societies but many use religions to exploit people. No religion is free of this, but Hindu religion has been especially abused in this way. Anyone can term himself as a seer. Playing some tricks, one can become a self-proclaimed godman. At one time, several seers had revolted against caste discrimination in Hinduism. If great souls such as Narayana Guru and Swami Vivekananda were not born, the society today would not have been so harmonious. However, several fake seers continue to exploit people. While the priestly class are robbing devotees of property and wealth, political leaders are enjoying power preaching lawlessness.
In the midst of all this, Agnivesh chose to wear saffron robes, identified many problems in the Hindu society, and fought against them by launching agitations. Though he was affiliated with Arya Samaj, he did not identify himself with it fully but remained a wandering monk. He travelled extensively for a progressive Hindu society. For someone clad in saffron, the extent of work he did and the issues he took up is simply mind blowing. Identifying himself as a seer, he responded to political developments in the country boldly. For a short period, he was also part of a political party and became a minister. He launched a major agitation against bonded labor in 1981 and mobilized people against female infanticide, alcohol, sati, and several such social evils. Perhaps, Agnivesh is the lone saffron-clad monk in post-independent India who identified himself actively with social movements. Agnivesh obtained several international awards for his social service. He was attacked several times by miscreants for opposing the politics of conservative, hardline Hindus, and the governments’ anti-people policies.
There are a few instances where Agnivesh faltered as well. Although he was part of the Anna Hazare movement, he distanced himself from it when he realized the political agenda behind the movement. He was mocked at for being seen in ‘Big Boss’ and courted controversy for his phone conversations with Kapil Sibal. Agnivesh’s prejudice against non-vegetarianism was a subject of intense debate. When he was organizing a movement against liquor, he had issued a statement like a Sangh Parivar leader that “gender atrocities increase due to consumption of liquor and non-vegetarian food…and this has been proved by research”. Undoubtedly, liquor harms our mind and sanity, but liquor and meat are not the same. Meat is the food of a majority of people, but liquor is not a type of food. Agnivesh’s statement suggested that all rapes were committed by people who eat meat. But if the country’s history pages are gleaned through, what one sees are instances of atrocities and rapes committed by those who are vegetarians against those who are meat eaters. It is not that Agnivesh was not aware of this but his statement against meat eaters was prejudiced perhaps due to the fact that he was born in a brahmin family. But for this, there is no doubt that Agnivesh had strong commitment to the country’s plurality.
Dayananda Saraswathi who founded the Arya Samaj was poisoned and killed. Similarly, Agnivesh, who associated himself with Arya Samaj was, in a way, killed by the priestly class. Agnivesh took seriously ill after an armed attack on him two years ago. He was battered emotionally and physically. The government did not take any action against the miscreants who attacked him because attacks took place with the covert support of the government. And today, a former official who worked in the top-most investigating agency of the country celebrated his death on Twitter. What then is to expect from the common people? The celebration of the death of a seer who spent his entire life working to realize the dreams of Gandhi and Vivekananda for the Hindu religion is not just the tragedy of the Hindu religion but reflects the extent of decay of the country’s moral compass.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Karnataka: Voter turnout crosses 50% in 14 LS seats
Bengaluru (PTI): With less than three hours left for voting to end, over 50 per cent turnout was reported in Karnataka where polling is underway in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies on Friday.
According to election officials, the voter percentage till 3 PM was about 50.93 per cent. The voting that began at 7am, will end by 6 pm.
Out of 14 segments that are going to polls today, highest turnout of 58.76 percent was recorded in Dakshina Kannada, followed by Udupi-Chikmagalur at 57.49 percent. The least was 40.10 percent in Bangalore Central. The turnout was 40.77 percent in Bangalore South and 41.12 percent in Bangalore North.
Bangalore Rural that is witnessing a tight contest between Congress' D K Suresh-- MP and brother of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar-- and Dr C N Manjunath, a noted cardiologist and son-in-law of former PM H D Deve Gowda, on a BJP ticket, has recorded 49.62 percent polling.
In the first phase, the Congress is contesting in all 14 seats, BJP has fielded nominees in 11 and its alliance partner JD(S), which joined the National Democratic Alliance in (NDA) in September last year, in three -- Hassan, Mandya and Kolar.
The segments where elections are being held on Friday are: Udupi-Chikmagalur, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South and Chikkballapur.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress and JD(S), which were in alliance and ruling the state back then, had secured just one seat each in these 14 segments. The BJP had won in 11 and ensured the victory of a party-supported independent candidate in Mandya.
