Editor,
‘Reading of the Gita by one lakh voices’ was organised at the Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata in December last year. While commenting on that event, a minister of West Bengal government used Swami Vivekananda’s famous quote, “You will be nearer to heaven through football than through the study of the Gita,” and said that it would have been better for the body and the mind, had they played football instead.
To counter it, a state BJP leader said, “Bengal has, for ages, been a flag-bearer of Sanatan culture. In the middle, somewhere, Bengal was somewhat misled by the Leftists. Can you not see now that limited knowledge is detrimental? Those saying football is better than reading the Gita, they are but Leftist products.”
Though he tried to describe his political opponent as “having limited knowledge,” it redirected to Swami Vivekananda, as it was his quote which the minister had used.
But there is no doubt about Swami Vivekananda’s Leftist political orientation. He correctly described Swami Vivekananda as a Leftist, but tried to demean his views by adding the word ‘products’. Swami Vivekananda had given a clear answer to this question, “I am a socialist not because I think it is a perfect system, but half a loaf is better than no bread.”
When both the National Sample Survey report and the Global Hunger Index report show a horrific picture of child wasting and child stunting in India, we can clearly hear his voice regarding diversionary temple politics and misplaced priority to send rockets to the sun and the moon, “I consider that the great national sin is the neglect of the masses, and that is one of the causes of our downfall. No amount of politics would be of any avail until the masses in India are once more well educated, well fed and well cared for. They pay for our education, they build our temples, but in return they they get kicks. They are practically our slaves. If we want to regenerate India, we must work for them.”
What Swami Vivekananda said long ago about poor people paying for our education is still relevant today as India relies more on indirect taxes. A poor person has to spend almost all his money to buy essential items and goods and thus has to pay as much GST as a rich person pays on these items. The fact of the matter is that the poor pay more taxes than the rich in proportion to their respective incomes.
A modern welfare state has assimilated many things from socialism. In such a state, poor citizens are considered to be as important stakeholders of the nation as the rich and are thus entitled to certain benefits. It is a duty of a welfare state to ensure resource distribution and equal opportunity for all. Subsidy is regarded as welfare schemes for the people and not as a charity as was the practice in a monarchy where poor people are regarded as beggars.
The idea behind tagging those who are getting welfare benefits as ‘labharthi’ and what they are getting as ‘freebies’ and ‘rewdis’ is absolutely monarchical where the king gives alms to his subjects in his name as if from his own pocket.
Given that India is a welfare state as per the Indian Constitution, words like ‘freebies’, ‘labharthi’ and ‘rewdis’ show a total disregard for the people in general and our Constitution in particular. This and the temple politics are totally contrary to the ideals of Swami Vivekananda who said, “If you want to find god, serve man. To reach Narayana you must serve the Daridra Narayanas – the starving millions of India.”
Sujit De