Modi-fication of Jayaprakash Narayan’s Speech
If there is a political party that knows the art of manipulating historical figures and their ideologies to their use, it is the BJP. Beginning from Sardar Patel, who now has become the figure of right wing nationalism, to Mahatma Gandhi who, while not Patel, still had pretty great ideas that could have benefitted the Modi sarkar, to Bhagat Singh, who lived the life of a communist and died as one and yet finds a glorious place in the BJP’s political agenda, they have covered them all. They would have used Nehru too but his association with the Gandhis ruined that for him. Then it is not at all surprising that Jayaprakash Narayan’s socialist ideas have been manipulated for their peruse.
JP though not a great orator, was a man with infectious idealism which had caught the nerve of the nation then. In a great public gathering, on the 26th of June, 1975 at the Ram Laila Maidan, JP quoted Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s poem Singhasan Khali Karo Janata Aati Hai. It was befitting of the occasion, the old man was challenging Indira Gandhi’s reign and leading a mass movement, what other words could have done justice? RSS, as most would know, was a part of this movement against Gandhi. They supported JP in the struggle and were also part of the Janta Party government formed in 1977, headed by the man famous mostly for drinking his own pee, Morarji Desai. This effectively and rather painfully, makes JP one of their own, and so exploiting his words can hardly be misconstrued, right?
JP’s use of the Dinkar poem in a legendary speech is a significant part of India’s modern history. A lot of time has passed since that gathering. India has changed a lot. We are not the same economy, not the same country, not the same janata any more. If you have been keeping a track of all the speeches Narendra Modi has ever given, and I am sure you have been, they are impossible to miss, you are aware of the image he pushes for. He doesn’t tire of telling us that he is a common man. A tea seller who struggled a lot to get to the position he is in today. His story is supposed to be aspirational and all that. And so it is I suppose alright to say that Modi is people and people are Modi. So don’t be surprised watching this video where lines from Dinkar’s poems have twisted to fit our modern day definition of janata.
Janata is Modi. Modi is Janata. And so I present to you the best party anthem in the history of party anthems, a song about the glorification of the individual of the power of the people: “Singhasan Khali Karo, Modi Aa Rahe Dilli”. It’s the same, really. After all, JP and Modi, both used it to fight the Congress. So what if JP was fighting a Modi-like figure? I know you are getting a sense of irony here. Just stop thinking, okay? This one too is a people’s movement. And those of you cringing with disgust, don’t do that. This is janata ka aadesh (see what I did here?). Learn to live with it. And enjoy the song, it’s catchy.
May JP’s soul rest in peace.