A Deliberately Disruptive Analogy

By: M.R. Lalu
Senior Congress leader Shivraj Patil’s discovery of Jihad in Bhagavad Gita was not in tune with what his party understands about the holy text. This was probably visible when his party distanced itself from his statement and agreed to term his assertion on the Hindu holy text as unwarranted and baseless. It is improper to cross check the Congress sentiments on what the Gita professes. But the party’s sensibility to outrightly reject its leader’s senseless clamour on the Hindu religious text should be seen as an approach it began to feel appropriate and secular. Patil served as union minister in the Manmohan-led UPA government from 2004 to 2008.
The statement of the veteran that caught the ire of the moment was obviously an ill-equipped assertion deliberately meant to stir the hornet’s nest. “The concept of Jihad is not limited to the Quran but also the Bhagavad Gita, which is part of Mahabharat.” he declared at a book releasing event. To emphasize his view further, he claimed that Lord Krishna taught Arjuna about Jihad in the battlefield; therefore, essentially the Gita accentuates the authority of Jihad. His insinuation did not stop with his reference to Hinduism and Islam. But he was vocal about elements of Jihad in Christianity as well. For him, Lord Krishna, in essence and practice justified war and promoted use of weapons and appreciated bloodshed when threatened.
A comparison of Islamic Jihad with the Kurukshetra war by the Congress veteran was a balancing act to cover up terrorism. This was almost in line with the Hindu terror narrative that the Congress had unsuccessfully launched during the UPA regime. The party thought that such a narrative could be an effortless makeover presenting Jihad and terror in a dim light. The saffron terror jargon by the Congress turned out to be a sharp weapon that the BJP met the 2014 National Elections with. The Congress had this remark haunting it throughout the elections and the result of 2014 was a culmination of the discontent that the majority in India registered against the party vigorously. The prospects of the Congress began to dispel with the party sensing its significance being terribly capsized.
The Bhagavad Gita is known to have been delivered amid a terrible war that was fought for eighteen days between two groups in the same family. The principal reason that pushed the Pandavas and Kauravas into a ruthless bloodshed was the dispute on the share of a rightful portion of the country that the Panadavas had a genuine stake on and when the Kauravas refused to concede. Krishna’s arbitration for a peaceful settlement failed though he attempted multiple times amicably trying to dissuade the warmongering sons of the blind king. Throughout the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna seems to be playing the role of a friend and a mentor and his efforts to enlighten the warrior prince Arjuna was mainly by tutoring him on the elements of dharma or duty based on righteousness.  Therefore, the philosophy of Bhagavad Gita unequivocally parades the reader through the essential principles of dharma and the importance of being dharmic. Despite his being the divine, Lord Krishna, the benign friend of the Pandavas, had to undergo remorseful moments and the imprecations by the blindfolded mother Gandhari in the battlefield had brought disaster in his life. His clan was totally wiped out and his kingdom got submerged in water. The Mahabharata epic, through the battle portion, is obviously suggesting the need of following one’s own dharma and the deliberations of Krishna is a solid proof of the great Indian philosophy that advocates liberal coexistence of multiplicity.
For Islam, Jihad is one of the most pious duties that the religion has authenticated. And whoever stands in the opposite of the edifice of Islam is a Kaffir and Jihad is a divinely ordained struggle that every devout Muslim is supposed to live for. Jihad or ‘Holy war’ gives licence to a Muslim to spread his religion among the non-believers through all possible means, including violence. Who should be the Islamic Jihad declared against? The clear answer is that the holy war should be fought against the non-believers. Those who express views against the supremacy of Allah deserve to be exterminated or punished and the war declared against them is a holy manoeuvre which is seen in various forms and fashions. Islamic scriptures depicting bloodthirsty remarks on non-believers and the action plans to consolidate power for an Islamic globe are part of a long cherished dream and unsurprisingly there are young men and women ready to explode for a heaven that they would be rewarded, once they perish.
Whereas, the mega epic the Mahabharata elucidates on the difference between dharma and adharma and the battle that the epic is vocal about is the one that was fought for the establishment of dharma or righteousness. This was probably the reason that India, as a country has always been upholding values of nonaggression and it never thought of capturing another land. Bhagavad Gita for that matter has never justified a war for the establishment of the power of any particular God. Interestingly, Lord Krishna shares his wisdom with Arjuna and in a later period suggests him to follow his words if he found them genuine and wise. Krishna’s persistence on Arjuna was to follow his righteous duty as a warrior prince and war was a tool to establish that genuine morality in his kingdom. In the beginning, Arjuna was intellectually incapable to delve into the philosophy that Krishna elaborated for him and the teachings of Gita were discovered to be life fulfilling theories and master plans to live life with its fullest potential.
The war that was fought in the Mahabharata was between two branches of the same family while Jihad is a war declared against those who refuse to acknowledge Islamic religious ethos. Its aggressive invasion had toppled religious monuments of Hindus and other religions  and forget not,  the division of this subcontinent into two distorted pieces in 1947 was also the result of a  mindset that propelled discontent and disregard for other religions. Overwhelmed by unethical political appeasement, political parties in India had almost forgotten the values that the essential Indianness is built on. Bhagavad Gita has contributed so much so that the cultural edifice of India is rock solid while many civilizations disappeared from the face of the earth.
(The author is a Freelance Journalist/ Social Worker)