Much has been written and said about A K Antony’s son Anil Antony’s grand entry into the Bharatiya Janata Party, some even pointing out the importance of the occasion since his induction took place on the 44th anniversary of the Hindutva party’s formation.
But many forgot to mention, deliberately or not, that the day also saw deployment of paramilitary forces, even the army in certain places, in more than half a dozen states across the country to maintain peace on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti.
Hanuman, as all Hindus know from mythology, was peace-loving, devoted to his idol Ram and his wife Sita. The only act of violence credited to him in our mythology is the burning down of Lanka. That was to rescue Sita whom he worshipped as a mother, perhaps a necessity in those circumstances.
Since when have gun-toting men in battle gear started guarding places of worship and even houses of ordinary citizens belonging to other faiths when so-called followers of Hanuman decide to take out a procession in his honour, remembrance? Since when did Hindus start marching on the streets, wielding swords and guns, mouthing obscenities against a particular community in the name of Hanuman? Since when did Hindus start lining up on both sides of the street cheering the so-called devotees of Hanuman baying for the blood of people belonging to another faith?
Anil Antony, a Christian by birth, may not have thought about these disturbing aspects which are being replicated on a regular basis in the name of different Hindu gods and goddesses across the country mainly after 2014 when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister. Names of Hindu gods and goddesses are the motifs used by BJP to attract Hindu votes. Seldom has the party in these past ten years invoked gods and goddesses belonging to another religion, not even Jesus Christ, the apostle of human empathy. Perhaps it has become part of the system, as casual as a cup of tea in the morning.
The BJP had in the past ten years perhaps made an exception in the case of Sikh Pantheon. The Prime Minister makes it a point to visit certain Gurdwaras mainly at the time of elections in states where the Sikh community holds sway. And the prolonged fight by the farmers, mainly spearheaded by the Sikh community, had also forced BJP to think beyond the Hindu mindset.
Anil Antony by virtue of joining the BJP, a pronounced Hindutva party, must be aware that in almost all the states where the party is in power there is not a single non Hindu representative in its ranks. Same is the case with both houses of Parliament. That too, in the past ten years, has been assimilated into the Indian psyche.
Anil Antony was eloquent about the dominance of the Gandhi family in the Congress and even cited it as the main reason for his leaving the party. He may or may not be true. But he could not be so naive not to know that the party he has embraced yesterday runs on the whims and fancies of a single individual.
No reporter worth his or her salt has asked Anil Antony or the BJP leaders present at the press conference why such prominence has been given for the induction of a single individual whose visibility on the political horizon is almost zero into the party.
However loudly the Prime Minister denounces family raj, it is plain and clear that the BJP would not have touched Anil Antony had he not been the son of A K Antony, a tall Congress leader from Kerala.
Family matters, all the more surnames, so also breed and caste. Remember how Prime Minister Modi went eloquent in Parliament, not answering opposition’s pointed questions on his friend Gautam Adani, asking Rahul Gandhi why he has not assumed a Nehru surname. No one asked the Prime Minister if his surname belonged to his father or mother.
By roping in a Christian, that too from a known stable, state BJP leaders may have convinced their central leadership that Anil Antony is a ‘big catch’. The Christian community in Kerala will be elated, they must have said, that too during a pious occasion for the community.
Kerala BJP banks heavily on the Christian community, using every opportunity to pit them against the other dominant minority community, Muslim, in the state. Narendra Modi has been egging them on, especially after BJP’s victory in some of the Christian dominated north-east states.
Other Christian entrants into the BJP from Kerala have not shot into the limelight. The same scenes were enacted when Alphons Kannanthanam was baptised into the party. His presence is hardly visible now. Does anyone in Kerala remember someone by the name Vadakkan, not Father Vadakkan but Tom?
Anil Antony too will soon fade into oblivion. Not that he was ever visible on any political horizon. But one thing is for sure. Anil Antony can be another Hanuman. Hanuman never questioned Ram. And Anil too will not question his supreme leader.
Santosh Kumar is a senior journalist
