The clash over school textbook contents has slipped to new lows in Karnataka

Mahatma Gandhi laid a great deal of emphasis on the harmony between means and ends. He likened means to a seed, the end to a tree; and there is just the same inviolable connection between their means and the end as there is between the seed and the tree. That was then. Now, when politicians of all hues are convinced that ends justify the means, they don’t shy away from any statement or action, however silly or deplorable it may be. Last week, a few members of the National Students’ Union of India, the student wing of the Congress, protested against the alleged ‘saffronisation’ of school textbooks in Karnataka. And how? Not by scrutinising the textbooks and pointing out how these carry the Hindutva propaganda they are opposed to, for that would have required scholarship and reasoned arguments. They did so by taking recourse to theatrics; political debate in our country has anyway been reduced to theatre. They burn a pair of khaki shorts outside State Education Minister BC Nagesh’s residence. It may be mentioned here that khaki shorts and knickers have long been identified with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, as its members use these as a kind of uniform (in recent times, they also wear khaki pants). After this, Congress leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said: “NSUI members burnt the chaddi in front of cops. So what? We will burn chaddis everywhere to protest against RSS.”

The Indian word ‘chaddi’ means underwear, but is nowadays also used to describe a RSS member in a derogatory manner. Not to be cowed by such antics, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi retorted: “Siddaramaiah and Congress party’s chaddi is loose already. They have torn chaddi. So they have gone ahead to burn chaddi. Their chaddi was lost in UP. Siddaramaiah lost his chaddi and lungi in Chamundeshwari. To hit back, he's trying to burn Sangh’s chaddi.” Notice the use of words and expressions which are rarely used in public forums: ‘We will burn chaddis everywhere; chaddi is loose; torn chaddi; their chaddi was lost in UP; Siddaramaiah lost his chaddi and lungi.’ This is how upper primary stage students banter with each other in the absence of a teacher; but when senior leaders of a liberal democracy deploy such phraseology to lambaste and lampoon their opponents, it hints at something rotten in the state of affairs. Instead of checking their own participation in theatrics, our political masters blame their opponents for the ugly public spectacles. So BJP leader Chalavadi Narayanswamy has the temerity to say, “If Siddaramaiah wants to burn chaddis, let him burn inside his house. I have told all district presidents of SC Morcha to help Siddaramiah by sending their chaddis to him. Firstly, I ask Siddaramaiah to seek permission from the pollution control board because burning chaddis causes air pollution. I never thought Siddaramaiah would stoop to this level.” Only my opponents stoop so low, not me!