The Congress has supplanted the “why” that the BJP threw at the Bharat Jodo Yatra with “when, if not now” in a subtle declaration that India indeed needed to heal the wounds inflicted by divisive politics.
“Ab nahin to kab…” is the new tagline added to the Yatra theme song, released a day before the walk resumes on Tuesday after a nine-day break, asserting that the question was when, not why, the mission to heal should have started.
The theme song now reflects the live experience of walking from Kanyakumari to Delhi, around 3,000km in 108 days, which attracted many people in different states.
“Bandh ho dharm ki rajneeti – ab nahin to kab (the politics of religion should stop – when, if not now),” the song goes, weaving the same narrative around the issues raised by the Yatra. “Bandh ho nafrat ki rajneeti – ab nahin to kab? Mahengai ka ghada foote – ab nahin to kab? Berozgari ka chakkar chhute – ab nahin to kab?...” the song continues, seeking to land the critics in a fix as they can’t say this is not the right time to deal with divisive politics, price rise and unemployment.
The Congress is seeking to render the question about the need for the Yatra irrelevant by moving to the question about the timing of remedial measures — ab nahin to kab.
The party’s message is clear: People are feeling the pinch of prices and hence the question of “why” is invalid; the real question is when the campaign should start, if not when a cooking gas cylinder costs Rs 1,100 and a litre of petrol over Rs 100.
The song goes on to explain that the atmosphere of fear cannot be removed without social amity, and unity cannot be achieved without harmony.
A video of a conversation between actor Kamal Haasan, who participated in the Yatra, and Rahul Gandhi also emphasises that India would flourish only in pluralism
Rahul contended that the most important factor while dealing with an external threat, in the context of China, is internal harmony. Enemies take advantage of internal chaos and rift, he said. “When an Indian fights an Indian, when the economy doesn’t work, when there are no jobs, our external opponents can take advantage of that,” he said.
When Rahul said hate was the result of fear being created among the people, Kamal responded that people wanted to live in amity, and that hate was synthetic, reproduced and manufactured. Amity was disturbed and disputes were doctored, he added. Expressing solidarity with the objectives of the Yatra, he explained why he had joined in, saying: “I felt it is my duty as an Indian to voice my anguish, my apprehensions at what’s happening.”
The Congress asserted that the Yatra’s purpose had been served to a great extent. Asking if any political party had ever held such a yatra since Independence, the general secretary in charge of organisation, K.C. Venugopal, said: “This is a significant milestone in the Congress tradition of giving voice to the people’s concerns. The Yatra has greatly succeeded in sending out the message of unity across the country.”
Referring to security concerns — as the Yatra will now proceed towards Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir — Venugopal said: “We are not scared but we thought it is our duty to inform the government of the security breach. Even if an MP writes to the government, he gets a response. We, as the party which ruled the country for decades, wrote to home minister Amit Shah but we didn’t get a reply. A DIG writes to us. The agency against which we are raising questions gives us the reply, not the home minister. That’s not fair.”
Venugopal added: “We complained against officials of the Haryana intelligence entering the containers at the campsite but there is no response to that. There was a total failure of the Delhi police in security arrangements on December 24. They are having a meeting with our people today (Monday). We expect better arrangements tomorrow (Tuesday). I have met Punjab chief minister and the Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor to discuss security arrangements for the Yatra. They have assured me of full cooperation. I don’t see any problem happening.”