Sunday, February 17, 2008

Four great men in Sandhi Kala





1948 was catastrophic for the four men who lived and breathed Hindu nationalism.
In Hindu astrology, it is Kal (time) that determines our fate. During good times, good things happen and during bad time, you reap the results of your prior bad action.

One of the bad time is called sandhi kala. Sandhi Kala refers to a particularly bad period in a person’s life where life teaches you nasty lessons.

One such sandhi kala happened in 1948 and it included four great men. It is an easy guess. Gandhi, Godse, Savarkar and Golwalkar. Gandhi died, Godse was hanged and the other two had to face the ignominy of false accusations that took decades to wipe out. It threw back the momentum of Hindu nationalist movement by a few decades.

Let us compare the four men whom I consider great in their own ways.

Gandhi was truly a Mahatma (atleast by astrological standards given that he was an ajanabahu (hands extending almost to the knees). His role in granting India freedom is also undeniable. However, great men make great mistake and his appeasement policies also led to untold tragedies. His pacifist approach meant that enemies of Hindu society had a field day in loot, arson, rape and murder. At the time when he was shot, the nation was going through birth pangs after vivisection – which is probably the bloodiest vivisection in the history of mankind.

His killer Godse was an equally remarkable men. Gandhi was lucky enough not to be shot by a terrorist but by a man equally committed in his mission and the one who faced the fruits of his action stoically. It must be mentioned that Godse was a man who loved hot coffee and detective novels. The atrocities on Hindus were unbearable for him and he thought that the root cause of Hindu cowardice was the pacifist approach of Mahatma. He took his decision to the logical end and surrendered himself. His urn of ashes are still waiting to be immersed in the Sindhu River of Undivided India. When will it happen?

The side effect of this murder was equally disastrous. Both Savarkar and Golwalkar were arrested and their organizations were banned despite the absence of evidence. Government propaganda along with left ensured that both received bad press ever since.
Bad times do not spare even great men. 1948 was catastrophic for these men – who lived and breathed Hindu nationalism.

1 comment:

Indian said...

My list: Vivekananda, Gandhi, Hedgewar and Golwalkar :-) Sandhi kala is from 1836 to 2011.