Who remembers Rajbala ?

On June 4, 2011 there occurred a horrendous event in India. An unarmed peaceful nonviolent crowd in Delhi protesting corruption was lathi charged by the police and it resulted in serious injuries with one middle aged woman Rajbala with spine broken and all four limbs paralysed. The first pictures were provided in the English media by a Tehelka reporter. CNNIBN had all night coverage of this infamous event. In the melee old men and women were dragged out by the police from the Ramlila grounds and left with their children and grandchildren on the streets of Delhi to fend for themselves. They had come from far and near to listen to the yoga guru Swami Ramdev and had spent the day in yoga, fasting, meditation, prayer and bhajan.

This was clearly a devotional Hindu crowd in the main (though some others from other religious groups may also have been present, as is the time honoured custom in a tolerant and diverse country such as India). Prominent Congress leader , long time loyalist Mani Shankar Iyer publicly stated that there was no need for this draconian response to a peaceful non violent crowd that showed no signs of any violence. Furthermore, the Ramlila grounds he pointed out, was large enough to accommodate large crowds ; it had been built precisely for such events. It was night time and the crowd was asleep when they were attacked by the police on orders from the troika of Sonia Maino Gandhi (Congress President) Home Minister Chidambaram and Defence Minister A.K.Antony (according to reports). One senior journalist has confirmed that the infamous troika met at the Prime Minister’s residence late that evening. The PM himself reportedly was not present since he had turned in for the evening ! And so , while a momentous decision was being taken by his government and his party the PM was asleep (literally it would seem !).

After the first few days of excitement the liberal press has fallen silent on the topic and Mani Shankar Iyer described it as a ‘transient’ event. Admittedly he was doing this in the context of defending his ‘honourable’friend the ignoble Rajput Digvijay Singh who it is reported had a behind the scenes hand in the infamous event of June 4. He had been systematically bad mouthing the Hindu sannyasin Swami Ramdev for days on end, without any evidence whatsoever. This was undoubtedly in preparation for the final denoument. He could not, obviously, resist his mistress’s commands. He claims to be a Hindu.

As for the woman who initiated this horrific outcome, she must make her peace with her God (her extra God as Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal  described that God in an article over a year or so ago, ironically, one hopes). It is hard to believe that the Catholic God she prays to would condone such an event. At any rate, Jesus of Nazareth would not have condoned it or the ghastly wars of conquest and violence engaged in by followers in his name.

But who remembers Rajbala paralysed for life ? Only her family it seems, judging from the deafening silence from the liberal media since those fateful days. They held a ;yagna shortly afterwards, and this was reported in CNNIBN. Presumably, the Supreme Court is also in the process of viewing the videos taken that night by the press, and which the police tried to suppress.

Hindu India cannot forgive or forget. The present writer has pointed out on more than one occasion that Hinduism has survived conquests, war, violence and Occupations and will survive for many more millennia despite the best laid plans of mice and men. However, the asuric evil of such people who initiate such evil acts will bring endless suffering to the Hindu masses. While there has been an extraordinary attention given by the press to the upper middle class protestors and their welfare during the Anna Hazare anti corruption movement (not a single protestor was lathi charged by the police)there is only silence concerning Rajbala. From this silence alone one can infer that she must be from the less privileged section of Indian society.

Swami Ramdev’s followers are drawn from all classes, but on the particular night of June 4 the price paid was by the aam admi Hindu. In the past all classes and castes paid with their lives and property during invasions and Occupations. Indian history is replete with the story of heroes, both rich and poor, kings and queens and as well their subjects.In the past Rajadharma required kings and queens in India to go out and fight in person. Today’s rulers do the opposite, take refuge in their gated communities. In the context of today’s attack(cultural and legal) on the Padmanabhaswamy temple, Keralites will remember the glorious history of the maharajahs of Travancore who perfomed their kshatriya duty of defending the land against invaders, in this specific case the Dutch. Who can forget the heroism of Marthanda Varma in the seventeenth century ?And today the beleagured royal house of Travancore, which has set a model of upright living, and is now under attack in various guises, continues to demonstrate that kshatriya courage and determination to withstand the asuric forces.

Where are the kshatriya Hindus (intellectual or otherwise) who will remember Rajbala?

(The writer is a Political Philosopher who taught at a Canadian university)

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