BJP Places its Political Creed Above Country

On 26th January 1950, India will be an independent country. What would happen to her independence?…What perturbs me greatly is the fact that not only India has once before lost her independence, but she lost it by the infidelity and treachery of some of her own people….This anxiety is deepened by the realisation of the fact that in addition to our old enemies in the form of castes and creeds we are going to have many political parties with diverse and opposing political creeds. Will Indians place the country above their creed or will they place creed above country? I do not know. But this much is certain that if the parties place creed above country, our independence will be put in jeopardy a second time and probably be lost for ever. This eventuality we must all resolutely guard against.

B.R. Ambedkar, Speech to the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949

“If the parties place creed above country…” Ambedkar’s fear was strikingly realized on January 26, 2011 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided to hoist the national flag at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk. It was not the first time that a party had professed its political creed while ignoring the repercussions on national and social well-being. However, the choice of January 26, the day when India celebrates the enforcement of its Constitution, added greater irony to incident. What was even more perplexing was the fact that BJP referred to its divisive operation as the “Ekta Yatra” or unity march. According to the BJP hoisting the national flag at Lal Chowk would assert the fact that the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is an integral part of India. The Central and State Governments feared that BJP’s provocative act could reignite the public anger exhibited during numerous street protests in the summer of 2010.

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