By Soumitra Bose
Present Narendra Modi Government has started facing United Shenanigans (around him, in his orbit, in his Equator, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn) out to destabilize, deform, disparage, denounce it so that it meekly relinquishes, makes way for another Government succeed it. If that would not be so, put on Ur ‘Thinking Caps’, brood on how come (Union Minister of State) Niranjan Jyoti (ever heard of her?) is so big a dynamite that both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are repeatedly stalled for days together because of her. That too when non-recalcitrant Prime Minister condescends without mincing any words openly says in the House that the Minister is new and so she be excused. All the MPs present in the House are Senior and they pardon her.
Yet, the uproar, slogan-shouting, gherao, House-stalling procedures unabatedly continue. …Houses are stalled.
The Minister, Niranjan Jyoti, herself, deeply embarrassed, visibly flummoxed, repentant, sad at the Parliament-halting highbrow hullabaloo on her statement on ‘people’ of India, interpreted as ‘communal’ and hence, “anti-India”. …She repeatedly apologized. It proved to no avail at all.
It is true that Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti – whose name has become synonymous with ill-timed, unnecessary and hateful speech, is unsurprisingly no real stranger to controversy. This is just the first time that her comments have generated a media storm on a national level.
The newly inducted Union Minister of State clearly had no qualms about standing up on stage and delivering a speech where she said, “Aapko tay karna hai ki Dilli mein sarkar Ramzadon ki banegi ya haramzadon ki. Yeh aapka faisla hai” (You have to decide if you want a government peopled by the children of Ram or one full of bastards.)
The outrage that followed in Parliament may just have surprised her. After all, she has gotten away with- even rewarded – for similar incidents before but of course not in the national scenario.
Sadhvi NiJyoti gained notoriety following her religious discourses after the Ram Temple movement of 1992. Party insiders claim that she has habitually been shooting off her mouth, often making controversial comments during her speeches.
She is or was (only she can say) also a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The VHP has always maintained a hardline Hindu and anti-Muslim stance. Recently they issued a call to ban Muslims from garba events, and were also vocal proponents of the ‘love jihad’ theory that were grabbing headlines a few months ago.
Her rise in the organisation which culminated in her induction into the Modi cabinet therefore, was clearly founded on controversial comments and beliefs, which culminated in the comments she made on December 2, 2014.
She is 47-year-old, sadhvi/monk, katha vachak, one who delivers religious sermons through storytelling; her parliament bio-data, a short read, lists her as a “social worker.”
(Social worker though she may be, Jyoti has also recorded a number of run ins with members of her own party, the opposition and even the law.
She has listed a case against the ‘non-cognizable offence’ category which includes charges related to criminal intimidation, voluntarily causing hurt and adultery. It also makes mention of a dispute with one of her own party workers, which had also led to a police complaint.
The incident upset the local BJP unit, with the UP BJP even appointing Kanpur regional president Bhalchandra Misra to make an inquiry. However, before Misra could submit his report, she was inducted into the Modi Cabinet).
This having been reported, this also needs to be reported to make bare facts come out in toto. When The Sadhvi is facing attacks from all sides, why are only the Opposition shouting ? Do they only comprise the House? Should one say more about the Shenanigans…More later !