Bharat Jodo Yatra: What does it mean?

“Bharat Jodo Yatra is a timely initiative to bring Indians together. It does not matter who took the lead, but it is the right thing to do. India is a great nation and will remain one, and a few transitory individuals cannot wipe out its 5000-year-old history. It is foolish to think Hinduism is in danger; who are you to save it? Sanatana Dharma does not need greedy defenders to take advantage of it. Its eternal values of pluralism and coexistence will outlive all the small men that have come and gone.”

Bharat Jodo Yatra is in the interests of Indians to sustain democratic institutions and democracy in India. The freedom that we have had for 75  years is gradually waning.

Are we not happy when we function together, work together, study together, eat and live together with fewer conflicts and tensions? Aren’t we most pleased with each other in a family, neighbors, and community if we do not hate each other?

We were born to live in harmony. God has created everything in balance except our interactions with each other. Look around you. Look at the Sun and its planets arranged to go in circles with precision. The earth goes around the Sun in 24 hours, and it has been doing this for millions of years; not only that, it tilts at certain angles to give us the needed seasons of sustenance. Our body is programmed to function together, provided we feed it right. We can do the right thing with our freedom and live in peace or screw it up and live in tension. What creates disharmony? It is our interactions with each other that create discord, conflicts, and divisiveness in society. It is taking a toll on all Indians. Most Indians live in tension; the threateners and the threatened feel insecure. It has to change.

Bharat Jodo Yatra is a timely initiative to bring Indians together. It does not matter who took the lead, but it is the right thing to do. India is a great nation and will remain one, and a few transitory individuals cannot wipe out its 5000-year-old history. It is foolish to think Hinduism is in danger; who are you to save it? Sanatana Dharma does not need greedy defenders to take advantage of it. Its eternal values of pluralism and coexistence will outlive all the small men that have come and gone.

We are all Indians and created equal, and no one is more privileged than the other. Together as Indians, we are Hindus, Dalits, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Atheists, Nastiks, Buddhists, Bahá’í, Tribals, Jews, Bo’s, Qandharis, Bakarwals inclusive of every group of Indians. Anyone who breathes the air of the land, drinks the water, eats the food, and or chooses to be an Indian is an Indian.

We should not allow any evil force to pit one Indian against another. If patriotic, they must work for an exemplary. We should ask them to join us and build a cohesive India where authentic sab ka Saath, sab ka vikaas ho. Sab ka Samman ho, aur sab ko nyay mile.

The divisive Hindu-Muslim rhetoric has got to go. The politicians are the ones who gained from this nonsense. Did the average Indian gain anything from it other than being fooled?

We have to figure out how to co-exist with the least friction. It is in your interests, my interest, and everyone’s interest to have justice, which gives birth to sustainable peace and prosperity. Our motherland is sliding down on scales of poverty, economic growth, and social cohesion, and we must put brakes to this slide.

We need Bharat to be mukt from bad governance. Good governance is being accountable to the public. The top leader must hold press conferences, answer questions in the parliament, and fearlessly put himself to give difficult interviews to the pressmen like Karan Thapar, Ravish Kumar, and Arfa Khanum. True democracy is when the leaders are open to criticism and welcome it instead of harassing the critics. If Modi had children, he would have enriched them. However, he has enhanced his friend’s wealth by giving away profitable public businesses to them without offering bids to the public.

Modi’s lust for power and control is shameful and is worse than any dynastic rule. He chooses to remain silent when the nation is burning with hate and calls for genocide are made relentlessly. All this corruption and destruction has to come to an end.

Bharat Jodo Yatra reminds me of the Bharat Choro Yatra initiated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1942. Its demand was an immediate end to British rule over India. It was known as the Quit India Movement that led the British to run away.

Bharat Jodo Yatra is in the interests of Indians to sustain democratic institutions and democracy in India. The freedom that we have had for 75 years is gradually waning.

Watching the Bharat Jodo Yatra and Rahul Gandhi meeting ordinary Indians on the walk is a joy. No one other than Mahatma Gandhi was this fearless. These men are born once every 100 years to restore Dharma in society. Rahul has no fear even though he lost his grandmother and father to terrorism. He has set the movement to bring Indians together, and the momentum will pick up on its own. The Indians are reasonable people, and harmony is in their DNA even though momentarily they are lost following the pied piper.

After Mahatma Gandhi’s abrupt death, Indians were looking for another Mahatma who was unselfish and did not lust for power but cared for fellow Indians to live in harmony.

We may have that Mahatma reincarnated in Rahul and we wish great success to the yatra to bring Indians together to common good.

Jai Hind!

(Mike Ghouse is the CEO and founder of the Center for Pluralism and an interfaith wedding Officiant. He offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day to the media, policymakers, and others. More about him at www.TheGhouseDiary.com)