The Wonderland of Bajirao and Akhand Bharat

Saba Naqvi

I watched two entertaining things in the last few weeks of 2015: the movie BajiraoMastani and the Ram Madhav interview to Al Jazeera. The movie worked for me because it got me thinking about the Maratha empire and thereby opened a line of intellectual enquiry. Although I was deeply bored by the lovely ladies dancing and pining in picture-perfect frames, I have concluded that the object of their passion, Bajirao I, was a fascinating historical figure. 

Here we had a Brahmin warrior expanding the Maratha empire to its limits and sustaining a confederacy---where rulers paid homage to them in return for protection. At its peak the Maratha power extended to Kandahar in the West, Bengal in the East and modern-day Tamil Nadu in the south. 

Just when I was immersed in thought and research about the Marathas, out popped BJP-RSS man Ram Madhav with his remark that Akhand Bharat is a possibility. Incidentally all our desi anchors should take lesson in gladiatorial journalism from the Al Jazeera anchor who conducted the interview. The pace was breathtaking, the sarcasm entertaining, the questions designed to pin the hapless Ram Madhav down. Cornered, he came up with the Akhand Bharat line, as if to say that even we -- the right guys on the Hindu Right -- have profound thoughts and grand civilizational visions! 

But seriously if Akhand Bharat is a benign idea that promotes unity, then I am Alice living in Wonderland. It’s an article of faith for individuals from the sangh parivar who talk of an undivided India not because of ‘love thy neighbor’, but because they would like to dominate all religions and peoples under the Hindu nation of their imagination. It is mostly a stupid idea. Although apologists of the Hindu right have now tried to describe Akhand Bharat as an idea of unity as opposed to division, this is a little hard to digest. Over the 18 years I have covered the BJP and Sangh parivar, I have heard the Akhand Bharat phrase most frequently from the ranks of the VHP. Eyes blazing, voice shrieking, I remember Praveen Togadia talk of flying the bhagwa dhwaj (the saffron flag) from Lahore.

Cut to the movie where Bajirao’s armies carry a saffron flag and set off for battle with the cries of Har Har Mahadev. Could it be just a coincidence that in our own times that the persona of Shivaji and the symbolism of the empire run by the Peshwas has been used by those who would have an India – or even Akhand Bharat - where the bhagwa dhwaj flies high. 

I have, however, no clue about the historical accuracy of details in the Sanjay Leela Bansali. There’s this elaborate song, which reminded me of both Mughal-e-Azam and Pakeezah, in which the lady Mastani uses the dance form of kathak to first showcase her absolute love for the Man. The film also got me thinking about the Maharashtrian Brahmins of Nagpur, Ram Madhav’s bosses, who run the RSS and display the Akhand Bharat map in their headquarters. Their confederacy may not extend to Pakistan and Bangladesh, but it certainly does to the BJP that has to frequently pay homage in return for support of the troops, oops, cadre. 

But I do wonder what sort of fantasy keeps the Akhand Bharat idea alive among the Sangh parivar. I suspect that at one level it’s nothing more than an Amar Chitra Katha interpretation of history where the evil kohl eyed Muslim tyrant is shown his place by the heroic pure hearted Hindu king/warrior. And if the contemporary Brahmins of Nagpur draw inspiration from Bajirao, there’s a twist to the tale that could not sit easy with them: his passion for the half Muslim Mastani, who became his second wife in the face of great opposition from the family. The Brahmin resistance is nicely depicted in the movie.

I would like to enter the New Year with the wish for more romance across religions (and castes) but fear I enter the territory of love jihad. But surely this does not quite apply if the woman is a Muslim because in that case the Hindu man would have won her over to the “other” side. Since women are glorified chattel anyway, is love jihad only applicable when a Muslim man makes a conquest of a Hindu damsel? In such matters I always turn for guidance to the VHP and Bajrang Dal, who are all certified PhDs on the subject. 

As I sign off my first article for 2016, don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against Akhand Bharat whose literal translation is undivided India. Now that our prime minister has made the giant leap of visiting Pakistan, I say open the floodgates. The worst that could happen is that all those psychopathic terrorist groups killing the people of Pakistan and each other would no longer have to take trouble to “infiltrate” India. 

A united subcontinent may fox Mr Shah, the president of India’s only truly patriotic party. Next time the BJP loses an election, he will not be able to accuse anyone bursting crackers in Pakistan, but being a clever fellow he may settle for China perhaps.