The insidious rhetoric of our political class

Communally divisive slogans such as 6batenge toh katenge, reveal how low the discourse has sunk

- Rashme Sehgal

For once Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar spoke sense when he spoke out against UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's 6batenge toh katenge, remark. Pawar, who finds himself caught in a cleft stick, pointed out that it was an outsider who had made such a remark given that Maharashtra was a state that had a history of maintaining communal harmony.

There is little doubt that some of the greatest movements of social and political reform during the 19th century were witnessed in Maharashtra. Six of the key makers of modern India came from Maharashtra: Jyotiba Phule, Lokmanya Tilak, Gopalkrishna Gokhale, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Tarabai Shinde and Hamid Dalwai.

But we cannot forget that Maharashtra is also the home of the RSS and its founding fathers, largely Chitpavan Brahmins, and it is this organisation from which much of this divisive propaganda is presently emanating.

But Yogi Adityanath is an exception even to the tradition of the RSS where double-speak is tinged with some caution. His political career has been built around the naked acquisition of power and his armoury comprises anti Muslim speeches and strong-arm tactics, to emerge as the poster boy of Hindutva.