Video Producer: Shohini Bose
Camera: Shiv Kumar Maurya
Yeh Jo India Hai Na… it got its freedom in 1947, and Kangana Ranaut got her Padma Shri in 2021. India is proud of its freedom struggle, and Kangana should be proud of her Padma Shri. Neither did India get its freedom in charity, nor did Kangana go begging for a Padma Shri.
Both are results of hardwork and struggle – one of a great decades-long national movement, and the other of an individual’s effort.
But instead of showing grace, Kangana chose to be crass after her award saying – what India and Mahatma Gandhi got in 1947 was not freedom, but bheekh (charity) from the British.
Now my daughter is 16. She will vote in 2024, and she’s trying to understand the India she lives in. She read about Kangana’s comment online and her question was – WHY should we take Kangana Ranaut seriously?
Why Should We Take Kangana Seriously?
It doesn’t change the facts, or alter India’s awesome history, so why bother about her view? After all, who is Kangana Ranaut? Well, unfortunately, WHY we should take Kangana Ranaut seriously – is an important question for us all.
Because hers is not a lone voice, it’s one of the loudest in a growing chorus of voices. You can ignore one irrational voice, you can ignore one voice that’s unaware of India’s history. But there are many voices out there today, attacking Gandhi one day, attacking Nehru the next day, creating imaginary differences between the greats of India’s freedom struggle – Bose was ignored, Patel did not get his due, Ambedkar versus Gandhi, and so on.
We see it in abusive tweets and social media posts, in yelling matches on news channels, in political speeches, from low level rabble rousers, to even top leaders.
Some parrot what they see on social media, some use such statements to rise in local politics, to get invited by news channels, to become party key star campaigners, to get election tickets, some write articles and books, containing dubious facts and spin.
Attempts to Distort India's History
Seen as a whole, these are attempts to alter the FACTS of India’s history and to distort our history. When this is done for petty personal reasons, or for short-term political gains, and simply not based on facts – rubbishing our freedom struggle, trashing Gandhi, then it should worry us. We must question it and call it out repeatedly.
But even more worrying, is this – that Kangana Ranaut saw her Padma Shri as a signal to say what she did. The first sign was her video in which she insisted that her Padma Shri was for calling out fellow Indians as ‘Jihadis’ and ‘terrorists’ and Khalistanis.
Those Who Gave Kangana Her Padma Shri Chose Not to Correct Her
But those who gave her the Padma Shri chose NOT to correct her. A clear signal. So, she followed it up with this comment – 'we got freedom in 2014, in 1947, we got charity.'
Again, barring the lone voice of Varun Gandhi and a BJP leader from Maharashtra, there was no comment from the government, the BJP, the Sangh, even though this time her target was the Father of the Nation and our entire freedom struggle.
It was left to cartoonists to ask whether we were celebrating 75 years of bheekh or azaadi, it was left to music composers to tell Kangana that Bhagat Singh never begged for India’s freedom or for his life when he was hanged.
So, what’s the message to Kangana from this silence? Keep it up! Attacking Gandhi is allowed. Just like supporting Godse, Gandhi’s killer on the Mahatma’s death anniversary in January 2021, which didn’t come in the way of her Padma Shri.
No Action Against Kangana For Her Crass Comment on Camera
Ridiculing India’s freedom struggle is also allowed. Ridiculing all the years spent by thousands of freedom fighters in jail, ridiculing the lathis and bullets that killed thousands. All allowed!
No sedition charge, no UAPA. While a comedian spends a month in jail for a joke he never told, an actress is allowed to insult the Mahatma, insult the freedom struggle ON CAMERA, ON RECORD, with no consequences!
In fact, Kangana’s fellow haters may well be telling her – 'Madam, after these comments, you are now ready for a Padma Bhushan.' It's also a signal to the hate brigade – think of Kangana, as YOUR ROLE MODEL!
Yeh Jo India Hai Na... It's Grateful to its Freedom Fighters
But the fact is – Mangal Pandey, Rani of Jhansi, Tilak, Gokhale, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Bose, Patel, Nehru, Maulana Azad, Ambedkar, Savarkar, and of course, Gandhi – they NEVER begged, they brought the British Raj to its knees, to gift us our AZADI.
The independence in 1947 was not a charity but a very valuable gift. And, Yeh Jo India Hai Na, it is grateful to ALL of them. It is tragic that a Kangana Ranaut is allowed to rubbish these heroes to serve a petty political agenda.
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