IN THE last two years, in his Vijayadashami speech, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Dr Mohan Bhagwat has raised red-flag for ‘wokeism’ pervading into the country with its only aim of a systematic attack on cultural traditions. The insistence on ‘wokeism’ this year is another reminder to the country to raise guard against an obnoxious culture that is slowly but definitely being injected in the society whose large part is feeding off social media and its half-truths. The phrase ‘woke’ had its origin in Western countries where the African-Americans fought discrimination against the Blacks.

 

They called out injustice, raised their voices and started delivering ‘woke’ justice. It was limited to a smaller region till the movement was hijacked by the Leftist forces. The ‘wokeism’ prevailing in India is a corrupt leftover of the movement that has been cleverly crystallised by a few ‘elites’ to make it an ‘in-thing’. In the Indian context, the attack is on the rich culture, especially popular Hindu festivals, with a pre-defined agenda of targeting vulnerable youngsters. The idea of spreading the feeling of victimhood finds easy traction among youngsters who always crave for a change but with limited knowledge sway to anything that trends with a hashtag. This practice has led to a mob of confused liberals who are detached from the roots and take to trolling patriarchy and religious rituals on social media. It is a serious anomaly that needs an immediate course correction. Warning bells have long tolled against this movement. American historian Victor Davis Hanson has been highlighting the perils of ‘wokeism’. In his words, “Wokeism’s natural logic is to destroy the lives of both genders, of all races, and if need be, those of every age, all to leverage an otherwise unworkable ideological agenda.”

 

Far away in India, renowned author Rajiv Malhotra has meticulously explained the social theory behind ‘wokeism’s’ worldview. In his book ‘Snakes in the Ganga’ (co-authored by Vijaya Viswanathan), Malhotra has highlighted the dangerous solutions propagated by the ‘wokeism’ hijacked by the Leftists. It proposes dismantling of existing structures and institutions, giving a global call to dismantle Hinduism. The diversity of India gives the movement a fertile ground to apply its agenda. What Dr Bhagwat has said is an alarm for the entire country which reveres its traditions, cultures and values. The onset of ‘wokeism’ is a clear and present danger. Bred on the feeling of victimhood, the woke culture has been weaponised by declared opponents of Indian culture to cause complete destruction of values and traditions. The selective outrage against popular Hindu festivals is part of the modus operandi of such groups. As the festive season has set in, the doctored agenda of the liberal brigade is primed for an outburst against the festival of lights. Deepavali is the softest target for such groups crying hoarse against firecrackers. It will be invariably linked with environment and health issues despite abundant proof that crackers hardly affect the air quality already polluted by industrial, transport and construction work. Yet, the woke thinking launches a key-board assault on the traditions through social media.

 

The modus operandi has become so obvious that the top courts in the country have started grilling activists on their selective targeting of Hindu festivals. A few years ago, the Bombay High Court had lashed out at such an activist for filing public interest litigations targeting only Hindu traditions and Hindu festivals. Realising his folly of questioning the tradition of ‘Ravan dahan’, the petitioner had to withdraw his plea as the court sarcastically asked him about his next target. The barrage of such demands, devoid of merit and substance, underlines the perverse thinking of the ‘woke’ whose ideology is based on a wrong and pushed premise. Those targeting Deepavali see it only as a prominent Hindu festival. Deepavali is not merely a celebration for Hindus. It is a festival that is celebrated by all Indic faiths with equal fervour. It is a mix of various practices and rituals of which fireworks form an integral part. An analytical study of Hindu shastras would help in dispelling the hullabaloo created around the use of firecrackers in Deepavali.

 

The idea behind lighting lamps and bursting crackers is to show Goddess Laxmi the path to our homes as she comes back from the netherworld (paatal) to ‘bhulok’ on a new moon night i.e. Amavasya. Sound, stability and light are all interconnected with the idea of prosperity, the scriptures state. Blindly denying a deep-rooted thinking without studying it and sounding like a liberal is unacceptable for any society. It is a misplaced self-righteousness indulging in dissing and disrespecting age-old traditions with a monotonous regularity. Many traditions and rituals have undergone changes over the years as the living standards changed. With time, ways of celebration have also changed and many of these changes demand a course correction. But such a correction has to come from within the faith, upholding the pride of our traditions and values. Festival shaming cannot be the answer to this. It is a dangerous idea spread by the faulty culture of ‘wokeism’. n