Trashing of History – CPI ishtyle – and our collective amnesia

Quisling . Tojo’s dog . agent of imperialists . Imperialist Dog.

Who do you think these choicest words were used to describe? Anybody we know in India?

Now, Cut to the thundering response to Advani’s suggestion that Savarkar and Bose have met with the same treatment at the hands of subsequent Indian generations – that of apathy and total ingratitude:

How dare you compare Veer Savarkar with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose? This is an insult to Netaji.” A communist – Basudeb Acharia of the CPI(M) – had once argued in the Lok Sabha.

So, of course, these adjectives may have been about Veer Savarkar. And it seems in order – right? Well, in this day and age – when old actions do sometimes catch up with you – its not easy to keep fooling the people.

Then, was it Savarkar? Well.. no! Those adjectives were for Netaji Bose in People’s War – the publication of Communist Party of India.

People’s War, the weekly of the Communist Party, published cartoons showing Netaji as a cur held up by Goebbels (September 13, 1942), a mere mask for the Japanese imperial ogre (August 8, 1942), descending as the Japanese bomb to destroy India (November 21, 1942), a midget being led by Japanese imperialists (September 26, 1943).

Now, cut to June 25, 1944 for a message by Netaji Subhash Bose on Azad Hind Radio:

“When due to misguided political whims and lack of vision, almost all the leaders of Congress party have been decrying all the soldiers in Indian Army as mercenaries, it is heartening to know that Veer Savarkar is fearlessly exhorting the youths of India to enlist in armed forces. These enlisted youths themselves provide us with trained men and soldiers for our Indian National Army.”

Hmm.. interesting – the same guys (who kind of liked what they saw of each other and engage together) that these Communist blokes have been abusing since time they started breathing are suddenly in different categories. So, now that they are dead and gone – it probably pays to play them against each other. Isn’t it? Nobody would come up anyways to help Savarkar or Bose against such absolute trashing of hisorical realities that Indian nation has been subjected to for so long!

 Technorati : Communists, Netaji, Savarkar, Subhash Bose