Because she didn’t think that former RSS chief  Bhausaheb Deoras was a ‘great philosopher’, she was hounded and maligned for 20 long years

LUCKNOW

Rooprekha Verma

As an independent academic, a thinking person and a woman, I have been the victim of systematic personal and political vendetta from the hard–line Hindutva lobby led by the RSS, in the city of Lucknow and the state of Uttar Pradesh, for decades. This crude targeting of my character culminated into systematic attacks and threats when I was appointed acting vice–chancellor of the Lucknow University in the late nineties. But the battle goes back many decades to a much, much earlier period. They have been threatening me, slurring my character ever since 1979.

In the year 1979–80, there was an orchestrated movement to personally target me. Sexually derogative and malicious falsehoods were systematically circulated. This is a typical illustration of the underhand tactics that they follow whenever they are challenged and threatened by the convictions of an independent and strong person. 

I was given derogatory names; my parents and brother were sought out and humiliated; my students who found me a dedicated teacher were also instigated to go against me. There used to be three dailies published from Lucknow at the time. For a whole year, that is, for 365 consecutive days, all three published one vilificatory report on my character after another every single day. I felt boycotted and isolated. There can be no better way to break a person.

The motive? One of my colleagues who has now retired wanted to convert the whole philosophy department into a den that endorsed the RSS version of reality! He wanted us to accept Balasaheb Deoras as a great philosopher. I simply could not let that happen. It was a question of my integrity to my discipline, to my subject. It was a question of what I owed to myself, my principles. I did not let that happen.

Frustrated and angry that his designs were being resisted, he took recourse to the mean and underhand path. He instigated falsehoods and spearheaded a whole movement; I became the target.
It was a trial of strength that went on for a full year. It was tough but at the end of it, when the facts came to light, the same colleague, the mastermind of the slur campaign was himself isolated, for many years to come. I was appointed as acting-VC as per the university rules, and my detractors had to swallow my presence in that chair!

Having undergone this gruelling and searing experience, I learnt so much. The whole experience served one purpose. I lost my innocence —previously I believed that every person is essentially good and can be won over! This learning process was very precious because it has given me strength and also made me thick-skinned. To be strong and thick-skinned are both necessary and crucial, especially when we are fighting highly principled battles!

Why was I such a threat to these forces? For two reasons, I think. Firstly, because I was so firm and strong in my views and simply refused to succumb to them. Secondly, because I was a woman. 
Now, it is interesting to see how gender plays out in these situations in a subtle or not so subtle way. My appointment and promotions had been on merit. Many of my male colleagues would have been happy if I were content being a kathputli (puppet) in their hands. 

You must understand this mentality. I had a very good record. At the beginning, I was seen as a harmless person who would not argue though my views were radical even then; they had simply not yet been tested against very rigid points of principle! 

So, initially there was a distinctly patronising attitude behind the campaign: aurat bechari hai, ro ke bhaag jayegi (after all, she is a woman, she will cry and run away!). Court cases were filed, my father was on his deathbed, the atmosphere was terrible. But something in me made me determined to fight them on all counts. I fought the cases and though I had an offer then to shift to Hyderabad, I felt strongly that I should clear my cards here.

Would you believe what happened, then? Suddenly their nomenclature for me changed! This woman is fighting on every front, they started saying. Suddenly from bechari aurat I became a Phoolan Devi! I publicly said that I preferred the new ‘title’. If there are only two choices before me,  bechari aurat or Phoolan Devi, surely a woman is bound to prefer the latter!

You see how within all this, gender also plays a role. They wanted a nice little girl who would do as they wish so that they could run the department as per their wishes. But this I simply would not allow!
Now you ask where it all began, I am not really sure. Discourses that emphasise the Hindu and Muslim stereotype have abhorred me from the very beginning. I cannot remember or recall any episodic cause or event that can be the source of what are today extremely deep convictions. I do not know where and when it started. I only know that I did not grow up in a very ritualistic atmosphere at home. The general atmosphere was liberal. 

I remember as I grew up becoming more and more sceptical about anything repeated ad nauseum, or routinely. Somehow or the other, from a very young age, oft–repeated things put me off because in some way they reflected a tendency to pigeon–hole and stereotype the rich variety of the human experience. 
It is part of this inherent tendency of mine from the very beginning that has made be abhor the Hindu and Muslim stereotype images that lie at the heart of the Hindutva’s way of thinking from the very beginning.
The other memory of my childhood is one that was vividly brought home to be by my parents who described the violence and hatred unleashed during the Partition–related violence. When my parents spoke of those days, the events were recalled with horror and dread; there was no apportioning of blame; no discourse of hatred surrounding the narrative. 

These accounts left an indelible influence on me; for me that kind of situation or anything close to it is Enemy Number One: anything that comes close to anything like that frightens me and must be avoided at any cost. This is my amateurish analysis of my unconscious mind!

Basically, I believe that the human being is already so vulnerable and it is this vulnerability that endows us with the capacity for both love and revenge. I do not know why but anything that accentuates the possible cleavages, the capacity for revenge, frightens me the most. It is this fear that makes me committed to rationality, non–violence a humanistic approach.

I also find it stupid to harbour these divisions because they defy logic. In today’s situation, in today’s India, I believe that it is everyone’s duty to do all that we can to fight and combat the forces of division. Agar kisi ko apne zinda rahne ka saboot dena hai to aise kaam mein lagna hi padega (To be engaged in this endeavour is the only proof that you existence). We must participate in processes that challenge these cleavages and separations.

Now, religion has a unique capacity. The sharp edge of religion has a dual potential, of dividing as well as uniting. In the modern age, it’s divisive potential is sharper. Therefore, I believe it should be confined to the personal sphere. At an individual level, religion or spirituality touches us at a unique and beautiful plane. Without the refuge of traditional religion, I can feel one with the cosmos while watching the sunset or observing close human relationships. This is the strength of religion. Provided that it remains in the realm of the personal. 

I believe that socialised religion and the superstructures within religions place ethical and social constraints on the human mind. It is also this double–edged quality of religion that makes people commit heinous crimes without even feeling sorry about the actions. Hence I sincerely believe that secularism at the state level is both vital and urgent.

I also believe that the threat from forces that wish to stereotype communities and exploit the politics of identity, those who would like to hegemonise minds are as active among Muslims and other minorities as they are among Hindus. Look at what is happening in Kashmir today; it is abominable the kind of diktats on women that are being issued! Our struggles against all the forces of fanaticism and fundamentalism must be firm and strong as these forces are insensitive to human life. We must be unsparing and address all sides, the obscurantists within all communities must be challenged!