Why BJP won’t repeal RTE
Almost the full tenure of first BJP government is over and the elections of 2019 are looming over the horizon. But BJP has not even uttered a word on RTE, while five more cohorts of students have passed through the IOI system. This is a short post but explains the problem with BJP and RSS. There are two reasons-
(1) Lack of intellectuals- There is a strong anti-intellectual strain in the RSS. Having no intellectuals does not make a difference when you are in the opposition, but when in power, it destroys your policy making because you act as a headless chicken. It is made worse because they are averse to listening to outsiders, even those who have a proven record of being pro-Hindu.
(2) Dishonesty- They never put out their points honestly, because they have an inferiority complex regarding their views. Being a rayta means that most would instinctively recoil from being associated with communalism.
This has lead to a situation where BJP knows that a given law is anti-Hindu, but it never forms its opposition based on it being discriminatory and anti-Hindu. It always uses specious argument to delay that bill or gets it scraped based on economics and caste. Such arguments are blown out of water by Congressi lawyers as they do not have any validity, especially since BJP never uses “loss to private Hindu enterprise” argument.
So they would not use arguments about it being discriminatory to Hindus, as the top brass of BJP, with exception of some, recoil at being called communal, and goes into defensive mode immediately (watch endless TV debates if you want the proof). And they would not use the argument of “RTE causing loss to private schools and creating cost matrix in favor of convents” because they are crypto-socialists. It is not surprising that their offense against RTE is sad and could be blown out of water by Congressi counter-attack.
If they want to win battle against IOI brigade, first thing they would need to do is get rid of mental blocks. IOI brigade would always try to paint bringing equality as communalism, but exposure to such a propaganda and its refutation would make common people aware of RTE and its perils. It would also boost its Hindutva plank. Second, it needs to use logical arguments when arguing from economic point of view. If you regulate group A while leaving group B unregulated, group B would eventually capture the whole market. Loss to private individuals/capitalists/greedy people has real effect on ground. Check this.
The biggest objective of controlling education and language is not to push in overt propaganda (there would be backlash for doing so), but to use it to form affective associations so that people are programmed in such a way that they recoil at being associated with a certain concept (for example being pro-Hindu). Overt criticism, derision, mocking, and painting people as backwards for espousing a view are all tools for achieving it. Once this is done, your objective is fulfilled as people instinctively recoil from certain concepts, irrespective of merit. Most BJP leaders (Raytawing) having being flogged repeatedly on communalism have formed an association of communalism with displeasure, pretty much like how Pavlov’s dogs build an association between bell and food. This mental block is what is exploited by their opponents to dull their offense on IOI brigade.
Thus being unapologetic pays as it denies this pathway to your opponents. But is BJP ready to be unapologetic?
Note: The author tweets @handle_anonymous.
Image Source: LIVELAW.IN
