The Man Who Stole Their Fire
Swami Agnivesh
is churning up a quiet revolution, this time on television,
says NISHITA JHA
SWAMI AGNIVESH is
a man on fire. Do not be fooled by his tranquil smile. Some
years ago he famously said, “Agnivesh mera naam hai, aag
lagana mera kaam hai”. A reminder of this bravado makes
his eyes twinkle with mischief even at 70 — “I do want to
start fires. I want to burn blind faith, discrimination,
illiteracy, poverty, corruption…” The list is endless, a
tall order perhaps, even for this swami who is president of
the World Council of Arya Samaj (WCAS). But the startling
thing about Swami Agnivesh is that in spite of being swathed
in saffron from head to toe he seems ordinary compared to
the verbose godmen on television. There is no obfuscating
talk about the Vedas and Puranas, no Sanskrit terms hurled
at you to make you feel like you are negotiating a deal with
god’s middleman. He is direct, concise and shockingly
logical.
In a relaxed mood
after a press conference, he speaks of his latest media
venture — Vichar Manthan, a show aired on Lok Sabha
TV. The format is fairly standard — Swami Agnivesh
moderating an audience full of young students, usually along
with an eminent panel, discussing current affairs. But there
is nothing standard about the social reform he promotes
through his show. Watching him embrace AIDS patients, wash
the feet of Dalit scavengers, shake hands with lepers —
makes you linger at the remote instead of changing the
channel at warp speed upon encountering saffron on
screen.
Usually against
capital punishment, Agnivesh supports judge Vani Gopal
Sharma’s death sentence to the members of Tilawana Khap
Panchayat — for the honour- killing of Manoj and Babli, who
married within the same gotra. “Often you cannot control who
you fall in love with. Then how can your elders decide? This
vocabulary of caste makes no sense in the language of love.”
In a similarly
radical vein, he holds forth on the Maha Kumbh mela “We have
started an awareness campaign at the Kumbh — these ‘holy
dips’ will do nothing to purify your soul. It is a fiction
created by orthodox elements, funded by a supposedly secular
government that has far more serious issues to deal with.
Why not utilise all the wealth and manpower for a better
cause, like cleaning the holy river?” Additionally, the
ex-business management lecturer is planning to launch an RTI
against the UP government to explain how the huge amount of
public funds spent on the mela were utilised.
WHILE some of his
ideas might make conservative stomachs queasy, his belief
that the crux of all evil lies in the distribution of
narcotics and cheap liquor, is supported by religious heads
such as the Dalai Lama, Baba Ramdev and Swami Chidanand.
Nationwide prohibition is the next step on Swami Agnivesh’s
agenda.
Interviewing an
audience of ragpickers, for a Vichar Manthan
episode, he asks them what made them poor. A girl finally
replies, “Our parents did something that made god upset with
us.”
“And all those
children who go to school in cars, speak in English — do you
believe their parents made god very happy?”
With a simple
question, he forces her to examine something she clung to as
the explanation for her terrible life. Akin to a similar
manthan from a different age, when gods and demons
fought over the elixir of life — you begin to wonder if this
ordinary man is churning up something truly extraordinary.
WRITER’S EMAIL
nishita@tehelka.com |