The Bajrang BJP doesn’t care for

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pounced upon the Congress for promising that if it were to come to power in Karnataka it would ban the Bajrang Dal ldquoToday it is my great fortune to bow down to this holy land of Hanuman jirdquo His was a reference to the popular belief in Karnataka that Lord Hanuman was born on the Anjanadri Parvatha hill close to HampiModi continued ldquoBut see the misfortune Today when I have come herehellipthe Congress party has decidedhellipto lock up those who chant Jai Bajrang Bali Lord Hanumanrdquo At Modirsquos remark posters surfaced declaring ldquoI am BajranghellipBan and arrest merdquo Modi had the audience at his rallies chant Jai Bajrang Bali which he said should also be their cry before they press the button on the Electronic Voting MachineFormed in 1984 the Bajrang Dal or brigade of Hanuman has earned notoriety for hunting and lynching cattle traders for its disruption of interfaith marriages and organising religious processions designed to rend apart social harmony Its members seem perpetually in rage always ready to battle even as the police at times allow them to appropriate the Statersquos coercive powersModirsquos speeches in Karnataka tacitly endorse the Bajrang Dalrsquos exercise of extrajudicial authorityAlso Read Afwaah lets it ripThe prime ministerrsquos partisan attitude towards the Bajrang Dal is because the organisation like the Bharatiya Janata Party is an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh where he too earned his spurs Yet his support for the Bajrang Dal is also about foregrounding the meaning Lord Hanuman signifies for HindutvaFor instance in the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections Modi applauded Karan Acharya the graphic designer who created the angry Hanuman image saying it has ldquocaptured the imaginationhellipacross Indiardquo Acharyarsquos image of Hanuman now dominates our public spacesThis image has altered Hanumanrsquos image of being a ldquogentle giant who rose to be a reliable selfless and humble devotee and ally to his Lord Ramrdquo as writer Mrinal Pande wrote in a 2018 piece for Scrollin She added ldquoThe angry masculinisation of Hanuman is not contesting gender injustice or waging a war against rapistsrdquoFive years after Pandersquos piece the battle against gender injustice expressed most horrifically through sexual harassment is being fought by another Bajrangmdashwrestler Bajrang Punia who has been winning from 2013 medals at international events including the Olympics the last being a gold at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games Just as Bajrang Bali fought for the honour of Sita the Bajrang from the world of grapplers is sitting in a dharna in Delhi to secure justice for the seven women including a minor who have accused the nowsidelined Wrestling Federation of India WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassmentThis is a 21st century replay of Ramayana a contest between good and evil a concerted pushback of women against powerful menrsquos presumption about their untrammelled sexual rights over their subordinates Did Hanuman have to cross the sea to search for Sita and join Lord Ramrsquos war to free her from Ravanrsquos captivity Did Bajrang have to join the fight of women wrestlers against an alleged sexual predator staking his chances of winning a medal in the forthcoming Asian Gamesmdashand therefore also of qualifying for the 2024 OlympicsBajrang could have chosen silence and inaction as do most of us in the face of injustices of which we are not victimsMythologist Devdutt Patnaik in Hanuman The Mighty writes ldquoHe Hanuman embodies the positive side of masculinity strength but not the negative side dominationhellip When Hanuman was flying over the ocean to Lanka he defeated many monsters But he did not stop to rest Thus Hanuman embodies selflessness commitment and integrityhelliprdquoRest Bajrang has not unwilling he is to withdraw from the battle for gender justice His strength is not the strength of Lord Hanuman who carried a mountain of herbs to treat the wounds of Lakshmana Bajrangrsquos strengths are his fortitude and patience and belief in the righteousness of his cause His is an attempt at sublimating his masculinity for the larger good not for domination which is symbolised by Brij Bhushan SinghBajrangrsquos passive resistance has become a fight to retrieve the deeper meaning of Lord Hanuman who is increasingly projected as merely unafraid or eager to battle That deeper meaning to quote Pande is in Tulsidasrsquos description of Hanuman as ldquogyan gun sagar a sea of wisdom and goodnessrdquoBajrang has not consciously sparked the battle over the values Lord Hanuman represented It has been initiated by Modirsquos endorsement of the Bajrang Dal which in its vigilantism is the opposite of Bajrang in his new avatar as a crusader for gender justice The two contrasting representations of Bajrang Bali demanded our allegiance last weekmdashand still doesThe wrestler will encounter several impediments in the days to come just as Hanuman did on his flight to Lanka Even as Bajrang the wrestler encounters an imperious Union government he may as well recite Hanuman Chalisarsquos 36th Chaupai which in Patnaikrsquos translation reads ldquoProblems cease Pain goes away When one remembers Hanuman the mighty herordquo Did I hear Bajrang yell at knuckleheads Jai Bajrang BaliThe writer is a senior journalistSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper