Remembering martyrs: BJP to burn effigies, sing Rang de basanti chola

The BJP on Tuesday declared that its cadres will burn effigies of the “mindset that insults martyrs”, sing Rang de basanti chola — a song synonymous with the iconic revolutionary socialist Bhagat Singh — while commemorating his martyrdom along with comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev.

This will be part of a three-day programme starting March 23, the day the trio was hanged in Lahore jail for the murder of British police officer John Saunders.

Simultaneously, the BJP attacked the Congress for supporting JNU students against whom sedition charges have been slapped for allegedly chanting anti-national slogans.

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar was fielded by the party to attack Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who recently equated JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar to Bhagat Singh.

This is an offence which, according to Javadekar, amounts to “insulting the martyrs”.

The exercise is part of the BJP’s political programme after the ruling party’s national executive passed a resolution asserting that nationalism is an “article of faith” and that refusing to hail Bharat Mata is “unacceptable”.

The BJP believes it has succeeded in framing the parameters of the discourse on nationalism after some JNU students held a meeting to discuss the execution of Parliament terror attack convict Afzal Guru.

Subsequently, the ruling party has stepped up attacks on all political parties, especially the Congress, which supported the students’ freedom of speech.

It targeted Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, who met with the JNUSU president on Tuesday afternoon.

“What is Congress doing? For 12 years, it opposed Modi, for two years, it opposed development (under Modi), then it gave respectability to anti-India slogans raised in JNU. And now insulting martyrs has become the identity of Congress under Rahul Gandhi,” Javadekar told the media at a party briefing.

He alleged that the Congress chose to insult martyrs two days before their martyrdom day, a reference to the hanging of Rajguru and Sukhdev besides Bhagat Singh on March 23, 1931, by the British. Tharoor said so with an eye on Kerala Assembly polls, Javadekar alleged.

The Minister said the three-day programme to commemorate Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom will include BJP leaders across the country paying tribute to the martyrs tomorrow, singing Singh’s favourite song Rang de basanti chola on Holi the day after and, on the last day, burning effigies of the “mindset that insults martyr”.

There is “anger” among people across the country over the episode and the BJP will express it through the exercise, he said.

Referring to reports that Kanhaiya’s posters have been used by some Congress leaders in Assam polls, he said it shows the opposition party has no role model left and is depending on “borrowed pictures”.

“Their role models have failed. It is political bankruptcy of the Congress,” he added.

There can be no comparison between the JNUSU leader and Bhagat Singh, as the former is accused of glorifying Afzal Guru, who was convicted of helping foreign terrorists in attacking Parliament, while the latter chose gallows in his fight against foreign invaders, he said.

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