A true Hindu yogi should be nowhere near politics, hankering after power. A yogi also, by definition almost, should be a man of balance and calmness of mind; in short, a guide who is looked up to. From the time he assumed office, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has shown himself to be none of these things. Among the first steps of his administration was to delete the criminal cases that stood against his name in matters linked to rioting and such offences with which low-grade social elements like ‘history-sheeters’ are usually associated. If the CM gives a lead of this kind, crime will flourish. And this is exactly what’s happening in UP now. Of late the CM’s limitations have been exposed even more fully.
Since the Gorakhpur hospital tragedy came to light, Mr Adityanath has cooked up one vicious communal argument after another to distract attention from the crippling failings of the government hospital in his constituency where basic rules were flouted under his nose and corruption practiced by all with impunity. When most of the 70 infants had died on account of non-availability of oxygen, the CM set up an administrative inquiry and not a judicial one. He also strongly indicated what the inquiry report should look like when he repeatedly held forth that the babies had died on account of an outbreak of encephalitis common in eastern UP. This was a dead giveaway that the CM was absolving himself and his regime of all responsibility.
And then, to take attention away from the public tragedy, he instructed the police force to celebrate the janmashtmi festival (to mark the birth of the Hindu god Krishna) with gusto. This was as cynical as a ruler can get. He would have no doubt realised that if he had asked the people to celebrate janmashtmi on a grand scale when they were busy cremating their little ones, there may have been a backlash. Evidently, the UP leader has not been made aware that official facilities should not be identified with religious functions and practices, and celebrating them cannot be deemed a public duty and cannot be a matter of official instruction from the top. If that were so, what would non-Hindus do in this case? We fervently hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “New India” will give no ground to the deeply polarising style of the UP CM. In fact, Mr Adityanath needs to be asked some tough questions. Last Wednesday the CM declared that if Muslims can spill on to public roads to peform namaz during Id prayers, why can't the police celebrate janmashtmi? Is this foolishness or communal foolhardiness?
