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David, Goliath, and the Bharat Jodo Yatra Part 2

Rohit Kumar

Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra noted in one of his more recent shows, “Everyone has absolute clarity about what Rahul Gandhi needs to do and knows even better than Rahul Gandhi what Rahul Gandhi should do.”

As if to prove the truth in his wry observation, media commentators, analysts and columnists on both sides of the political divide seem to be convinced that the Congress leader is wasting his time doing a second Bharat Jodo Yatra this close to the Lok Sabha elections of 2024.

Conventional wisdom, they say, dictates that the Congress should not be wasting its time and limited resources on another “feel good” yatra, but should instead be focusing on other more pressing matters.

But the question begs to be asked: What good is conventional wisdom when all the conventions and institutions that make for a healthy democracy have been effectively hijacked by the government in power?

Everyone knows the next general elections will be an unequal fight. On one side is the ruling party with big money, big media, and all the investigating agencies at its beck and call; on the other, a beleaguered and fragile opposition alliance under relentless siege by the state. What we are looking at is very much a David vs Goliath faceoff, the ultimate metaphor for unequal battles.

It might, in fact, be useful to explore the actual battle between David and Goliath in some depth. In his book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell has elaborated at some length on the historical underpinnings of this event which is said to have taken place in the heart of ancient Palestine in the latter half of 11th century BC.

The fledgling kingdom of Israel under its first king, Saul, was under siege by the Philistines, a battle-hardened, sea-faring warrior race from Crete. The Philistines had set up camp along the southern ridge of the Elah valley and the Israelites, a mountain-dwelling people, had pitched their tents along the northern ridge on the other side. Between them lay a ravine. Neither side moved, for, to attack would have meant descending into the ravine and making a suicidal climb up the enemy’s ridge up the other side.

Tiring of the stalemate, the Philistines finally sent their most terrifying warrior, Goliath of Gath, down into the valley to resolve the deadlock in one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat. For 40 days every morning and every evening, Goliath shouted his taunts at King Saul and the army of Israel.

The Book of Samuel, in which this story is recorded, notes that Goliath was about eight feet tall, covered with armour from head to toe and carried a bronze javelin capable of wreaking serious damage. One can understand why the Israelites were having a difficult time finding a volunteer to go up against him.

That is, till David, a young shepherd with no military experience came along and offered to go and fight the giant. King Saul tried to dissuade the young man, but finally unable to do so, offered David his own armour. David tried it on but said, “I cannot walk in these for I am unused to it.”

When Goliath saw David approaching, he roared, “Am I a dog that you should come to me with sticks?” What happened next, of course, is history. David picked up five smooth stones from the riverbed, loaded one into his slingshot, ran towards Goliath and let fly. The stone found its mark – right in the centre of Goliath’s forehead – and the giant crumpled.

In his book, Gladwell mentions Eitan Hirsch, a ballistics expert who did a series of calculations showing that a typical-size stone hurled by an expert slinger at a distance of 35 metres would have hit Goliath’s head with a velocity of 34 metres per second – more than enough to penetrate his skull and render him unconscious or dead.

What is even more interesting is what many medical experts now believe. Gladwell explains:

“Goliath, it seems, had a serious medical condition called acromegaly—a disease caused by a benign tumor of the pituitary gland. The tumor causes an overproduction of human growth hormone, which would explain Goliath’s extraordinary size. (The tallest person in history, Robert Wadlow, suffered from acromegaly. At his death, he was eight foot eleven inches, and apparently still growing.)

“One of the common side effects of acromegaly is vision problems. Pituitary tumors can grow to the point where they compress the nerves leading to the eyes, with the result that people with acromegaly often suffer from severely restricted sight and diplopia, or double vision. Why was Goliath led onto the valley floor by an attendant? Because the attendant was his visual guide. Why does he move so slowly? Because the world around him is a blur. Why does it take him so long to understand that David has changed the rules? Because he doesn’t see David until David is up close.”

But David won because he changed the rules of engagement. And Goliath lost because he quite literally did not see David coming or anticipate his speed and agility.

At a time when godi media channels have already declared Narendra Modi the winner of 2024 – especially after the grand and carefully choreographed pran pratishtha ceremony at the much awaited (and currently unfinished) Ram temple in Ayodhya – perhaps the need of the hour is not a conventional approach.

Perhaps Rahul Gandhi is doing exactly what a leader of an opposition party needs to do at this critical juncture in India’s history: bypassing the restrictions of state-controlled media, personally connecting with hundreds of thousands on the ground, and raising five key issues of social justice – justice for the youth, equal representation, justice for women, justice for farmers and justice for labourers.

Incidentally, according to a recent survey by Statista Consumer Insights, these are fundamentally the same issues that 24,000 online respondents consider to be the most pressing: unemployment, education, poverty and the environment.

The most challenging phases of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra are yet to come as it passes through Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states, but judging by both the enthusiastic response the yatra has received from the people of the northeast, and the subsequent pushback from the BJP government in Assam (always a sign that an initiative is working), Rahul Gandhi and the Congress may find they have much more than just a hope in hell.

(Rohit Kumar is an educator, author, and independent journalist. Courtesy: The Wire.)

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‘Promise to Bring Peace’ Says Rahul Gandhi as He Kicks off Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra From Manipur

Sravasti Dasgupta

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has promised a united fight to bring back peace harmony and affection that Manipur has lost in the eight months since ethnic violence first started in the state, and listen to the people’s “mann ki baat” as he kick started the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Thoubal on Sunday (January 14).

Gandhi flagged off the yatra in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and other senior Congress leaders including Pradesh Congress Committee presidents and Congress chief ministers Siddaramaiah and Revanth Reddy.

While the party had said that it had extended an invitation to INDIA alliance members, the only leader from Delhi was suspended Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Danish Ali.

Manipur has been in the grip of ethnic violence since May 3, 2023 in which over 170 people have lost their lives and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes.

Gandhi, who started the yatra by first paying tributes at the Khongjom War Memorial in Thoubal, said that when the Congress party was deliberating upon where to begin the second instalment of the yatra, which has been rechristened as the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the answer was clear to him.

“When the question came up about where to start this yatra, some suggested east some suggested west. But it was clear to me that the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra can only start from Manipur,” he said.

Gandhi said that the continued violence in the state shows that the state is an example of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-RSS’ “ideology of hate.”

“Manipur is an example of the BJP-RSS’ ideology of hate. Yes, you’ve lost what you valued but we will find it back. We understand the pain and hurt and loss sadness that people of Manipur have been through. We promise you and commit to you that we will bring what you value, the harmony, peace and affection that this state is known for,” he said.

While the north-south Bharat Jodo Yatra was conducted from October 2022 to January 2023 from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, the present leg will be an east to west yatra that will go from Manipur to Mumbai and end in March.

The yatra was earlier expected to begin from Manipur’s capital Imphal but was moved to a private ground in Thoubal after the BJP state government refused to provide permission for a public rally in Imphal.

Gandhi said that yatra will raise issues about economic, political and social inequalities as India is going through a period of “injustice.”

“This is less about us and more about you. We don’t want to tell you our mann ki baat. We want to listen to yours. And together with you the vision of India will not be of violence hatred, monopoly but of harmonious equitable and brotherhood vision,” he said.

The yatra will cover 6,700 km and touch 110 districts, 100 Lok Sabha seats, and 337 assembly constituencies in what is the biggest mass outreach ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

However, on Saturday, Congress MP and general secretary in-charge media and communication Jairam Ramesh said to reporters in Imphal that the yatra will be political but not electoral.

“This is not an electoral yatra, it is an ideological yatra. It is a political rally by a political party. There is a political purpose to protect the constitution. But not to discuss seats and impact on seats (for the elections),” he said.

Ramesh said that the decision to start from Manipur was a “deliberate choice” as the prime minister is yet to visit the state.

“There is no bigger anyay (injustice) than this to Manipur. The tensions in the last eight months in which lakhs have been displaced and many have lost their lives yet he has not broken his silence.

“Manipur has gone through agony, social harmony has been disturbed. This was going to be an east to west yatra. But we decided to start from Manipur to highlight what has been going on and to highlight that the PM has not met anyone from the state yet. We are hoping people of Manipur will see this difference,” he said.

Kharge also took aim at Modi for not visiting Manipur and accused him of chanting the name of Ram while carrying hatred.

“He (the PM) always comes here for votes. But when people of Manipur were suffering and facing violence the Prime Minister did not bother to visit them even once while he had all the time to roam on the beaches and go snorkelling into the sea and sit and chant ‘Ram Ram’. Mukh mein Ram, bagal mein choori mat karo (Don’t chant the name of Ram and keep a knife on your side),” he said.

“We want peace”

Locals who had come to the venue in Khongjom, Thoubal, said that he had come for “peace and harmony.”

Thombi, an elderly woman, who had come from a village about 20 kms from Khongjom along with two other women from her village said that she had come to see Rahul Gandhi.

“We want to see peace and harmony and hear what he has to say,” she said.

A former defence personnel, N.D. Singh, also a resident of Thoubal said that whether it is the Congress or the BJP-they should look at Manipur through the lens of humanity.

“No one cares about what has been happening here for the last eight months. Everyone in Manipur will tell you what’s going on yet no one cares. The prime minister has not come here, the home minister has come only once. Whether it is BJP or Congress they should look at us through the lens of humanity,” he said.

“I cannot think of a better way to counter the politics of otherness than the song – apne ho ya paraye sabke liye ho nyay. That very much is the spirit that informs this yatra. We are not from Congress and we represent people’s movements. Why we support this is because a call for nyay is so desperately needed because Manipur is the right place as it represents the grossest injustices in independent India. In rest of the country there is such ignorance about Manipur. We hope this yatra will bring light to the true character of this place, its deep diversity and the role of its women that needs to be celebrated,” political activist Yogendra Yadav said to The Wire.

The Wire has learnt that during his stay in Manipur on Sunday and Monday, Gandhi will meet both Meitei and Kuki groups. While he is expected to meet the Meitei groups around Imphal, he will meet the Kuki groups as he makes his way towards Nagaland on Monday.

Whether Gandhi’s message of unity and brotherhood will permeate to the conflict struck state however is still not clear.

“It is a positive message that he is starting his yatra from Manipur and talking about peace but it may not help de-escalate the situation without the state and central government’s support. The people need government intervention to bring peace. Once the government steps in, especially the central government, and takes decisive measures to bring peace between the two communities then it will help calm tensions in the state,” a young graduate who had come to attend the yatra but did not wish to be named said.

(Courtesy: The Wire.)