NDA@3: Restoring pride in Bharat NDA’s cultural initiative

NEW DELHI: Culture is not counted as a “major” ministry but can become a political battleground influenced by the colour of the regime and this, perhaps expectedly, became more accentuated with the Modi government making cultural renewal a part of its political project.

At times known largely for organising annual festivals in India and offshore, empanelling artists and handing out select invitations for international festivals, the ministry has had its fair share of controversy and been the stage of much sparring with political and ideological opponents.

Even as BJP’s high voltage promotion of ‘Bharatiyata’ (Indianness) triggered a debate on dilution of pluralism in India, the NDA government pushed firmly ahead with the agenda to “restore” the prestige of “Hindu” figures like Maharana Pratap and Adi Shankaracharya, and laid claim to icons like Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Sardar Patel and promoted its own Deen Dayal Upadhyay.

Administrative changes In October 2014, danseuse Leela Samson stepped down as president of Sangeet Natak Akademi India’s national academy for music, dance and drama. Ostensibly, the celebrated Bharatnatyam proponent — a UPA appointee — had ‘misrepresented’ information to aid an appointment on the Akademi. The appointment was overturned, but Samson quitting the SNA with more than a year of her tenure left was seen as the start of a sweep a change of government usually marks.

In less than a year, the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) saw a similar shake-up, with director Mahesh Rangarajan quitting after culture minister Mahesh Sharma’s allegation that his appointment was “unethical and illegal”.

Restoring ‘Bharatiyata’ From “correcting” India’s political history to restoring pride in ‘Bharatiyata’, Sharma has pushed for inclusion of yoga in school curriculum, while NDA ministers have harped on India’s vast repository of ancient knowledge. In a politically and ideologically crucial move, the ministry has also cleared the decks for setting up the first-ever Ramayana museum in Ayodhya. Sharma’s ministry persisted as flagbearer of ‘Bharatiya sanskriti’ and BJP’s push for ‘Bharat’ as ‘Hindusthan’.

Journey

so far Apart from pushing BJP’s ideological agenda, the ministry has achieved some key milestones. From successful social media initiatives to inculcate pride in Indian culture, tradition and heritage, the Centre has also started work on devising an overarching culture policy. The ministry has empanelled, in a first, over one crore artists from across India and streamlined the process of designating them to represent India and states. The National Mission on Cultural Mapping and Roadmap is engaged in identifying and training upcoming artists.