Take a look at the images of the two coins on the left. These were
reportedly issued during the rule of the criminal East India Company. Surprising! Considering the British had only
two motives; loot India and spread Christianity. If you have these coins,
treasure them. You are unlikely to see Hindu figures Vishnu, Lakshmi or the young Krishna
on coins ever again. Oh, don’t forget to
look at the third image of a currency note. It has an image of a famous Hindu
temple from Thanjavur (TN). You may
never see such images on currency notes again either. Our secular govts have
and are still working very hard to bury Hindu culture.
Since those days Mahatma Gandhi has silently smiled on all our currency
notes. Not a bad idea. Post-independence MKG did want the Congress to be
dismantled, so fair to say he was above petty politics. He was on
our coins first and then is on our currency notes. Only the Queen of England compares with such a place on all the
currency notes and coins of UK.
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| Currency note with Thanjavur Temple |
Then came times when we were proud of our
agriculture and our farmers. Ears of corn or maize and the progressive farmer
with his tractor adorned our coins and currency notes. While PM Shastri did say “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” I am not sure I
have seen any symbol of our army or our soldiers on our coins or notes. I guess
our soldiers have only one purpose mostly: Die! If they manage to survive a battle
or war then most times life can get even more painful fighting for compensation
and even normal pension. Never mind all that!
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
has suddenly announced that ‘people from all walks of life’ want to see new
figures on our currency notes. Umm… let’s see, they want figures like B.R.
Ambedkar, Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Shivaji on our notes. Who are all these people from all walks?
That’s a recent report in the EconomicTimes of June 17,2012. Alright, the demand for Ambedkar’s picture on
currency notes is not new. It came from a relatively unknown NGO in 2010 as DNA reports.
The DNA report quotes: “Ambedkar was not only the leader of the
downtrodden but was also the architect of modern India. And what better way to
honour his contribution than to give him an esteemed place on the Indian
currency,” said Saira Patel, general secretary of Mumbaikar Asanghatith
Gharelu Kamgar Union, a NGO working with Dalits and Muslims in Andheri.
Okay, Ambedkar has already been credited as “architect of the constitution” and slowly this has morphed into “architect of modern India” and in some
poll by CNN-IBN he tops the votes as the ‘Greatest Indian’. Now, I can argue and debate all that but then
I won’t be alive to write this post any further. So, let it be.
So we could say that NGO represents people from “all walks of life”,
where Ambedkar is concerned, as RBI claims. I have no clue about the other
“people from all walks of life” who want Shivaji, Nehru and IndiraG on our
money. In the ET report RTI activist Manorajan Roy says: “Ironically , before
the Mahatma , the Ashoka Pillar used to be the most dominant feature on our
banknotes”. He tried to find out how and when the Mahatma took pride of place ,
but he drew a blank, with the RBI telling him there was no document that
recorded the change . Silly Roy, how is he expecting the RBI to keep records of
demands from “people from all walks of life”? That would be absurd, wouldn’t
it?
In a time when the rupee is crashing, there’s economic sluggishness all
around what inspires the RBI to think of images on our currency notes? I’m
still wondering!
Now, the images of all the coins and notes you saw were from prior to
2004. In case you forgot, 2004 is the year the Congress party came back to
power under the UPA alliance. What have we had since then? Take a look at the
images. The first one is that of the one rupee coin. And what does it have?
That’s a cross from the Catholic Church, a religious symbol. Not bad, you could
pay someone, drop it in a box at temples, mosques and churches and say “With
blessings of the Lord”. Hmmm! After some protests by the so called Right wing
communal fascists that symbol was scrapped. But that will remain in numismatic
history forever.
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| St. Alphonsa |
Next, in 2009 we had the image of St.Alphonsa,
the first of Indian to be canonized by the Catholic Church. I would say an
honour that is fair. Still, a religious figure. I’m not sure millions of
Indians even remotely know who St.Alphonsa is but it’s always nice to educate
our unwashed masses on glorious religious figures under our ‘secular’ constitution. Oh, it doesn’t end
there. Before that, we had the new 10 rupee coin where the Cross surfaced. I
believe that is still in currency. What can I say! I am only reminded of Warden
Norton from ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ telling illiterate Indians – “ I believe in two things – discipline and the Bible. Put your faith in
the Lord, your Ass belongs to me”.
So what’s with RBI’s new intentions of Shivaji, Ambedkar, Nehru and
IndiraG? First, the 2014 elections aren’t too far away. Shivaji won’t campaign
and is universally respected in India, maybe more so in some places so I don’t
think he’s gonna win too many votes. But hey, I am not sure about Ambedkar,
Nehru and IndiraG. Our political parties have made these illustrious figures
their political icons to divide the nation. There is no end to the number of
streets, monuments, memorials, universities, airports and chawls named after
these figures. Nehru and IndiraG, in particular, cannot be missed in India no
matter where you go. Even buses in cities are under some JNURM scheme. The Congress would love to have them on our currency
notes and coins. And there is Ambedkar. His legacy has largely been consumed by
the BSP and to some extent the Congress. The election campaign can count his
image on the currency notes as an important contribution and uplift of the
lives of Dalits. Bingo!
In reality both Nehru and IndiraG are politically divisive figures,
unlike MKG. Their contributions to India are doubtless. But there are certain
issues that cannot be wished or wiped away. Nehru’s foreign and domestic
policies and vision are mostly ground to dust. The taint of Emergency is a serious blot on the
legacy of IndiraG. But symbols and symbolism are important, especially when
elections are looming. Nominate Sachin
Tendulkar to the RS, make him call on SoniaG, give him a house next to
RahulG (which bombed, of course). Invite actor Aamir Khan, the new-born social reformer, to address parliament or
give them suggestions. And put political figures used in election campaigns and
to divide people on caste and religion on our currency notes.
Now, if MKG were alive he would ask RBI to burn all the notes bearing
his image and put the farmer on the notes. Ummm… with a minor difference
though! You see, our farmers are now known for the troubles they face and the
exploitation at the hands of land grabbers and other politicians. Debts,
suicides, lack of irrigation, droughts, poverty – you name it and you’ll find
it in most farmer households. So I believe a pic, like the one I’ve put up,
would truly be a symbol of this day and age in India. And what’s more? Each time you spend money it would remind
you of the hapless farmer and his dire straits. I strongly recommend RBI
use that image on our notes.
The other group that Shastriji ‘Jai’d’ has been a long suffering one without proper due even
in death or in serious injury. Politicians hardly inspire pride anymore.
Nothing would do the nation proud in seeing a tribute being paid to the Amar
Jawan in our currency notes. Neither the Kisan nor our soldiers are divisive
forces. In fact they tend to unite people regardless of all their political and
religious beliefs. We don’t need any more politicians on our currency notes.
Figures that instil national pride would help.
But knowing how well many institutions have been destroyed under the
current UPA govt. the RBI’s cruel intentions of politicising our currency may
still succeed. This must be stopped. Of course, you have seen strong protests
by our mainstream media against the designs of RBI, haven’t you? And you’ve seen
all the TV news channels screaming against them, haven’t you? The only thing RBI hasn’t yet managed to
say on our currency notes is “Vote for….”.
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