Strangely enough, Kabir was never a ‘political saint’. However, he’s now facing the curse of the contemporary rulers. Today, his personality has become a political ladder for some leaders.
During his lifetime, Kabir showed courage to break traditional myths and proceeded to Maghar in order to help people get rid of their prejudices and negative notions about the place. However, Kabir’s philosophy and ideas were shoved into the background as ‘cap politics’ emerged as the primary focus in Adityanath’s visit to commemorate the saint.
The poet-saint never believed in religious rituals. Not surprisingly, Opposition leaders raised fingers at BJP leaders for trying to extract political mileage from this, at a time when the next parliamentary elections are nearing. In fact, Akhilesh Yadav, the chief of the Samajwadi Party, has criticised the BJP leaders for their inherent political motivations behind the visit. He stated that the BJP achieved several motives with one arrow.
However, if seen from the BJP’s perspective, Adityanath’s visit to Kabir’s mausoleum may well denote a marked shift in the BJP’s political strategy.