Patanjali: Saffronization of the Metaphor ‘Green’
Introduction
Ideologies and Philosophies lost their fragrance when
they got converted into Religions. Religions lost their fragrance when they
became or to be specific were deliberately and with utmost cautiousness made to
become a frame of reference to define Nationalism. From ancient times, India is
known as a land of many religions and philosophies, languages, cultures,
ethnicities. It is generally claimed that the reason for this unity in
diversity in the Indian life and culture is due to the remarkable spirit of acceptance
rooted in Indian Pluralism which could be summed up in two maxims: ‘ekam sad
vipra bahuda vadanti’ (that which exists is one; sages call it by various
names) and ‘sarva dharma sambhava’ (All religions should be equally respected).
But then to disturb the texture of diversity of this beautiful nation there
rose a group of people which fits under the rubric Hindutva. They tried and
continue to try with even more persistence everything they can to define this
nation on the grounds of Hindu religion to make it a ‘Hindu Rashtra’. In their
demonic venture to Saffronize this nation they have now resorted to the use of
the metaphor ‘Green.’ This has become their new pretense to effectively
transmit their malicious political ideology of Religious Nationalism. This
paper would deal with this ostensive paradigm of Religious Nationalism in the
guise of Patanjali Ayurveda Limited (PAL) the extensively lucrative and
proliferating Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) today in India.
Methodology
This paper would take the methodological framework of
‘Propaganda Model’ proposed by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky as the matrix to
deal with the case. In countries where the levers of power are in the hands of
a state bureaucracy, the monopolistic control over the media, often
supplemented by official censorship, makes it clear that the media serve the
ends of a dominant elite. It is much more difficult to see a propaganda system
at work where the media are private and formal censorship is absent. This is
especially true where the media actively compete, periodically attack and
expose corporate and governmental malfeasance, and aggressively portray
themselves as spokespersons for free speech and the general community interest.
What is not evident and remains undiscussed in the media is the limited nature
of such critiques, as well as the huge inequality in command of resources, and
its effect both on access to a private media system and on its behavior and
performance.
A propaganda model focuses on this inequality of
wealth and power and its multilevel effects on mass-media interests and
choices. It traces the routes by which money and power are able to filter out
the news fit to print, marginalize dissent, and allow the government and
dominant private interests to get their messages across to the public. The
essential ingredients of our propaganda model, or set of news “filters,” fall under
the following headings: (1) the size, concentrated ownership, owner wealth, and
profit orientation of the dominant mass-media firms; (2) advertising as the
primary income source of the mass media; (3) the reliance of the media on
information provided by government, business, and “experts” funded and approved
by these primary sources and agents of power; (4) “flak” as a means of disciplining
the media; and (5) “anticommunism” as a national religion and control
mechanism. These elements interact with and reinforce one another. The raw
material of news must pass through successive filters, leaving only the
cleansed residue fit to print. They fix the premises of discourse and
interpretation, and the definition of what is newsworthy in the first place,
and they explain the basis and operations of what amount to propaganda
campaigns.[i]
Thus what is ubiquitously present in this model is a
kind of “Spin Doctoring”. Spin doctoring is the art of keeping the larger
public in oblivion with misconstrued and half-baked knowledge. As Chomsky says,
“The general public does not know what is happening around them and they do not
know that they do not know.” To be succinct, spin doctoring is the art to lie
smartly and persistently so that the lie eventually becomes the truth. Consequently
public consent is not evolved but rather manufactured.
Patanjali Ayurveda Limited (PAL): A Synopsis and
Analysis
Patanjali Ayurveda Limited is an FMCG in Indian market
that has registered phenomenal growth within a very short span of time,
approximately five years. Patanjali Ayurveda Limited (PAL) was co-founded by
Acharya Balkrishna and Baba Ramdev, an ascetic and Yoga guru, in the guise to
propagate the science of ayurveda. Even though Acharya Balkrishna is the
primary stakeholder of the company (92%),
the main driving force behind Patanjali Ayurveda is the charisma and
philosophy of Baba Ramdev. In terms of revenue it has outweighed all the major
brands, to name a few, Brittania, Nestle, Colgate, P&G etc. Patanjali
Ayurveda has mainly 4 product categories viz. Home care, Cosmetics and health, Food
and beverages and Health drink.
We shall now
see the marketing strategies of PAL. The marketing strategies of Patanjali are
as follows
1. The
caption of Patanjali: ‘Prakriti ka Aashirwaad’ which means Blessings of Nature.
2. Its propaganda of ‘Swadeshi
Make’ which means Made in India.[ii]
Both these positioning planks
have created wonders for Patanjali. The twin positioning planks are
synergistically integrated with the brand Patanjali as India is considered to
be the birth place of Ayurveda. Along
with these the Pricing Strategy also plays a pivotal role. The pricing strategy
has helped Patanjali establish itself in the marketplace. Patanjali Ayurveda
products are sold at a price of 15% - 30% lower than that of competition. Established
brands which did not consider Patanjali as a competition initially, are now
forced to sit and take notice. HUL (Hindustan Unilever Ltd) has reported the
slowest growth in revenue in the last 6 years. Colgate, one of the MNCs worst
hit by the growth of Patanjali, has reported its worst revenue growth since
last 4 years.
Along with these there are some other factors that lead to
the easy distribution of PAL products. They are:
1. Political Factors
The present
political environment is conducive to the growth of Patanjali Ayurveda . Baba
Ramdev is an intimate friend and a big supporter of Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble
Prime Minister of India. Modi and Ramdev, each a product of the Hindu right,
owe part of their success to the other. Leading BJP figures have endorsed
Ramdev’s vision for India, a populism laced with assertions of Hindu primacy
that twins nostalgia for ancient glory with suspicion of foreign influence. Advertisements
for Patanjali’s products stress that they are ayurvedic. The ads echo the
talking points of Modi’s support base by appealing to consumers’ patriotism,
urging them to avoid giving cash to foreign firms. Since Modi took office in
May 2014, Patanjali has acquired almost 2,000 acres of land for building
factories, research facilities and establishing supply chains of herbs for its
products. Patanjali received a discount of more than $10 million, or 88
percent, on a 40-acre plot in the BJP state of Madhya Pradesh in 2016. Patanjali
had paid some Rs 59 crore for a 234-acre property. The land abuts a special
economic zone (SEZ) promoted by the state, and its market price was more than
Rs 260 crore, according to comments submitted to the state legislature by
Fadnavis.[iii]
This makes it blatant enough the fecund groung paved by the ruling bureaucrats
which makes the promotion and distribuion of Patanjali an easy task.
2. Economic Factors
Since Patanjali Ayurved procures its raw materials locally
and thrust on exports is minimal, the factors like currency exchange rates have
no significant impact. Patanjali, has soared under Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s administration. The company’s revenue has increased from $156 million
(approximately Rs 1,011 crore) in the financial year that ended in 2013 to over
$322 million (approximately Rs 2,087 crore) in March 2015. A Reuters report
said Ramdev’s company benefited from more than $46 million (Rs 297 crore) in
discounts through land acquisitions in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states,
since Narendra Modi assumed office.[iv]
3. Social
Factors
People are
becoming more health conscious and there is an increasing trend to spend on
health and awareness programs and products. Therefore people are more inclined
towards natural products. This emotion of the people is being lucratively
exploited by Patanjali. But the society should know that their option of
respite is not safe. Like any other enterprise Patanjali also has fallen prey
to many controveries. In 2012 Patanjali was fined Rs. 11lakhs for indulging in
misbranding and misleading advertising. Samples of honey, mustard oil,
pineapple jam, gram flour and iodised salt were sent for testing and the test
results showed that Patanjali was not the manufacturer of the products, the
Court Order stated.[v]
“It was found that the sampled Patanjali products were being manufactured at
other factories and not Patanjali’s production units, but they were being
marketed by Patanjali Ayurved Ltd as exclusive Patanjali products. This was
Patanjali’s attempt to mislead buyers,” Mr. Yogender Pandey (Haridwar Food Safety Officer) said.[vi]
Reflection: Obscurity of Power
The
prominence of Patanjali products among Indians is explicitly the result of indoctrination.
Naom Chomsky would make this evident. He brings in concepts like ‘manufacturing
consent’; ‘Propaganda’ and ‘Spin-doctoring.’ Chomsky views power at its
operation as manufacturing consent where even in democratic set up
indoctrination is the essence of Propaganda where techniques of control are
used to marginalize and even direct public opinion. He further reckons that
Propaganda machinery is to democracy what violence is to dictatorship. The only
difference is that latter is noticeable while the former is not. In a
democratic society, indoctrination occurs when the techniques of control of a
propaganda model are imposed which means imposing ‘Necessary Illusions.’[vii] Keeping these theoretical facets in mind what
I could derive is that Patanjali is being used by Hindu fundamentalists to
propagate their parochial vision of India which they call ‘Swadeshi.’
Introducing Baba Ramdev as its brand ambassador was a bait for the consumers to
act accordingly to the desires of the dominant Hindutvawadis. As I mentioned earlier,
the present Modi government is conducive to Patanjali because both Modi and
Baba Ramdev are indoctrinating the Indians with a derogatory aspect of the
concept ‘Swadeshi.’ Their means may be different but they have a common aim
i.e. to make India a Hindu nation. Indians have always thought of Ayurveda as a
panacea. This is something that the Hindutva exploits to the core through
Patanjali. Patanjali, as I perceive, by giving captions like ‘Swadeshi Make’;
‘Prakriti ka ashirwad’ (Blessing of Nature) is propagating an Eco-fascist
hermeneutical framework to tell the nation that whatever is ‘Swadeshi’
irrespective of products, faiths, religions, traditions, cultures etc. are the
only ones that could be termed ‘good.’ This also has the connotation that
whatever is not ‘Swadeshi’ whether MNC’s or ‘Non-Hindu Religions’ have
absolutely no space in this country. Thus Patanjali by using the rubric of
Ayurveda as a Necessary Illusion i.e ‘Natural is good’ and then by their tag
line ‘Swadeshi Make’, was able to ‘manufacture consent’ of the people. Thus
they are Saffronizing the metaphor ‘Green.’ For this the Hindutva tend to over
glorify the Motherland. H.V. Seshadri, RSS states (as cited by Mukul Sharma)
“The Unified national consciousness of the people can be roused only by
appealing to the inherent spirit of nationalism dormant in every heart. The
first and foremost aspect of this spirit is to look upon Bharat not merely as a
territorial entity but as our adored Motherland.”[viii]
This is not nationalism but Ultra-nationalism. Ultra-nationalism is decided by
ethnicity, religion, blood and language and not by the sovereignty of
individuals. In spite of its claim to be Ayurvedic there are lots of
carcinogenic agents in Patanjali products.[ix] So Environmentalism is used as a Trojan horse
to propagate a fascist ideology. The doctrine of ‘Swadeshi’ propagated by Hindu
fundamentalists vitiates all that is ‘Western’ (including Christianity) and
sanctifies all i.e. ‘Indian’. To put it in simple words ‘All that is Hindu are
sacred (including social stratification) and all that is non-Hindu are
profane.’ To conclude the non-Hindus, especially Christians, of this nation
need to be aware of the fact that they are indubitably under the threat of
losing their identity as citizens of this nation because we are made to remain
in a state of stupor due to which we cannot realize the dangerous and obscure
form of hegemony we are under. No matter how many accolades this nation has to
its credit if we choose to be splintered along the lines of religions we will
be left to ruins.
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ReplyDeleteGood reflection and eye opening thoughts
ReplyDeleteThank you