Aag lagayi kisne? Aag faily kaise? (Who lit the fire? How did it spread?)
These are questions everyone should be asking,
and when our Prime Minister asks these, you better take note! I certainly did,
as this article testifies. The growth of the religious right (RR) has been the
subject of several intellectual debates. However, in an attempt to answer our
PM, and also to put the turbulent events of the last few weeks in proper
perspective, I will go over it briefly.
POTO - Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (pushed through in a hurry after
the attack on the Indian Parliament, and ratified on March 26th)
The British left us in a trail of blood, courtesy the intractable positions
taken by the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League. However, since partition,
it's the Hindu Right (HR) that has held sway in India, so I will only focus on
it. The following comment by Golwalkar, one of the early stalwarts of the RSS,
exemplifies the exclusionism of the HR (HR): "To keep up the purity of the Race
and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the
Semitic Races - the Jews... Germany has also shown how well nigh impossible it
is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be
assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn
and profit by". This comment being too explicit for public consumption, the BJP
has sought to rationalize its Muslim-baiting by taking recourse to history. The
apparently sporadic communal clashes have their roots in this exclusionist
ideology of the HR.
Though the HR attained power only recently, almost all the Congress governments
since 'independence' have condoned/appeased/collaborated with it, thereby
setting the stage for a takeover by the HR when the opportunity arises. After a
brief period of fluctuating fortunes, the terror unleashed by Indira Gandhi
(and her son, Sanjay) during the emergency resulted in the Jan Sangh, the
precursor of the BJP, bagging 90 seats in the next general elections. After
lying low for a while, the HR found its calling in Rajiv Gandhi's atrocious
handling of the 'Shah Bano' case, and his consequent participation in the
'shilanyas' and opening of the Babri Masjid [1]. It hasn't looked back ever
since. The implementation of the Mandal Commission Recommendations (advocating
reservations in education and jobs for the socially underprivileged classes),
and the backlash orchestrated by the media and the Hindu upper castes further
strengthened the HR. The stage was set for Advani's 'rath yathra', the
bloodiest attempt in recent times by the HR to gain a foothold in governance.
Advani's yathra in an air-conditioned Toyota left a trail of blood in its wake,
culminating in the destruction of the Babri Masjid in December 1992. Fear,
hatred or resentment of the minorities is understandable if
i). they have been in power for a long time and have consistently discriminated
against the majority, like the erstwhile apartheid regime in South Africa.
ii). successive governments have allowed the minorities a free rein at the
expense of the majority.
Since 'independence', Hindus have enjoyed a clear superiority in decision-
making. The fact that the HR has to resort to events of the distant past to
justify its pogrom against Muslims is a giveaway that successive governments
have been anything but anti-Hindu. Feelings of having been wronged by the
Muslims are therefore, entirely misplaced [2]. In retaliating against Muslims
to avenge the misdeeds of Mahmud of Gazni et al, the HR ends up emulating those
it claims to despise. Whether this reflects its hypocrisy or moral and
intellectual bankruptcy (or both) is open to debate.
The political upswing of the BJP rejuvenated the Sangh Parivar (BJP, VHP,
Bajrang Dal and several smaller organizations, all of them subscribing to the
RSS ideology), which went about entrenching the bureaucracy with RSS ideologues.
The frustrating wait for governance continued till 1998 [3], but the seeds of
discord had been sown. Calls for a uniform civil code [4], abrogation of
Article 370 [5] and opposition to Urdu gained momentum.[6] 'Shri Ram Ki Jai'
was so cunningly juxtaposed with 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' that those who questioned
the notion of a 'Hindu Rashtra' became traitors. The patriotism of Muslims is
of course, automatically suspect. Nothing exemplifies this more forcefully
than the frequent calls for sending them 'back' to Pakistan, maliciously
suggesting they are all outsiders. Furthermore, they are required to condemn
violence by Muslims, and condone that by Hindus. A recent RSS declaration, "Let
the Muslims understand that their real safety lies in the goodwill of the
majority" is very revealing of the mindset of the HR. Muslims asserting their
rights with regard to the Babri Masjid became 'Babur ke Aulad'. While this was
meant to be an abuse, I don't see how this can be any worse than being 'Godse
ke Aulad'.
Not content with verbal volleys, the HR, often with the active connivance of
the law enforcing agencies, has also indulged in systematic campaigns of
terror. The HR has sought to fuel Hindu aggression through lurid details of
atrocities on Hindus in the era of Mahmud of Gazni and the like, not to mention
the exaggerated accounts of more recent acts of violence by the Muslims. The
latter mostly have their roots in the incitements of the HR, and the subsequent
manipulation of the Muslim ire by the Muslim Right (MR). Several of the inquiry
commissions set up to probe the numerous communal riots since 'independence'
have pointed fingers at the HR. The damning indictment of the Srikrishna
Commission - "There is no doubt that the Shiv Sena and Shiv Sainiks took the
lead in organizing attacks on Muslims and their properties under the guidance
of several leaders of the Shiv Sena from the level of Shakha Pramukh to the
Shiv Sena Pramukh Bal Thackeray who, like a veteran General, commanded his
loyal Shiv Sainiks to retaliate by organized attacks against Muslims." - is
only a case in point. The Srikrishna Report was also highly critical of the
role of the police, "The response of police to appeals from desperate victims,
particularly Muslims, was cynical and utterly indifferent ... Police officers
and men, particularly at the junior level, appeared to have an inbuilt bias
against the Muslims which was evident in their treatment of the suspected
Muslims and Muslim victims of riots. The treatment given was harsh and brutal
and, on occasions, bordering on the inhuman."
It hasn't got any better since then, as is evident from the PUCL report on
the 1997 riots in Coimbatore. The bomb blasts in January 1998 were triggered
by a section of Muslims incensed with police brutality, in particular, with
the murder of several Muslims by the police and the HR in November 1998. The
following comment by a policeman, "These are Muslim dogs and should be beaten
to death" aptly reflects the attitude of the police [7]. A recent remark by an
Inspector General of Police, "the Kolkata police is considered soft by
Pakistani criminals ... the Kolkata police does not enter the Muslim areas of
the city and that is helpful [to terrorists]" aptly sums the attitude of the
police. Religion has become a proxy for evidence far too often in recent
times. The inaction, and in some cases, complicity, of the police in the recent
pogrom against Muslims in Gujarat has followed this pattern. The Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi has sought to justify the killings as the result of a
'spontaneous outburst of emotion'. "Every action has an equal and opposite
reaction", he went on to add, rubbing salt to the wounds. Coming from an RSS
pracharak, this is certainly not surprising. The growth of the MR in India has
to be seen in the context of such inflammatory statements.
The terror unleashed by the Sangh Parivar and the impotency (and partiality,
and in some cases, complicity) of the police, has thrown a section of Muslims
into the waiting arms of the MR. The Justice Joseph Vithyathil Commission on
the 1971 Thalassery riots observed "So far as the minorities are concerned, it
is the feeling among them that they are nor getting justice, that they are
discriminated against in the matter of appointments in the Public Services,
that they do not get equal protection of the law and that their religion is in
danger, that prompts them to rally around religious organizations of their
own." [8] The MR exploits the anger of the Muslims to justify its violent
retaliation, and thereby plays right into the hands of the HR, which is only
too happy to bury itself in arson and looting on a much larger scale. Hawks
make strange bedfellows, but it's the innocent Hindus, and to a much larger
extent, innocent Muslims, that have had to pay the price. "An eye for an eye,
and soon everyone is blind" proclaimed a wise man. Alas, there don't seem to be
any takers!
The next pogrom was waiting to happen on March 15, the day of the much-hyped
'Shila daan'. Fortunately, stringent directives from the Supreme Court and the
tessellated coalition forced Vajpayee to act tough. Amidst growing fears,
Vajpayee managed to retain a semblance of authority thanks to hectic last
minute parleying with the Paramhans and his cohorts. Vajpayee's reluctance to
clamp down on the HR needs to be seen in context with his readiness to curb the
MR. The recent banning of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), while
allowing the HR to go scot free, hardly inspires any confidence in the motives
of the government. Maintaining peace is indeed a tall order for Vajpayee and
Advani, for they have all along relied on disruption of peace to attain their
political objectives.
The VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena and a few hardliners in BJP have strongly
criticized the government for its strict adherence to the Supreme Court
verdict. The chickens have come home to roost, and Vajpayee's discomfiture is
complete! The Ram Temple demagogues are facing the music too; the downscaling
of the shila daan resulted in Ashok Singhal and the Paramhans being booed by
the Ram Bhakths. An apologetic Paramhans immediately proclaimed "Just as the
Babri mosque was built by force, so would be the temple". [9] In the next few
days, they will resort to more such antics (suicide threats, hunger strikes
etc) in a desperate bid to retain their hold on the Ram Bhakths. So long as
'Mandir Wahin BanAyenge' continues to rent the air, reconciliation will remain
a distant dream. With general elections due in a year, several of the 'secular'
allies are obviously reluctant to shed their garb of secularism and have, for
long, clamored against giving in to the demands of the Ram Bhakths. However,
they seem to have outrun their utility, for in rejecting their demand for
Modi's ouster, the BJP has conveyed it's ready to face mid-term elections. As
for the newfound confidence of the BJP, one need look no farther than Goa Chief
Minister Manohar Parrikari's comment, "if Modi stands today from any
constituency in India, Hindus will vote for him." Vajpayee's recent outburst
against Muslims, so as to galvanize Hindu support for the BJP, lends further
credence to the suspicion that the BJP is preparing for the general elections.
The modus operandi of the HR is brutally clear - kill Muslims and go for
elections. A BJP victory in the coming elections will only embolden the HR to
bares its ugly fangs of bigotry and communalism more brazenly than ever.
A good first step against the communalist menace would be to vote out the HR.
There's no denying that the political ascendancy of the BJP has greatly
facilitated the saffronisation of the police and the bureaucracy (not to
mention education). Now is the time for the opposition parties to bury their
hatchet and present a united front to obliterate the HR. If such ideological
opponents as the US and the (erstwhile) USSR could join hands to fight the
Nazis, what stops the opposition parties in India from following suit? If
anything, the fact that most of them are innocent of any ideology only makes
this task easier. The opposition parties don't have a flattering record either
- Congress's cup of sins brimmeth over! In addition to the decades-long
appeasement of the RR, Congress 'leaders' actively participated in the lynching
of Sikhs (in Delhi) in the aftermath of the Indira Gandhi assassination.
Several of the other opposition parties too have a lot of answering to do, and
for this reason, left-leaning liberals are loathe to allying with them.
However, the Indian Left, confined as it is to a few pockets, is certainly not
strong enough to wage a lone battle against the HR. The immediate objective
should therefore be to install a less-evil government, allying with anyone
other than the RR. As Bhagat Singh says, compromise is not as ignoble and
deplorable as we generally think; it is an indispensable factor in the
political strategy.
However, political change doesn't constitute an end in itself. The road to
peace lies not in becoming prisoners of the past and in unleashing an all
consuming fire of violence, nor does it lie in passing new anti-terrorism
ordinances, for anger and hatred don't respect TADA or POTO [10]. Hopes for a
better morrow rest in inspiring confidence in the minorities by strict
adherence to our founding principles of equality and justice, and in fighting
the deep-rooted prejudices that have seeped into our society, the evils that
the RR personifies. Construction of a Ram Temple [11] at the disputed site
won't feed the starving millions; the majority will still continue to toil for
the select few, untouchables will stay so, women will continue to be abused by
men, and we will continue to slip farther from an egalitarian order [12]. Let's
get our priorities right!
Khoon apna ho ya paraaya ho
Nasl-e-aadam ka khoon hai aakhir
Be this blood ours or theirs
Humanity is bloodied
- Sahir Ludhianvi
Notes:
Ra Ravishankar
April 18, 2002