The Hindu Right

This article was written in early April

"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.

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 (8), "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]" only reinforces this view.

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." (9) 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"(10). 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. Vajpayee needs to be forced to tame the monster he helped create.

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 (11). 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 (12) 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 (13). 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:

1. The Supreme Court in a landmark judgment, held that a divorced woman unable to maintain herself is entitled to compensation from her erstwhile husband. In an effort to placate the MR, Rajiv Gandhi negated this judgment by enacting the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. If ever a proof of Muslim appeasement was needed by the HR, this was it. In an effort to mollify the HR, Rajiv Gandhi threw open the gates of the Babri Masjid, compounding his misery. The good Samaritan that he is, in his testimony to the Liberhan Commission (probing the destruction of the Babri Masjid), Advani claimed that the BJP's position on Ayodhya in 1989, as reflected in the Palampur resolution, was influenced by these events.

2. The Indian state is not answerable for the misdeeds of past rulers, who had no qualms about securing justice, liberty and equality to their citizens. In the absence of hard evidence, the most reasonable way to deal with claims of compensation (such as those made by the HR) seems to be to maintain the status quo, as of August 15, 1947.

3. In 1996, Vajpayee was Prime Minister for 13 days. This being too short a period to make an impact, is only of statistical interest (in the context of this article).

4. Article 44 of our Constitution proclaims "The State shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India." This, and the fact that the Muslim Personal Law allows four wives, have been used by the HR to demand \\\*imposition\\\* of a uniform civil code. The MR has been unequivocal in its opposition to a uniform civil code, and a good start would have been to encourage the growth of Muslim liberals. However, the violence of the HR and its strident calls for the imposition of a uniform civil code put the Muslim liberals in a spot, for they now had not only to convince the Muslim laity the need for reform in the Muslim Personal Law, but also their allegiance to Islam. These developments have resulted in a strong groundswell of support for the MR, which has sought to smother the Muslim liberals with renewed vigor. It should be obvious that the strong posturing of the HR has nothing to do with improving the status of women. When seen in conjunction with the fact that very few Muslims have more than one wife, the raking up of this issue now, when Muslim suspicions are running high (which is very reasonable), seems all the more insane.

Reform of our laws is necessary, but when religion is involved, we better tread cautiously. It is a good time to remember Article 26 of the Indian constitution, "Subject to public order, morality and health, every religious denomination or any section thereof shall have the right to manage its own affairs in matters of religion". No wonder the HR wants to review the constitution!

5. Article 370 has been "reduced to a husk through political fraud and constitutional abuse" - Article 370: Law and politics, A.G.Noorani (http://www.flonnet.com/fl1719/17190890.htm)

6. Sitaram Yechury traces the tirade against Urdu to the HR's attempt at imposing Hindi, as is obvious from the slogan "Hindu, Hindi, Hindusthan".

(What is this Hindu Rashtra, Sitaram Yechuri, http://www.dalitstan.org/books/yechuri/yech5.html)

In addition, the HR has sought to portray Urdu as the language of the Muslims and hence, deserving of ignominy. Official apathy played a big role too, protesting which Kaifi Azmi returned his 'Padma Shri'.

7. An anti-Muslim pogrom: PUCL report on Coimbatore violence in late-1997 (http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1505/15051150.htm)

8. http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/jan/23inter.htm

9. Besides Justice Srikrishna and Joseph Vithyathil, Justice Jagmohan Reddy (Ahmedabad riots of 1969) and D.P. Madan (Bhiwandi, Jalgaon and Mahad riots in 1970) were also very critical of the role of the HR and the police in instigating and condoning communal riots. To the best of my knowledge, all these reports lie in cold storage. On the other hand, there has been no dearth of anti-terrorism ordinances, despite their wide misuse.

10. Hate speech continues to pass off under the veneer of freedom of speech. The HR has not shied away from taking on the judiciary either. Surprisingly, brazen remarks - ranging from questioning the suitability of a court verdict to an outright refusal to abide by it - by the Paramhans and and the various seers don't constitute contempt of court! Not everyone is so lucky, though.

11. TADA - Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, had a conviction rate of 1.5% POTO - Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (pushed through in a hurry after the attack on the Indian Parliament, and ratified on March 26th)

12. Ayodhya is not the only issue; Kashi and Mathura are waiting to explode. According to Ashok Singhal, "It is time to catch Muslims by their necks and tell them where their place lies ... Kashi and Mathura are ours. If the Muslims want to avoid further humiliation, they should hand over those shrines quietly" Recently, Vinay Katiyar, a BJP MP, sparked violence in Srinagar with his proclamation that the holy relic at the Hazratbal shrine was that of a Hindu seer, and not that of the Prophet Mohammed, as believed by Muslims. Is there a limit to the moronic drivel of the HR? No, I fear.

13. It's always comforting to know we could be worse off than we actually are. Other than this, there's no reason to suppose we are not already in an abyss.

14. Though highly misleading, I have persisted with the use of 'independence'. This should be taken to mean, following Kaifi Azmi, the transition from 'gora hakim raj' to 'kaala hakim raj'.