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| Polarisation route to power nirvana | | | Allabaksh
Optimists had dismissed it as a passing phase when the Bharatiya Janata Party and its Sangh Parivar created a countrywide frenzy prior to the demolition of the Babri mosque and then used it to polarise the nation like never before since Independence to clamber to power. It proved to be anything but a transient moment. The BJP seems convinced that polarisation is the easiest route to power, though it may require the party to hide it behind some subterfuge while seeking support of opportunistic allies.
The subterfuge part is evident from the studied ambivalence of BJP's 'Lauh Purush' LK Advani on the current controversy over the arrest and questioning of a number of 'Hindu seers' and present and former defence services personnel-a matter of extreme concern to many. Being desperate to become the prime minister, a job that can come to him only with the support of some 'secular' parties, he has to maintain the façade of 'neutrality' as his party creates a whirlwind of Hindutva and communalises politics to reap electoral gains.
Today the BJP, with an eye on polls, is seeking to revive the same religious fervour, unmindful of its dangerous consequences for the country's integrity, as it did before the Babri demolition 16 years ago. The war cry from the saffron army is that the Hindu religion is under attack because the police and intelligence agencies are questioning 'saints' and 'sadhvis' for their suspected role in a number of bomb blasts in different parts of the country.
The tone of the BJP president, Rajnath Singh, a nominee of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has become undistinguishable from those of the acknowledged rabid leaders of the Sangh Parivar in outfits like the Vishawa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal. He says that the government is deliberately 'framing' certain Hindu religious leaders-and serving and former personnel from the armed forces---to hide its failure to check terrorism.
The government has been warned that the majority community would not tolerate such insults to their religion, religious leaders and the defenders of country's freedom and sovereignty. VHP has said it will launch a countrywide agitation against the government for 'harassing' Hindu 'saints' while 'appeasing' Muslims.
The saffron message is short but clear: hands off the 'Hindu' leaders or as a consequence face social upheaval in the country. Many analysts have expressed the opinion that the BJP stands to gain from the 'resentment' that is said to be simmering in the majority community.
It will be a great pity if the so-called secular forces do not launch an immediate and sustained counter campaign to expose the divisive nature of BJP politics, which it is vigorously pursuing in order to grab power. If that is going to result in loss of power in some states or even at the Centre so be it---if the parties that swear by secularism really think that the nation is more important than a stint of power.
Former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao is often accused of not acting tough when the BJP had started its anti-Babri campaign that ended with the demolition of the mosque at Ayodhya. But it might not be entirely right to blame him alone because many other 'secular' forces, especially in Uttar Pradesh, had shown the same kind of ambivalence or 'weakness' in dealing with the threat that the anti-Babri campaign had posed. Perhaps it was their belief or calculation that the Ayodhya movement would die an early death without reaching the 'climax'-of the demolition of the mosque.
It could very well have died had the country's secular foundations been stronger than was generally assumed and the rules of politics not degenerated. That foundation so carefully laid by the leaders of the freedom movement and then by the framers of the Indian constitution, had started to shake when the process of dumbing down of politics set in the country.
Criminalisation of politics is only one part of it; equal contribution has also been made by the abysmal standards of political jargon with its wild and irresponsible talk that supposedly stirs popular sentiments. 'Secularism' has been reduced to a shibboleth by those who claim to be 'committed' to it.
Rajnath Singh and many other leaders of BJP have berated the government for denigrating the Hindu religion by 'framing' religious 'seers'. They insist that no Hindu can be a 'terrorist'. They question the motives behind the arrest and interrogation of 'sadhvis' like Pragya Singh Thakur and 'saints' like Swami Amritanand, also known as Dayanand Pandey and Sudhir Dwivedi, and a serving Lieutenant Colonel, Srikant Purohit.
In other words what they want is that the police or the intelligence agencies should not even entertain the idea that any 'Hindu' much less a 'leader' of the community could be involved in any act of 'terror' even if (preliminary) investigations require their detention and questioning. But do these self-style spokesmen for the majority community speak in the same tone when a member of the minority community is detained and questioned after an act of 'terror'?
The BJP's current publicity blitz is a clear pointer that it is banking on communal appeal and is interested only in seeking votes from the majority community. After the Batla House encounter (Delhi), which had resulted in the death of two suspected 'terrorists' and a Police Inspector there were demands for an inquiry into it. The BJP opposes the inquiry saying any inquiry would 'demoralise' the police.
Yet, the very same BJP is questioning the 'motives' of the anti-terror squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra Police immediately become questionable when the ATS investigations lead to some 'Hindu seers' and defence personnel. Rajnath Singh must be blessed with an extraordinary sixth sense or how else does he know that all those arrested in connection with the Malegaon bomb blasts are 'innocent'? His communal predilection is evident when at the same time he finds nothing wrong in the arrest of members of the other communities in connection with a probe into acts of 'terror'. A selective fight against 'terror' that the BJP obviously prefers will not help in its eradication even if 'tough' laws are brought in.
Few will disagree that the investigating agencies in the country often fail to do a good job. But it will be a mistake to damn their work only for the purpose of serving the partisan political interests. The police and other security forces are 'demoralised' more by the double talk of the politicians then their own deficiencies. By giving a religious colour to probes into acts of terrorism the BJP is weakening national security. |
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