Sangh parivar turns hysterical
Praful Bidwai
NOTHING speaks as eloquently of the Bharatiya Janata Party's massive Rightwards shift as prime ministerial-hopeful LK Advani's falling in line with his colleagues' hard-Hindutva position on the Malegaon blasts. His statement attacking Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad as "politically motivated" and his defence of Pragya Thakur and Lt.Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit is a big departure from his earlier attempt at "moderation" by saying that "terrorism has no religion."
As the sangh parivar feels the heat, the BJP has turned hysterical. It has abandoned all pretence of political decency in venomously branding its opponents "ISI agents." Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar is outdoing abusive sadhus by claiming that the government has no right to accuse sadhus "and the army" "of terror." This confuses one officer with the entire army.
BJP president Rajnath Singh stridently insists that votaries of "cultural nationalism" (Hindutva) can never be terrorists -- by definition.
Let's leave aside all the evidence, including the use in Malegaon of a motorcycle registered in Thakur's name, other links between the network and bombings, and the fact that army personnel present at Purohit's interrogation have endorsed the ATS.
What's relevant is the BJP's argument that the law shouldn't apply to "saints." Besides, the detention of a shady sadhu like Amritanand isn't a conspiracy against the Hindu community!
The absurdity of the BJP defending terrorism after making it a central plank of its election campaign should be self-evident. Yet, that's the message from the sangh parivar's November 16 Panipat conclave, at which Rajnath Singh and Uttarakhand Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri joined hands with anti-secular sadhus to announce an outrageously communal campaign
Nothing can condone the presence of these leaders, one an elected public official with Constitutional responsibilities, and the other the topmost office-bearer of a big party, at the gathering. The Panipat meeting will probably go down as a rabid version of the BJP's 1989 Palanpur conclave, which resolved to demolish the Babri mosque.
The parivar brazenly defends Hindutva terrorism in the belief that the public believes it's patriotic. In reality, the parivar seeks to destroy India's essence as a multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-religious society through an anti-secular counter-revolution.
Prejudice, hatred, militarism and violence against non-Hindus have been integral to "cultural nationalism." The pubic knows that Hindutva has a history of assassinations, bloody riots and anti-minority pogroms.
People know that Nathuram Godse killed Gandhi because of Hindutva's vicious prejudice against Hindus who try to prevent communal riots. If the Godses and Narendra Modis are "patriots," India will only breed assassins and terrorists acting in the name of a community whom they don't represent.
For years, the RSS-BJP tried to distance themselves from Godse by claiming he wasn't an RSS member when he killed Gandhi -- although he had been one earlier, for years, and was inspired by the same ideology. Today, even the BJP defends Abhinav Bharat's ultra-communal president Himani Savarkar, Nathuram Godse's niece.
Hindutva is particularly amenable to terrorism. Its principal difference with other forms of religious extremism is that its tries to pass itself off as nationalist by claiming to speak for the numerical majority, which isn't separatist. This view is dangerously majoritarian, and hence anti-democratic. Majoritarian extremism is also more widespread and enjoys state indulgence.
Hindutva terrorism cannot be seen in isolation from the culture of divisiveness and hatred that the BJP has promoted in its cynical pursuit of power. Violence is integral to this and to the party's political mobilisation strategy.
This culture has percolated into the police forces. Thus, the Maharashtra police recently told a Dhule court: "It's an established fact that Muslims are the masterminds behind all terrorist activities across India."
They also exonerated the Hindu Rakshak Samiti, by saying its violence (in which seven of the 10 people killed were Muslims) was "mere retaliation to what has been happening in the country for the past few years."
The BJP is now hardening its rabid Hindutva posture. If the Rajnath Singh line prevails, as is happening, and if the BJP does relatively well in the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, it will feel vindicated in its defence of saffron terror.
This will encourage it to mount a grossly communal and divisive campaign in the Lok Sabha election, the like of which India has never seen, with potentially terrible consequences.
Disturbing signs are already discernible. Mr. Narendra Modi has emerged as the undisputed successor to Mr. Advani. He has gained even more legitimacy through Tata Motors' decision to shift the Nano car project to Gujarat and through his endorsement by Big Business.
The RSS has tightened its grip on the BJP. As membership and attendance in its shakhas plummets, the RSS will try to play a more active role in other parivar outfits, including the BJP, and of course the VHP-Bajrang Dal.
The Panipat conclave, and the BJP's hardened stance, demolish the wishful argument that incumbency in power would impel the BJP towards "moderation" and sobriety.
The BJP isn't that kind of party. It will always occupy the dark region between parliamentary politics as an instrument of power, and its foundational loyalty to the sangh parivar's hate-driven ideology and violent politics.
The BJP has entered its most communal phase. It's playing with fire. It must be stopped.
It goes without saying that the unearthing of the Hindutva terrorist network presents a major challenge to the Indian state. It has become a litmus test for its secular credentials and loyalty to the Constitution.
The police must investigate the network impartially and professionally. They must refrain from making premature statements to the media before investigations are completed and solid evidence is obtained.
The Union home ministry has done well to ask the states to furnish reports on the activities of Hindutva groups. It should now act on them by banning the VHP-Bajrang Dal and the RSS.
True, bans have their limitations. But their value in de-legitimising extremists must not be underrated. They can put the more dangerous organisations in the parivar on the defensive and enable the government to prosecute BJP members connected with them.
:The Daily Star: Internet Edition
