Article By Comrade Sitaram Yechury, M.P.,
A disturbing tendency visible during the election campaign appears to
have become the perfected strategy of the RSS/BJP now in government with
an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha, albeit with a mere 31% share of
those who voted. This tendency, true to their character,
is to speak/act with a forked tongue — one for public consumption to
give a false comfort level and the other for ground level mobilisation.
The BJP discharges this responsibility as the political arm of the RSS.
Thus, ‘development’ and ‘Gujarat model’ employed as election mascots
were only the veil concealing the actual ground reality of the campaign
that focused on the sharpening of communal polarisation. Much of the
BJP’s electoral gains, apart from various other factors, including a
widespread disgust with the Congress-led UPA 2 rule during the last few
years, has been due to such brazen ‘vote-bank’ politics, ie, the
communal consolidation of the ‘Hindu vote-bank’. It is, therefore, quite
natural that this BJP victory would lead to the aggressive pursuit of
the RSS ideological project of converting the secular democratic Indian
Republic into their version of a rabidly intolerant fascistic ‘Hindu
Rashtra’.
This has been confirmed by the RSS chief who, at Cuttack on August 10,
asked that if inhabitants of England are English, Germany are Germans
and the US are Americans, then why aren’t inhabitants of Hindustan not
known as Hindus. He went on to say, “The cultural identity of all
Indians is Hindutva and the present inhabitants of the country are
descendents of this great culture”. This question was rejected following
a detailed discussion in the Constituent Assembly when it laid down the
foundations and structure of a secular democratic Republic. Precisely,
in order to disabuse such exclusivist categorisations, which negate the
very idea of India, Article I of our Constitution defines our country
thus: “India, that is, Bharat is a Union of States”. Bharat was chosen
instead of Hindustan and many other terms to convey the inclusivist
‘idea of India’. From this flows the consequent equality of all citizens
“irrespective of caste, creed and sex”. The RSS, which all along stood
against this very idea of India as a pluralistic society of rich
diversity, is today seeking to negate the vibrancy of the mosaic that
distinguishes our country.
Consider the forked tongue at work. Even during the so-called
‘honeymoon’ period, this government, belying the hopes of a naïve and
gullible public, is negating the developmental electoral agenda. Soon
after assuming office, it has hiked the administrative prices of
petroleum products and steeply raised railway fares. Its budget and the
parliamentary legislative business reflect the unabashed pursuit of
economic reforms. Given the massive support rendered by international
finance capital backed by India Inc to the Modi election campaign, it is
only natural that such a course should appear inevitable. Facilitating
greater inflow of foreign investments to permit profit maximisation at
the cost of our people and country’s sovereignty (eg, FDI in insurance,
defence production, etc) and greater concessions to India Inc have been
the result.
Within a few weeks of the new government, those who were arguing during
the election campaign that the BJP is downplaying its communal agenda
are already feeling betrayed and, thus, silenced. The core Hindutva
agenda — the abrogation of Article 370, Uniform Civil Code, building of
the Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya — have all been
articulated by Cabinet ministers and RSS leaders. A Goa minister has
stated that with the BJP’s victory, the establishment of a ‘Hindu
Rashtra’ has begun.
At the ground level, this is reflected in the sharpening of communal
tensions across the country leading in some places to brutal riots and
the death of innocent Indians. Even during the elections, such communal
polarisation was being resorted to as evidenced in the Muzaffarnagar
riots. According to home ministry statistics, a total of 823 incidents
of communal violence have been reported across the country in the run-up
to the elections during 2013. In Uttar Pradesh alone, where the BJP won
71 plus two of its allies out of a total 80 Lok Sabha seats, 247
incidents took place in 2013. During the second quarter of 2014,
April-June, 149 communal clashes were reported across the country.
Maharashtra, where assembly elections are due, closely follows Uttar
Pradesh. In the 10 weeks after May 16, when the new government took over
in Delhi, 605 incidents of a communal nature took place in Uttar
Pradesh alone. Significantly, two-thirds of these took place in and
around the 12 assembly constituencies where by-elections are due
shortly. Similar reports are also coming in from Bihar where
by-elections to 10 assembly seats are due.
There is also an element of ‘social engineering’ in fomenting such
communal tensions. While the Muzaffarnagar riots brought the Jatavs into
conflict with Muslims, the Saharanpur riots brought the Sikhs into
conflict with the Muslims. The destruction of social harmony has
disastrous consequences for the unity and integrity of our country and
people. The RSS/BJP, however, has no compunctions in damaging such
harmony among our people in pursuit of its political gains for the
eventual realisation of the RSS vision to metamorphose the Indian
Republic.
The crescendo of incendiary speeches is rising. Last week, a VHP leader
thundered in Indore that the Muslims may have forgotten Gujarat 2002
but would remember the Muzaffarnagar riots last year. This comes on the
heels of another VHP patron saying that, “Tables had turned on the
Muslims”.
The signals, thus, are amply clear. Being forewarned must mean being
forearmed. Every patriotic Indian must rise to the occasion to prevent
such sharpening of communal polarisation that has the potential to
weaken and disintegrate the immensely rich and diverse social fabric
that has woven together our great country.
Courtesy : Hindustan Times / August 11, 2014
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