[sacw] Hard logic of soft Hindutva (HT)

[Harsh Kapoor]

FYI
South Asia Citizens Web
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From: The Hindustan Times, Tuesday, February 16, 1999, New Delhi

Hard logic of soft Hindutva
(By Arundhuti Roy Choudhury)

It was popularly believed that the Bharatiya Janata Party under the
leadership of the liberal-minded Atal Behari Vajpayee would not allow
the minorities to suffer.

It would ensure a corruption-free administration, and the other outfits
of the Hindutva forces would not influence the BJP's running of the
government, thus enabling the BJP to act independently. The underlining
assumption was that hard Hindutva is containable by soft Hindutva. Based
on these assumptions was their ultimate appeal to give the BJP a chance.
In less than a year all these assumptions stand belied.

The recent happenings have proved that the 'saffron brigade' can never
turn lily-white by just being under the leadership of a moderate leader.
Moreover, the moderate leader can never function independently and keep
the diehard communal forces under a tight lease, especially when his own
survival depends on them.

It is time one understood that communalism is dictated by its own logic
and follows a distinct pattern of growth. It neither changes at the will
of individuals nor parties playing the soft Hindutva card under the garb
of liberalism. The grand finale of soft/liberal Hinduism is nothing but
the gradual taking over of the polity by hardliners. One saw this
happening during the Congress rule and now more overtly during the BJP
rule. The BJP initially by a clever charade of populism and speaking
simultaneously in several different voices projected a liberal face. It
moderated its party programme by giving up controversial issues like the
Ayodhya temple and Article 370.

It kept its distance from the violent activities and strident communal
propaganda that other outfits of the Sangh parivar continued to indulge
in even while granting several concessions to them. Accordingly, when
the Sena in Maharashtra threatened to prevent the Pakistani cricket
team's visit to India, the BJP assured cricket lovers that it welcomed
the team. In Gujarat while the BJP's political kith and kin were
spreading fire against religious minorities, the BJP government issued
statements assuring them of safety.

However, the soft Hindutva line was so fragile that it could not last
for long. And with the BJP's recent electoral debacle it collapsed
completely making way for the Sena to take hold of the reins. That Union
Home Minister L.K.Advani had to pay a special visit to Mumbai to let the
Pakistani cricket team come to India, requesting the Sena to hold its
vandalism for the time being, the playing up of the foreign hand bogey
to explain the attack on the missionaries and giving a clean chit to the
Bajrang Dal even before the investigations are over only reflect the
gradual takeover of the state machinery by the diehards. Today the Shiv
Sena has become more strident than ever in its call for implementation
of the Hindutva ideology. Under the new code there are no specific
crimes and fixed penalties for the Hindutva forces. Any action,
howsoever correct, if against the interest of the Hindutva ideology, is
an offence.

A classical example was that of Manohar Joshi who paid dearly for
observing the rule of law. The law and the will of Bal Thackeray appears
to be becoming one. Thus a whole new set of crimes have been invented by
the Hindutva forces. Now it seems to be a crime to exercise one's
freedom of expression and choice of religion.

This is, however, not to say that the Congress is lily-white as opposed
to the BJP, that it offers a better political option to the electorate.
The siege mentality that has the nation in its grip today is a
consequence of not just the BJP but equally the Congress. The Congress
under the garb of liberalism has constantly played the soft Hindutva
card and benefited from it. The recent Congress propagation of everybody
being a Hindu to make Sonia Gandhi acceptable in the eyes of the people
and her visits to temples to affirm her Hindu identity are part of the
same game.

There is therefore an urgent need for the middle class to give up its
apolitical stand and face the emerging challenges squarely. For today
the Hindutva brigade, an outgrowth of soft Hindutva, are attacking and
denying the human rights of the weak and the powerless. But given the
logic of communalism it is not going to stop at that.

Tomorrow it may be the middle class and the day after it may just as
well be anybody. The signs of it is already visible in Mumbai.

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