[sacw] sacw dispatch #1 (7 Nov.99)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch #1 [India : Communalism Special]
7 Nov. 1999
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex
____________________
#1. The politics of paranoia
#2. A Muslim-Brahmin Dargah
#3. Bombay Leaflet on the occasion of the Pope's India trip
#4. Defences against communalism
____________________
#1.
The Hindustan Times
7 November 1999
Op-Ed.

The politics of paranoia
by Amulya Ganguli

There is nothing sudden, spontaneous or unplanned about the Sangh
Parivar's anti-Christian agitation. Instead, it represents the classical
fascist practice of demonising a community by creating a fear psychosis, a
paranoia, about its malefic objectives among the majority population. With
remarkable coordination between the different Parivar outfits and outside
support from fellow travellers in the academic and journalistic world, a
propaganda barrage is unleashed comprising half truths, plain lies and
crude insinuations to paint a fearful picture of the horrendous deeds
committed by Christians and their priests in the past, and their secret
subversive plans for the future.

These range not only from their clandestine efforts "to win India for
Christ" within a certain period of time, but also undermine the country's
sovereignty through militant uprisings of the faithful in the north-east.
And all these nefarious plans, hatched in India and abroad, are presented
against the background of a helpless motherland, which has suffered for
centuries because of the cowardice, lack of foresight and even sheer
treachery of the Parivar's political adversaries. But no longer. Now India
has stood up, under the inspiring leadership of the saffron camp, and all
the heinous machinations of the alien faith will henceforth be crushed.
Such is the propaganda ploy.

An associated feature of the current anti-Christian agitation is that
Muslims have been given a reprieve. They can, for the moment, sleep in
peace although their anti-national role, in the eyes of the Parivar, is no
less reprehensible. Their demonisation, too, was undertaken not long ago
with equal fervour by the saffron propagandists, mixing their past crimes
of invasion and partition of the country with their future plans for
subversion through reckless breeding with their four wives and
infiltration from neighbouring countries. But since a battle on two fronts
is bothersome, Muslims-Internal Enemy No 1, according to Golwalkar-have
been given a respite for the time being while the Parivar concentrates on
Internal Enemy No 2, the Christians.

The chargesheet, however, against Christians and Muslims are the same-
their "alien" faith automatically making them unpatriotic; their past
misdemeanours, including conversion of "innocent" tribals and others
through material allurements, and the denigration of Hinduism and
destruction of temples, making them targets of the Parivar's righteous
wrath; and finally their mala fide intention of turning the majority into
a minority through conversion and population explosion making their every
act, and indeed their very presence in the country, suspect.

"To make a struggle intelligible to the broad masses," wrote Hitler, "it
must always be carried on against two things, against a person and against
a cause. Against whom did England fight? Against the German Emperor as a
person, and against militarism as a cause. Against whom did the Jews fight
with their Marxist power? Against the bourgeoisie as a person, and against
capitalism as a cause. Against whom, therefore, must our movement fight?
Against the Jew as a person, and against Marxism as a cause."

=46or success in this fight, however, the adversary has to be painted in th=
e
blackest of colours. "The black-haired Jewish youth lies in wait for hours
on end," wrote the Fuehrer, "satanically glaring at and spying on the
unsuspicious girl whom he plans to seduce, adulterating her blood and
removing her from the bosom of her own people=8AThe Jews were responsible
for bringing negroes into the Rhineland with the ultimate idea of
bastardising the white race which they hate."

As Alan Bullock writes in Hitler: A Study in Tyranny: "In all the pages
which Hitler devotes to the Jews in Mein Kampf he does not bring forward a
single fact to support his wild assertions=8Ato read these pages is to ente=
r
the world of the insane, a world peopled by hideous and distorted shadows.
The Jew is no longer a human being, he has become a mythical figure, a
grimacing, leering devil invested with infernal powers, the incarnation of
evil=8A"

Unlike Hitler, who had only the Jews as his hate objects, the ultra-right
in India has the advantage of having three-Muslims, Christians and
communists. They are Golwalkar's Internal Enemies Nos 1, 2 and 3. The
advantage is that the attacks on them can be spread out to avoid tedium.
Muslims, of course, were the first target, but after the campaign against
them reached its peak with the Babri Masjid demolition, the Parivar may
have realised the need to step back a little, to survey the battlefield,
as it were, before the next onslaught.

The respite may have been deemed necessary because the maximum political
mileage had presumably been extracted from the tirades against the No.1
enemy and may have even begun to lose its effectiveness. After all, how
long can one go on castigating the children of Babar for their sins of the
past? So now the children of the Pope have been targeted, which must have
taken them by no little surprise because, in all the 70-odd years of the
Sangh Parivar's functioning, the Christians have never come under such
virulent attack earlier. The reason may not be unrelated to the reluctance
of the Sangh Parivar, which stayed scrupulously aloof from the freedom
struggle, not to tangle with the British in any way during the pre-1947
period. Later, in the wake of the ban on the RSS after Gandhi's
assassination, the Parivar retreated to its designated place in Indian
society-the outer periphery. When the degeneration of the Congress, the
Left and the others enabled the Parivar to emerge from the shadows, its
first job, naturally, was to go for Muslims. And now, logically, the focus
has shifted to Internal Enemy No. 2.

The hounding of "internal enemies" is in keeping with the fascist precept
of preserving the "purity" of the motherland and of the majority community
from the contaminating influence of "outsiders." Whether it was Nazis
targeting Jews or neo-Nazis and white supremacists now venting their
spleen on "coloured" immigrants, the basic "patriotic" objective is the
same. The Sangh Parivar's Hindu Rashtra is modelled, therefore, on
Golwalkar's ideal of an India-or Bharat-where "non-Hindu people=8Amust
either adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and
revere Hindu religion=8Aor may stay wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation
claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential
treatment, not even citizen's rights."

The similarity of this prescription with Point 4 of the Nazi party
programme, as mentioned in Saul Friedlander's Nazi Germany and the Jews,
is obvious: "Only members of the nation may be citizens of the State. Only
those of German blood, whatever their creed, may be members of the nation.
Accordingly no Jew may be a member of the nation."

=46or all their strenuous efforts, however, it is unlikely that India will
ever be Hitler's Germany. The innate tolerance of Hinduism and the sound
roots of democracy will never allow sectarianism to flourish. Indeed,
there is bound to be a backlash against the current campaigns waged
against the minorities, as more and more people become aware of their
dangerous political objective, though couched in the language of religion.
India will always remain the land of Gandhi, not of Godse.
____________________
#2.
=46rom: Amam Panchayat (Produced for Oxfam India, 1999)

A Muslim-Brahmin Dargah
By Yoginder Sikand

Perched on a rocky outcrop in the now-abandoned village of Pallapur on the
outskirts of Gulbarga in northern Karnataka, the dargah (shrine) of Hazrat
Syed Ruknuddin Tola is not simply just another of the numerous Sufi shrines
that dot this part of the country. This is perhaps the only dargah that
contains the graves of a Muslim Sufi saint and his Brahmin disciple
Ruknuddin is said to have been the disciple of Hazrat Khaki Hussaini, a
13th century Sufi who had settled down in Khuldabad, near Aurangabad, after
arriving in India from Baghdad. After receiving spiritual instruction from
his master, Hazrat Ruknuddin travelled far and wide, and finally chose a
forest near the village of Pallapur to settle down. According to a local
legend, he meditated there for forty years with his eyes shut. When the
famous Chishti Sufi, Khwaja Banda Nawaz Gesu Daraz, who lies buried in
Gulbarga, arrived from Delhi, he decided to visit Ruknuddin. At the
village, he offered his salaams to Hazrat Ruknuddin. The latter stood up to
receive him, but it is said his body had got stuck to the ground because he
had not moved from the spot for the last forty years. His body was torn
into two and blood gushed forth. Khwaja Banda Nawaz wiped his body with his
handkerchief, which he then threw into a fire. It is believed that instead
of ashes, the handkerchief was transformed into a tola (gram) of gold.
Because of this, Khwaja Banda Nawaz gave Hazrat Ruknuddin the title of
Tola. In another version, having witnessed Ruknuddin=92s spiritual powers,
Khwaja Banda Nawaz told him, I have met many Sufis, some of whom are equal
to a quarter tola of gold, some even equal to half a tola, but you are the
only man I have seen who is truly equal to an entire tola=92. He then gave
him the name of tola.

It was after this encounter that Hazrat Ruknuddin met Ranoji, a Brahmin who
was to become his chief disciple. Ranoji was a pandit at a temple in
Jafarabad. In his youth he had visited Kashi, and now at the age of fifty,
he decided to go there again in order to spend the last years of his life
there in order to attain salvation. One day he set off with some of his
followers for the holy town. On their way, they passed by the rocky outcrop
near Pallapur where Hazrat Ruknuddin used to meditate.

Ranoji saw Hazrat Ruknuddin in deep meditation and came to pay his respects
to him. When Hazrat Ruknuddin learnt that he was going to Kashi, he told
him, =91Why do you want to travel all the way to Kashi? I will show you Kash=
i
here. Stay with me, and let your disciples carry on=92.

Ranoji did as Hazrat Ruknuddin suggested, and stayed in the Sufi=92s company
for a few months, by which time his disciples had reached Kashi.

The story goes that one day Hazrat Ruknuddin told Ranoji that he was going
to take him to Kashi. He covered his eyes with his hands, and Ranoji found
himself miraculously transported to the holy town. He then bathed in the
Ganga in the company of his disciples. When Hazrat Ruknuddin removed his
hands from his eyes, Ranoji found himself back in Pallapur. Overawed by
this miracle, Ranoji requested Hazrat Ruknuddin to accept him as his
disciple.

As was the practice with the Sufis, before acceding to Ranoji=92s request
Ruknuddin decided to test his devotion. He told Ranoji that every morning
he should go from village to village and beg for food, and should bring
back whatever he could get, including even meat. This was his way of
finding out if Ranoji, an orthodox Brahmin, was sincere. Ranoji did as his
master had ordered, and would return every evening with his bag full of
meat. Some villagers heard of the Brahmin who was collecting meat for his
guru and plotted to kill him. One day, when Ranoji was returning with meat
for his master, they surrounded him, and ordered him to open his bag,
saying that if they found any meat, they would kill him. Just then,
according to local lore, he heard his master's voice asking him to tell his
attackers that he was carrying flowers. When the bag was opened, the meat
had turned into rose petals. The villagers were amazed and beseeched Ranoji
to take them to his master. He agreed, but said that they could only do so
if they agreed to

come rolling on the ground wearing wet clothes. They agreed, and after
meeting Hazrat Ruknuddin accepted him as their guru.

When Ranoji returned to his master he told him about the miracle. Hazrat
Ruknuddin was now convinced of Ranoji's sincerity and dedication.

He accepted Ranoji as his disciple, initiated him into the Qadri Sufi order
and gave him the title of Shah=92 or king=92. He told him, You have

reposed your faith in me. Now I must also do something for you. From
today=92, he said, I shall give up eating meat and no one shall henceforth
come to my shrine having eaten meat=92. This tradition still continues till
this very day. Meat and even eggs are strictly forbidden here, and so
strict is the rule that the sweets given to devotees as prasad or tabarruk
is not allowed to be taken out of the shrine for fear that it may come into
contact with someone who has consumed meat.

Hindus and Muslims both come here in large numbers, particularly those
suffering from mental ailments. Many of them come rolling on the ground
wearing wet clothes, a practice begun by Ranoji=92s attackers, who later
became Hazrat Ruknuddin=92s followers. Both Hazrat Ruknuddin and Ranoji
remained unmarried, and they are buried next to each other in a little
shrine, below which is a small temple to Hanuman and another dedicated to a
local deity called Sidappa. The priests of these two temples are ardent
devotees of Hazrat Ruknuddin and Ranoji.
_______________
#3.
[Lokshahi Manch (Mumbai), Oct.99 Leaflet on the occasion of the Pope's
India visit]

Should we know the TRUTH or should we depend on lies to make our conclusions=
?

On Sept.2nd.1999, Fr. Arul Doss was brutally attacked and killed in
Jamubani village in Mayurbhanj District. On 26th August Sheikh Rahman, a
cattle trader, was hacked to death and burnt in the crowded bazar by Dara
Singh. On the night of 22nd January Pastor Graham Staines a leprosy worker,
was torched to death along with his sons, Philip and Timothy (aged 9 and 7
years) when they were sleeping in their jeep. Suddenly from 1997 attacks
have begun against the Christians. During 1998 there have been more than
128 cases of violence against the Christian community, more so against
priests and nuns working in remote areas for the social welfare activities
in health and education. In Dumka Fr. Christudas was assaulted and paraded
naked, Sr. Rani Maria was hacked to death in Indore, in Maram(Manipur)
=46r.Jose Nedumthahil (Principal of Don Bosco School) was murdered, a health
Camp run by Christian Health Association was attacked and similarly Yeshu
festival was disrupted in Baroda.

Thus the last two years have witnessed a series of attacks against
Christians in different parts of the country. The argument being given is
that Christian priests are indulging in conversions, because of which local
citizens are feeling insulted, which is resulting in "spontaneous" attacks
by the local people on them. Is it True?

Are Christian priests and nuns indulging in forced conversions? Are they
using fraud and allurement to convert?

The Christian religion came to India in the year 52 AD. British rule was
here for 192 years. The population of Christians is fairly stable. In 1971
it was 2.6%, in 1981 2.44% and in 1991 it was 2.32%, which means it has
declined over these decades. (Source-Census of India 1991; and 1971) The
Christian population in Keonjhar where Graham Staines was burnt on the
charge that he is indulging in conversions through allurement (by offering
beef and wine to the Adivasis) has been fairly stable.

Composition of Population of Keonjhar (Religion wise)In Lakhs
1981 (% of Total) 1991 (%
of Total)
Hindus 13.05(95.10)
14.93(97.62)
Christians 00.41(0.299) 00.47
(0.307)

(Source Wadhva Commission Report, in Raju, pg.191).

Thus we see that over a period of centuries the population of Christians is
fairly stable and does not show any mass conversion.

What has been the activity of those working for Churches in India?

A perception is being spread that priests, nuns and others associated with
churches are here to spread the religion. It is true that some Church
people do spread the word and preach about their religion. The freedom to
do this is quite rightly provided by the Constitution. But the majority are
engaged in dedicated social and community work which is there for all to
see, especially in the areas of health and education, two fields which are
very much neglected in the remote areas. They also do substantial work in
the cities, where the educational institutions run by them have the
reputation of being of a very high quality, and for which there is a high
demand.

Then why are priests being attacked?

Unfortunately, the last few decades have witnessed a very intense spread of
communal violence. This violence is built on the hatred of the 'other'
community. For many decades Muslims were the target, on the grounds that
they produce more children, have several wives, etc. In fact, the
population of Muslims has changed only marginally. The occurrence of
polygamy amongst them is no higher than amongst Hindus.

Most of the inquiry Commission Reports on communal violence ( Communalism
Combat, March 1998, 'Who Casts the First Stone') have shown that it is the
Sangh Parivar and other organisations associated with them who generally
create the situation whereby the minorities feel threatened and are forced
to retaliate, the culmination of which is violence in which, so far, 65% of
victims have been Muslims.

Now we are pained to observe that another community is being targeted for
attack. To take the example of Dara Singh, there are different reports
which point out that Dara Singh was a member of the Bajrang Dal, which is
an arm of the Sangh Parivar.

a. The National Human Rights Commission Report: "There are indications
available that Dara Singh alias Rabindra Kumar Pal is a sympathiser of the
Bajarang Dal. (From Wadhava Commission Report in Wadhava Commission Report:
A Critique, Dr. Raju, Media House, Delhi; 1999 Page; 214) b. National
Commission for Minorities: "The activities of Dara Singh=8A. were linked to
the campaign of Bajarang Dal for cow protection in different parts of the
country." (From Wadhava Commission Report; same book Page: 215)

c. Report of the team appointed by the Commission:"Rabindra Kumar Pal alias
Dara Singh is an activist/ supporter of Bajarang Dal" (same book Page;
218), 'Dara Singh has been seen at RSS rallies' (Same-page219)

d. CBI Orrissa Police Report: "During his stay at Patna Turumanga, Champua
and Ghatgaon Police station areas of Mayurbhanj district, he frequently
visited Sisu Mandir schools run by RSS of those areas. In this process he
came in contact with RSS leaders." (The Week-Sept.5th 1999)

e. A letter from Mayurbhanj Superintendent of Police to the Special
Inspector General Cuttack, sent on Nov.21, 1998 states clearly that he was
an active member of the Bajarang Dal (Meantime, Sept, 1999)

The Pope, who is the religious head of the Catholic Church, has also been
under severe attack from fundamentalists of the Sangh Parivar. They assert
that the Pope has to apologise for the 'forced conversions' in India, he
has to apologise for the inquisition in Goa a few centuries ago, and that
he must state that all religions are equal.

As we have seen, there are conversions, but they are few and far between.
Most conversions take place to improve one's social situation and that's
what some of the Adivasis have done. We should remember what Swami
Vivekananda said in the context of allegations against Muslims about Islam
spreading through the sword. Says Swamiji "Why amongst the poor of India so
many are Mohammadens? It is nonsense to say that they were converted by the
sword, it was to gain liberty from Jamindars and the priests" (Collected
Works-Vol.VIII, Page 330). Most of the time people adopt a different
religion to improve their social situation and that's what some of the
Adivasis have done.

This phenomenon of our society is being blown out of proportion to create
hatred against the Christian community, and the same is being blamed on the
Pope and attempts are being made to humiliate the Pope and Christians.
After the hatred against Muslims, now the same is being done against the
Christians. Is it not analogous to the poem of Martin Nimoeller =8A.

=46irst they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a =
Jew
Next they came for Communists But I did not speak out Because I was not a
Communist
Then they came for Trade Unionists Ann I did not speak out Because I was
not a trade Unionist. Then they came for Catholics And I did not speak out
Because I was not a catholic
Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak for me.

(Pastor Martin Nimoellor A priest and Intellectual ad a victim of the Nazi
ascendency in Germany in the 1930s)

Mahatma Gandhi an ardent Hindu, was the biggest champion of communal
harmony, but alas, he was killed by somebody in the name of Hindutva. The
Mahatma said "In India, for whose fashioning I have worked for all my life,
every man enjoys equality of status, whatever be his religion. The state is
bound to be wholly secular" (Pg. 87.Gandhi and Communal Problem, CSSS). He
also said that "religion is a personal matter and it should not be mixed
with politics and National affairs". (Same book, pg 90)

=46riends, the time has come for us to stop listening to those who have been
spreading hatred in the name of religion. Sangh Parivar has been spreading
hatred against minorities in a well-planned manner. This "Hate Campaign" is
part of their politics to grab power. In this process they are demolishing
and destroying the age-old tradition of mutual love harmony and tolerance.
It is a shame that in the land of Gandhi, Buddha, Kabir and Nanak, hatred
is being spread in the name of religion. We need to respect all religions
in equal measure, and not hate others' religions.
________________
#.4
The Hindu
7 November 1999
=46eatures

Defences against communalism
by Seema Alavi

THIS is an important collection of essays by historians, lawyers and
journalists about the social and cultural implications of the political
strides taken by the Hindu Right. It offers textual succour to exasperated
Indians who feel helpless at the right wing take-over of their cultural
spheres to disseminate a warped notion of "nation", "nationality" and
"Indianness". The essays are particularly handy to counter the aggressive
Sangh Parivar campaign to define the nation as "Hindu". They are a
befitting response to check its attempt to play with the nation's cultural
heritage for political dividends.

K. N. Pannikar, in an easy to read introduction, emphasises the cultural
plurality of society. He argues that the choice of secularism as a guiding
principle of independent India was influenced by the multiplicity of
cultural strands that constitute the nation. Pannikar says, "the secular
democratic character of the Constitution is a reflection of this reality,
even if the political experience of the West was a useful referent". He is
concerned that the secular credentials of civil society have been
increasingly under threat in the last two decades by Hindu communalism,
strident with the acquisition of political power. As the heterogeniety of
society is creased out to create a monolithic, monologous "Hindu"
category, the non-Hindu majority becomes the alien "other"-the enemy. He
emphasises that the book is a contribution to the public debate that the
Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) cultural agenda has initiated.

The essays indicate the process of cultural homogenisation, social
consolidation and political mobilisation of the community which is in a
majority, which makes the majority versus minority issue so livid in
politics. Romila Thapar's fascinating essay highlights the centrality of a
certain interpretation of history in the political ideology of the BJP.
One such view-point, she says, is the concept of community in the history
of India. Indian society has generally been seen as consisting of two
hostile monolithic communities: the Hindus and the Muslims. She indicates
that this is a continuation of 19th Century colonial interpretation of
history where the two communities were always seen as static and
antagonistically placed against each other. Thapar shows the ahistorical
nature and the imperialist influence on Hindutva assumptions of society by
teasing out the nuances and flexibility in the multiple identities that
both the communities held in the past. She shows that at different points
of time, these identities contested but there were also cases where they
cooperated.

=46or Rajiv Dhawan, the endeavour, in the religiously surcharged and
politically sensitive Fifties, to put together a constitution resulted in,
"an accommodating secular compromise at a time when in the aftermath of
Partition such a compromise seemed improbable". The strong points of the
Constitution were the guarantee of religious freedom defined broadly. The
critical rider was the initiative to evolve a consensus for reforms while
placing the Indian State in a "neutral" position to benignly provide
support for all faiths. In the communally surcharged atmosphere of the
last two decades, the State's role as a positive and participatory entity
guaranteeing equality and freedom of religion to all and not becoming a
protege of any one particular faith, as enshrined in the Constitution, is
urgently needed.

Jayati Ghosh emphasises the economic underpinnings of communalism and
identifies the inequalising effects of economic and cultural globalisation
that divides the world into "haves" and "have-nots" and creates a
conducive environment for religious revivalism to thrive on. Sumit Sarkar
and Siddhartha Varadarajan highlight the "spill-out" effects of Hindu
communalism. While the former shows how the Christian minority on the
issue of encouraging conversions is being targeted for violent attacks by
the Sangh activists, Varadarajan indicates the role of the media in
disseminating religious prejudices. Sarkar's influential essay
historicises the question of religious conversions and identifies the
conditions under which in late colonial and post-colonial India, the issue
has become contentious. One reason, he says, is that the "community
borders are becoming simultaneously harder and more vulnerable"; a
situation which the Hindutva ideology is clearly fanning.

=46inally, Tanika Sarkar's essay reveals the impingement of the politics of
the Hindu Right on women. It is particularly revealing that there is a
schism between Sangh Parivar women in electoral politics (paying not even
lip service to women's issues) and those involved in ground work in its
various samitis and organisations. This, she argues, is a deliberate ploy
where the supposed dilution of Sangh values, due to compulsions of
electoral politics, is balanced by samitis where women are pushed into
being repositories of the essential Sangh values of conservatism and
domesticity.

The essays by some of the most politically committed professionals is an
essential read for those who can sense something amiss but who do not
quite know the grave implications of their continued silence. Simple and
easy to read, the contributors could not have laid out their case more
coherently. One wishes that there was an article on the experiences of a
social working in these troubled times and an essay on the way liberal
opinion within both the Hindu and Muslim community has re-articulated
itself in the post-Babri masjid period which would have been useful. This
would not have merely added a ray of optimism in the otherwise depressing
reality that the book sensitively captures. As we know, the manner in
which secular initiatives relate to the issues the book raises is critical
to the future of secularism in our country.

[The Concerned Indian's Guide To Communalism, edited by K. N. Pannikar,
Viking Penguin India, Rs. 395. ]

______________________________________________
SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WEB DISPATCH is an informal, independent &
non-profit citizens wire service run by South Asia Citizens Web
(http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since1996.