[sacw] SACW Dispatch | 25 July 00

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch
25 July 2000
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

[ INDIA : The Hindu Right at Work ! ]

#1. The Hate Campaign Against Christians in India
#2. Letter by John Dayal: Apprehension of threat to my life & liberty
#3. Hitler's Admirer Bal Thackrey should be Punished
#4. Financial Times on K.S. Sudarshan the Hindu fundamentalist leader of RSS
_____________________

#1.

=46rontline
Volume 17 - Issue 15, July 22 - Aug. 04, 2000
COMMUNALISM

A HATE CAMPAIGN

A fresh round of attacks on Christians lead the police to new theories
in Karnataka, while in Tamil Nadu the police see no pattern in the
violence.

PARVATHI MENON
in Bangalore
T.S. SUBRAMANIAN
in Chennai

POPULAR anger and revulsion against the relentless attacks on Christian
places of worship, and the pressure-even from its allies-on the Bharatiya
Janata Party to rein in the violent groups, have not stopped the violence.
Reports of attacks on priests , nuns, churches and church-goers in Uttar
Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and more recently in
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, continue to appear in the
mainstream and alternative media. In most of these cases there is direc t
proof of the involvement of organisations of the Hindu Right in the
attacks. In the two years since open attacks on the Christian community
began, the violence has ranged from gross forms of physical and mental
intimidation to murder. Nuns have been ab used, spat at and physically
attacked, priests have been beaten, churches have been burnt, groups of
students engaged in social work have been brutally beaten. Most recently,
some activists assaulted a nun, Sister Sissy, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat and
loote d a godown where bags of wheat meant for distribution to the
drought-hit people in Limbdi taluk of Surendranagar district were stored.

T.L. PRABHAKAR Karnataka Home Minister Mallikarjun Kharge at the site of
the blast in a van in Bangalore on July 10.

While physical attacks of this nature continue, the sudden spurt of bomb
blasts in and around churches is a new element in the ongoing violence.
There was a series of blasts that took place on the morning of June 8 in
three places simultaneously-Wadi in Gulbarga district of Karnataka, Vasco
in Goa, and East Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. A month later, another
incident took place in Hubli. On July 8 at around 3-45 a.m., a group of
four men hurled a bomb at the St. John's Lutheran Church on the Hubli-Gad
ag Road, which caused extensive damage to its doors and windows. Before
people could come out of their homes, the men escaped in a van. Earlier
the same group had driven up to the St. Peter's Church on Gadag road but
fled upon seeing the watchman.

And then on the night of July 9 yet another blast occurred in Bangalore in
the premises of the St. Peter's and Paul's Church. Around 3,000 Christians
had attended the Feast of Corpus Christi. The celebrations went on till 10
p.m. and all had left when th e blast occurred at 10-15.

In all these cases the bombs exploded in the premises of the churches when
there were no people present. The damage to church property has been
extensive, and although there have been no injuries to people, the
incidents have created anger and fear among st Christian congregations. In
Hubli, crowds protesting against the violence took to the streets, threw
stones on buses and later torched two buses. They forced the closure of
shops and took out a procession through the city. A bandh was called by
variou s Christian organisations in Hubli-Dharwad on July 10 and 11. In
Bangalore too, agitated crowds were restrained by Christian community
leaders.

The emergence of a bomb culture has provided the Hindu Right and its
leaders the opportunity to deflect the mounting criticism of their
involvement in anti-Christian attacks. When the first incidents of church
bombings took place last month, the leaders were quick to pin the blame,
with zero evidence at the time, on Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence
(ISI). Acharya Giriraj Kishore, the vice-president of the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP), said that he would take Christian leaders to court if they
conti nued to hold the VHP and the Sangh Parivar responsible for the
attacks. A meeting arranged by the National Minorities Commission between
Christian organisations and militant Parivar groups for July 11 was called
off following the bombing incidents.

The first breakthrough made by the Karnataka police in the investigation
of the latest bomb blast at a church in Bangalore reveals the involvement
of a fanatical sect that shares anti-Christian sentiments. The Karnataka
police were quick to establish ini tial leads into the blast. An hour
before the bomb attack in the church, an explosion ripped through a van in
the city killing two of the passengers and seriously injuring the driver.
Police investigations revealed that the kind of explosives-nitroglyc erine
(in the form of gelatin sticks) and ammonium nitrate-used in the church
blast were present in the van. The house of the driver of the van, S.M.
Ibrahim, in Varthur, Bangalore, was searched and incriminating information
found in his computer. A co py of a pamphlet found in the van which
contained a warning to Christian missionaries to "Stop Conversions or Quit
India" with the "Om" symbol prominently displayed was also found on his
computer. Books and pamphlets found in his house revealed that Ibra him is
a member of a small cult organisation called the Deendar
Channabasaveshwara Siddique Firqa. He had let out a part of his house to
members of the sect. C. Dinakar, Director-General of Police, Karnataka,
told Frontline that while the police h ad no evidence yet of the
involvement of the ISI, it had been established that the particular sect
had connections in Pakistan. "We know for example that the leader of the
sect, Syed Zia-ul Hasan, is settled in the city of Mardan near Peshawar."

Little is yet known about the antecedents and ideology of the Siddique
sect. According to Obidulla Sherief, who is the editor of the Urdu
newspaper Daily Pasban and is chairman of the minority cell in the
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC I), the sect, a breakaway from
the Ahmadia group (which is banned in Pakistan), was founded in 1932 in
Hyderabad is the south. "Their founder, Siddique, declared himself an
avatar of Channabasaveshwara, the founder of Veerashaivism," Sherief said.
The se ct, which preaches a form of syncretic Islam, has been
excommunicated by orthodox Muslim religious leaders. The group's
headquarters is in Hyderabad (India), although it has branches in Hubli
and Raichur. It recently held a conference in Tumkur. The basi s for its
anti-Christian sentiments, sources of funding, and other linkages are yet
unclear. Little is known of the Pakistan connection or its motives in
targeting Christians, if it is indeed responsible for the blasts.

"There has been tremendous restraint shown by the Christian community
despite these attacks," Sajan George, national convener of the Global
Council of Indian Christians told Frontline. "But tolerance levels are
coming down and we want some positiv e action by the government to stop
the hate campaign."

Andhra Pradesh has also seen a spate of bomb blasts in churches and prayer
meetings, and the police are now looking for linkages with the Bangalore
incident. The Inter-Church Committee, an umbrella organisation
representing as many as 25 Christian church organisations, called for a
rally and public meeting on July 9 to observe a day of communal harmony in
response to the series of attacks in the State.

T.L. PRABHAKAR At the St. Peter's Church in Bangalore where a bomb exploded
on the night of July 9.

SPOKESPERSONS of the Christian community in Tamil Nadu whom Frontline
spoke to say that their state too is no longer isolated from attacks on
them, especially after the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party to power at
the Centre in 1998. According to them, 14 incidents of violence against
Christians between March 1997 and July 6, 2000 have taken place in the
State. These include attacks on churches, incidents of fires in prayer
halls, preachers being prevented from distributing literature, and so on.
The latest incident took place on July 6 when over-zealous bureaucrats
demolished a small shrine in the compound of the Directorate of Medical
Services in Teynampet, Chennai, an action for which Chief Minister M.
Karunanidhi later apologised.

A publication compiled by the United Christian Forum for Human Rights
(UCFHR), the Catholic Bishops Council in India , the National Council of
Churches in India and the Evangelical Fellowship of India lists 184
incidents of attacks on Christians in India between March 1997 and July
2000. Of these 14 took place in Tamil Nadu. These include cases of arson
in churches, the destruction of the Bethany Fellowship Church in Erode in
=46ebruary 1998, the murder of Belarmine, a Christian worker, in September
1999 in Kanyakumari district, the desecration of icons in several
churches, intimidation of Christian believers, and so on. According to Dr.
Ebe Sunder Raj, joint convener, United Christian Forum for Human Rights,
there was "a definite conspiracy" behind the attacks.

The Tamil Nadu police, however, say that of these incidents a majority
relate to fires breaking out in make-shift, thatched roof structures that
serve as "Assemblies of God" churches belonging to the Pentecostal sect. A
police officer who investigated th e incidents told Frontline that six of
these incidents took place between October 31 and November 7 when the
Deepavali season was at its peak. "Rockets and crackers fired at that time
fell on these prayer halls with thatched roofs resulting in fir es" he
told Frontline.

THE attacks on Christians in Tamil Nadu were strongly criticised at a
public meeting organised by the Tamil Nadu State Committee of the
Communist Party of India (Marxist) on July 6 in Chennai. Speakers from the
CPI(M), the Tamil Maanila Congress, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam and the Congress (I) attributed the attacks to a "planned
conspiracy" of the outfits of the Hindu Right. They pointed out that the
number of such incidents had gone up dramatically after the BJP first came
to power a t the Centre. "A Prime Minister who is in the grip of bigoted
outfits cannot be trusted to provide protection to the minorities," TMC
president G.K. Moopanar observed. Leaders belonging to the Indian Union
Muslim League, the Indian National League, the D alit Panthers of India
and the Rashtriya Janata Dal sharply criticised Karunanidhi for his
party's alliance with the BJP.

There are new organisations and groups that have come into being in the
recent past, as the evidence that the police have unearthed on the
Bangalore blast suggests. These can hardly any longer be dismissed as
fringe groups. Take the Deendar Siddique sect . Its formal or informal
linkages, if any, with other hate groups that have been active in the
recent past in attacks on minorities have yet to be established by the
police. But it is clear that such organisations have become active in an
environment of intolerance and bigotry that the Hindu Right is squarely
responsible for creating.

______

#2.

[Well known Indian journalist, a vigorous defender for the rights of the
minorities, Mr. John Dayal is under attack for his views. His letter to
the National Human Rights Commission of India is posted below]

United Christian Forum for Human Rights
(Representing the Catholic, NCCI and Evangelical Churches)
CBCI Centre, 1 Ashoka Place, New Delhi 110001
=46ounder President: The late Archbishop Alan de Lastic
Coordinators: Archbishop Vincent Concessao Bishop Karam Masih

National Convenor: John Dayal
505 Media Apartments, Link Society
18 IP Extn, Delhi 110092
Phone 2722262, Mobile 9811021072 Fax 2726582
Email: johndayal@v... com

20 July 2000

The Hon'ble Chairman and Members
The National Human Rights Commission
Sardar Patel Bhawan, New Delhi
India

RE: APPREHENSION OF THREAT TO MY LIFE AND LIBERTY

Respected Justice Verma, and Hon'ble members of the NHRC.

Greetings.

It with a full sense of responsibility and faith in the NHRC that I make
this submission to convey to the Commission my apprehensions of danger to
my life and to my liberty.

The following factors lead me to fear a political conspiracy against me as
an activist of the Human Rights movement and a spokesman of the Christian
Community in this country who, together with the late Archbishop Alan de
Lastic and other Church leaders, has played a role in mobilising public
opinion to oppose those involved in violence against the Christian
community since 1997. I have spoken, fearlessly and with substantive
evidence, against those involved in the hate campaign against Christians
and Christianity in India, a hate campaign which, in turn, has begotten
the violence.

I have been politically targeted, among others, by the Spokesman of the
Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as by the Member of the National
Commission for Minorities, Shri John Joseph. The BJP spokesman targetted
me in an official party press conference two months ago. Immediately,
Archbishop de Lastic and I raised the matter with the Hon'ble Prime
Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, in our meeting with him. Mr. Vajpayee
was gracious enough to tell me that I should not have been so attacked in
a party press conference. Archbishop de Lastic in a written statement made
it clear that attempts to subject a community spokesman to such attacks
amounted to silencing the voice of the community.

I have, however, continued to be the target of political attacks when I am
neither a politician nor a member or activist of any political party in
the country. The most recent attacks and insinuations have been made by
the party spokesman in Hyderabad last week. He has been quoted as saying
that (those who made allegations against the Sangh Parivar) `should be
tried for treason. '

I would have let that pass, but there is further evidence forthcoming that
would seem to make it clear that a case is being built up against me for
anti-national activities.

Mr. John Joseph, member, National Commission for Minorities, in recent
interviews to Kerala Shabdam, a prominent Political weekly from Kerala,
and Rediff-on-the-Net, India's biggest international Internet Portal and
newspaper, has targetted me clearly and by name as the main person creating
a divide in the country, and by inference as one involved in terrorist
activity.

In his interview with the Kerala Shabdam, Mr. Joseph has said : "John
Dayal is a political pawn used by subversive elements to bring down a
democratically elected government through a political conspiracy. Dayal has
even started talking in an implied tone that Christians have to retaliate.
The stories about he Christian attacks spread among the Christians
colourfully could excite them, and drive them to terrorist activities
could be the motive behind all these. It is a clandestine move to begin
terrorist activities in the states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and
the north eastern states. " Mr. Joseph said he had conveyed this to the
Prime Minister.

In his interview with the Rediff, Mr. Joseph said: `It is some lay
Christian leaders who are advising Bishops to act against the interests of
the Christian community. Everyone in political circles and media knows who
these Christian leaders are (who stopped NCM's attempts to broker a
dialogue with the Sangh). John Dayal who heads the All India Catholic
Union, the All India Christian Council and the United Christian Forum for
Human Rights. These lay leaders, who want the church to be in trouble,
have turned against the NMC In the name of violence and atrocities, I
suspect some Christian organisations are trying to get foreign funds. '

Hon=EDble Chairman and members of the National Commission for Human Rights,
you will agree that very serious charges have been leveled against me. The
implications of treason, terrorism and anti-national activity, the charge
of getting or trying to get dollars paint a picture of an anti-national
person working against the interests of our homeland. These charges invite,
and must invite, the gravest legal and police proceedings against anyone
guilty.

I am being painted in this colour with ulterior political motives. This
campaign against me is to silence my voice as a Human rights activist and
spokesman and to alienate me from my community and secular society.

It also creates hatred against me, in which any lunatic or political and
communal extremist may be provoked to attack me or otherwise do me bodily
harm

I appeal to you to take notice of my apprehensions and issue necessary
orders that will ensure my safety and security and the lifting of this
grave threat to my liberty and my life.

Thank you

Yours sincerely
John Dayal

______

#3.

[According to a poll conducted on indiatimes.com
Should Bal Thackeray be arrested?
69% said Yes
28% said No
3 % said Can't Say ]
------

CRIME AND (NO) PUNISHMENT

by Ram Puniyani

Currently we are witnessing strange events. Since the ruling D.F. govt.
(Congress and Nationalist Congress) in Maharashtra decided to prosecute
Shiv Sena Supremo Mr. Bal Thackeray for his two editorials in Saamna, which
were inflammatory and provoked communal animosity and hatred between the
communities, the Shiv Sena leadership, including Mr. Thackeray himself are
openly issuing threats that the whole Mumbai, Maharashtra and even whole of
India will burn if The supremo is arrested. Number of intimidating actions
which have threatened the normal life have taken place. In all the language
of Shiv Sena the points being emphasised is that this is an act of revenge
and they will not let it happen. The central govt. is being pressurised to
dismiss the DF govt. as it is inviting trouble to the peace of the state.
At the same time a public interest litigation (PIL) is pending in the court
which is demanding that action be taken against the guilty indicted in the
Shri Krishna Commission report. Meanwhile a minor event, which escaped the
notice of most of us was that Mr. Abu Asim Azami was jailed couple of
months ago, his prosecution orders are also in the process. The response of
Mr. Azami is total contrast to the response of Mr. Thackeray and his
cohorts. Mr. Azami said that he believes in the process of law, even
though, according to him, he has not made any provocative statement calling
for legal action, he is willing to face any legal process as per the law of
the land. Also he appealed to his followers to maintain peace and calm.

Thackeray and Communal Violence:

What is surprising on the first appearance is the fact is that Mr.
Thackeray and his followers are making further provocative statements,
which themselves are damaging to the peace and harmony amongst the
communities. None of them has talked about respect for law and the legal
process, while repeatedly asserting that this is an act of vendetta.

Immediately in the aftermath of Post- Babri riots many a citizens had filed
a PIL calling for action against the venom spewed by the Saamna editorials.
These editorial the more infamous of which exhorted 'Hindus' to be
aggressive (Hinduni Ata Akramak Whayala Have-Samana Jan. 1, 1993) was a
blatant violation of democratic freedom, played a major role in instigating
the rioters. "On 1st January 1993 there was an article in Saamna under the
caption' Hindunni Akramak Vhayala Have',(Hindus should become aggressive
now) openly inciting Hindus to violence." ( Shri Krishna Commission Report
Volume 1 page 13) Saamna during all this period was full of insulting
references to minority community (Muslims) calling them as landya (A
derogatory word for Muslims). Surprise is not that action, though delayed,
is being taken against it, but that Mr. Thackeray managed to escape the
usual process of law so far.

His interview given to Anita Pratap of Time magazine crossed all the limits
of decency, communal amity and plural values, which we have been nurturing
so proudly. In this interview he said that he wants to teach Muslims a
lesson as they want to practice Sharia (Isalmic law) in his motherland,
that if they are leaving Mumbai it is fine, if not they should be kicked
out and that it is Nation of Hindus, Hindu Rashtra and also that if Muslims
have behaved like Jews in Germany, they will be subjected to siliar
treatment here also.

Shri Krishna Commission:

As we all remember in the aftermath of the most ghastly riots, ShriKrishna
Commission was appointed to unravel the truth. While the commission was at
work after the 93 elections Shiv Sena-BJP govt. came to power and on the
ground that nothing comes out of such commissions which are very slow, it
was abolished. Due to popular pressure the Prime Minister asked the Shiv
Sena BJP govt. to revive the commission. At long last when the report was
ready and submitted, the govt. wanted to put it under the carpet on the
pretext that it will revive old wounds. When again under the public
protests it was forced to release the same, the govt. rejected the findings
of the commission on the ground that the commission's report is biased as
judge Shri Krishna is anti-Hindu.

The Shields:

All these efforts to prevent the completion of the work of commission, than
to reject its findings were mainly prompted by the 'inner' understanding
that the crime has been committed by the Shiv Sena leadership. A crime,
which is difficult to conceal. They know their actions can never be
condoned by the constitutional norms. And these were more than proved in
the findings of the commission. This commission debunked the theory that
the anti- Muslim violence was a spontaneous reaction of Hindus as a
reaction to the Muslims burning of Bane family and murder of two Mathadi
workers. "There were attacks going on in the 12 December 1992 to 15
December 1993 period against Muslims and their properties...Several
stabbing incidents carried out by professional criminals with the intention
of whipping up communal frenzy in which the majority of the victims
happened to be Hindus... the communal passions of the Hindus were aroused
to a feverish pitch by the inciting writings, particularly in Samna and
Navakal." [Volume 1, page 21-22]
It put the blame squarely on the Shiv Sena and more so Mr. Thackeray for
instigating and sustaining the riots. The commissions report says "the
irresponsible act of Hindutva Parties in celebrating and gloating over
demolition of Babri structure was like twisting a knife in the wound and
heightened the anguished ire of the Muslims. (vol 1 Pg 4)

Maha Arti was invented and started to mobilise Hindus, and they whipped up
the communal tension. Many a times Maha Artis were followed by communal
violence and exodus of Muslim families of the area. Between 26-12-92 to
5-1-93, 33 Maha Artis were organised. Schedule of Maha Arti was announced
in Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamna'. In this phase Shiv Sainiks procured the
electoral lists and marked the Muslim households and establishments in
different areas. Justice Shri Krishna points out: "The Maha Artis were
started from 26th December 1992 and kept adding to the communal tension and
endangering the fragile peace, which had been established. Some (were used
to deliver) communally inciting speeches and the crowds dispersing from
(them) indulged in damage, looting and arson of Muslim establishments in
the vicinity." (Volume 1,page 13)
The most indicting finding of the commission has been "From the
conversation which could be heard [by Yuvraj Mohite, Mahanagar Reporter, at
Thackray house during the riots], it is clear that Thackeray was directing
Shiv Sainiks, Shakha Pramukhs and other activists of Shiv Sena to attack
the Muslims, to ensure that they give tit for tat and ensure that 'not a
single landya would survive to give the evidence' [vol.ii, Page 173-174]

Shiv Sena : Hindutva Affiliate:

Though Shiv Sena began as outfit demanding jobs for son of the soil, its
first targets were Communist trade Unionists who were fairly powerful that
time. After having 'taken care' of the trade unionists (in collusion with
the management and the ruling Congress party), it turned its attention to
Lungiwallahs, (South Indians especailly Malayalees), than Gujarathis and
then Uttar Bharatiyas in turn, finally it was deflated in the wake of
Mandal Commission implementation when it opposed the same. To revive its
sagging political hold it latched on to the Hindutva band wagon and allied
with BJP to unleash the reign of minority bashing, which is on even
currently.

Indian Constitution, Democracy and Hindutva:

Shiv Sena's Chief openly admires Hitler and has contempt for democracy like
most of the followers of Hindutva politics secretly and openly have. It is
not surprising that they not only openly flaunt the laws of the land (In
the prelude to Babri demolition they openly asserted that the verdict of
Saints is more important to them than the decision of courts) but when
confronted with the legal implications of their crimes they resort to
rousing the passions and open threats rather than respecting the law. In a
way this attitude of Shiv Sena, Bal Thacheray and the followers of Sangh
Parivar (Hindutva ideology ) is not surprising as their very concepts are
opposed to the values of democracy. One hopes that the Govt. does not
buckle under the threats and intimidation's and abandon the path of 'punish
the guilty', the minimum which the democratic norms demand.

______

#4.

=46inancial Times
22 July 2000
Man in the News, Pg. 13

K.S. SUDARSHAN: A self-reliant seer
David Gardner on the leader of a Hindu movement that could hamper the
Indian government's efforts at economic reform

Published: July 21 2000 19:59GMT | Last Updated: July 21 2000 20:17GMT

A month ago, an obscure journal called Panchajanya carried a cover story
claiming that Bombay's exuberant Hindi movie industry had been taken over
by Moslem actors financed by a Dubai-based gangster who is suspected of
masterminding the rigging of international cricket games.

Bizarre even for connoisseurs of conspiracy theory, this confection
crudely aimed to poison the popular perception of Bollywood and Indian
cricket, bastions of secularism until now off-limits to communalist
agitators. But the tale found its way on to India's front pages and leader
columns for a different reason. Panchajanya is an organ of the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (Association of National Volunteers), the mother
organisation of the party that governs India, the Hindu revivalist
Bharatiya Janata party (BJP).

And, under the new leadership of K.S. Sudarshan, a Hindu fundamentalist,
the RSS is not just trying to influence India's social climate but to
determine government policy. How far he gets could determine what happens
to the government of Atal Behari Vajpayee, the BJP prime minister who owes
his majority to 24, mainly secular, coalition partners. These include some
who worry that RSS zealotry will damage them electorally and others who
fear it will derail reform of India's economy.

In a rare interview with a private TV station, Mr Sudarshan last week told
the BJP it must fence off the economy from rapacious multinationals that
the RSS likens to the East India Company that preceded the Raj, because
they want to pillage India's assets, flood it with imports and bleed it
through debt. Mr Vajpayee was re-elected last October on a platform to
open up an underperforming economy that is still highly regulated,
relatively closed and state-dominated.

This is not the prime minister's first run-in with Mr Sudarshan, who took
over in March predicting "an epic war between Hindus and anti-Hindus", and
preaching swadeshi-the economic self-reliance he believes should underlie
"a resurgent Hindu race". But it is beginning to invite speculation over
the extent to which India is governed from Delhi or from Nagpur, the RSS
leader's headquarters in central India.

The Volunteers, in their khaki shorts and forage caps and with their
paramilitary drill and ascetic discipline, have come a long way. Founded
in 1925 as a semi-secret society influenced by European fascism, the RSS
has proliferated through a protean structure of more than 100 front
organisations-of which the BJP is one. These are bound together by a cadre
of about 5,000 full-time organisers known as pracharaks or "preachers",
most of whom take vows of celibacy.

Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, who described the RSS as
"an Indian version of fascism", nevertheless largely ignored it except for
a two-year ban after a former Volunteer assassinated Mahatma Gandhi in
1948. Indira Gandhi, however, made the fatal mistake of jailing Volunteers
by the thousand during the 1975-1977 emergency, thereby furnishing them
with a prized credential for office in India, a prison term.

Much of the credit for the subsequent success of the BJP, founded in 1980,
has gone to Mr Vajpayee, an RSS pracharak for almost half a century whose
liberal instincts and emollient character have made him a focus of
consensus. Yet the governing party's surge from the margins of Indian
politics-it won two seats at its first outing in 1984-can be traced in
part to Mr Sudarshan's more shadowy career.

Kuppahalli Sitharamaiya Sudarshan was born in Raipur in central India 69
years ago, and became a pracharak in 1954. He was chosen by M.S.
Golwalkar, a key RSS ideologue and admirer of Adolf Hitler, to be the
organisation's "physical training chief" in 1969. By 1979, on the eve of
the BJP's creation, he had become the chief RSS ideologue as its bauddhik
pramukh or "intellectual head".

He is the fifth in a line of Brahmins from poor backgrounds who have led
the RSS. All of them were trained as scientists, in his case as an
engineer. But for these Hindu fundamentalists the uses of modern science
do not go much beyond the development of the nuclear bombs the Vajpayee
government tested in May 1998.

All but four BJP ministers are RSS members and officials acknowledge
privately that the organisation has influenced the composition of the
government.

Pramod Mahajan, the young minister responsible for India's booming IT
industry and for managing the coalition in parliament, is rare in being
willing to state this publicly. "Everyone knows we are RSS," he said, "the
relationship between the BJP and the RSS is like flesh and blood- it is
hard to know where the flesh ends and the blood begins."

Mr Sudarshan himself, moreover, was the envoy sent to Mr Vajpayee in 1998
to veto Jaswant Singh, the foreign minister, a non-RSS man the prime
minister originally wanted in the finance portfolio. So should RSS threats
to launch a nationwide "agitation" against economic reform and
globalisation be taken seriously?

Mr Vajpayee's friends believe he will win because the RSS will ultimately
balk at bringing down the government. "Sudarshan is prepared to strike,
but afraid to wound," as one analyst puts it. "The RSS also understands
the importance of being in power," says Mr Mahajan.

Indeed, despite his hardline reputation, Mr Sudarshan has always been on
what is called the "assimilationist" wing of the RSS. This approach
specialises in ideological hijacking: of Mahatma Gandhi's legacy, of the
mystique of B.R. Ambedkar, the "untouchable" or Dalit leader who-the upper
caste-dominated RSS has craftily pointed out to the astrology-minded
Indians-shares the same birthday as K.B. Hedgewar, its founder.

Mr Sudarshan himself makes light of differences with the government, but
in a way Mr Vajpayee would be wise to note. "The RSS works for 25 years
ahead. The government works for today. That is why there are apparent
contradictions," says the RSS leader. "We are working to create an agenda
that no government, BJP or non-BJP, can afford to ignore".
______________________________________________
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