[sacw] SACW Dispatch | 20 Sept. 00

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch
20 September 2000
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

#1. Pakistan: Secularism - a much maligned concept ( by S. Khurshid Hasanai=
n)
#2. Pakistan: The Mob Mentality ( by Aziz Malik)
#3. Many faces, one image [US's Kashmir stance] (by Balraj Puri)
#4. India: Watch Big Brother ( Edit, The telegraph)
#5. India: The masses will decide [policy towards BJP] (by Mushirul Hasan)
#6. India: Face is the Mask ( by Ram Puniyani)

-----------------------------------

#1.

DAWN - the Internet Edition
18 September 2000=20=20=20=20
Opinion

SECULARISM - A MUCH MALIGNED CONCEPT

By Dr S. Khurshid Hasanain

THE issue of Islamic militancy, the distinction between such militancy and
terrorism and the relationship of Pakistan to such movements have acquired
a heightened seriousness in recent days. Emanating from western capitals,
there is a spate of warnings and expressions of deep concern directed
towards Pakistan, urging a strict check on the activities of Islamic
militancy in Kashmir and elsewhere.=20

The US has also raised the possibility of declaring Pakistan a state that
is supporting terrorist organizations. While the current alarm in western
capitals stems from the hijacking of the Indian airliner by Kashmiri
militants, the actual concern, namely political Islam and its perceived
threat to western interests, has much deeper roots.=20

How is a political tendency based on religion and proclaiming a universal
mission of liberation, which finds its extreme manifestation in militant
Islamic groups, compatible with the notion of sovereign national states? In
particular, does the western world with its liberal democratic dispensation
stand threatened with such a politicization? And if so what does it entail
for us, with our commitment to a democratic political order as well as our
benign attitude to such politics and such organizations?=20

The dilemma is well illustrated by the inability of the present government
to restrict the activities of militant Islamic groups on the demands of the
West, reportedly on the grounds that while terrorism was condemnable, jihad
is a religious duty of Muslims. While there are obvious tactical reasons,
related to the role of such groups in the uprising in Kashmir, which may
demand such a position, there may also be the genuine concern that in
popular perception, such an action could be construed as a betrayal of Isla=
m.=20

Seizing upon this perceived weakness, even while the demand to clamp down
on the militant groups grows, new leaders and groups are emerging. They
make no secret of their arsenals or their agendas that go far beyond the
liberation of Kashmir. The wheel of militancy in a sense has come full
circle. Initially the state used the construct of religion to legitimize
its political ambitions with the populace, while now it is the populace,
steeped in this rhetoric, who support and may indeed resist a backing away
from the jihadi posture, again in the name of religion.=20

The concerns of the West and of liberal elements at home are partially
based on the assessment that the underlying assumptions of the liberal
democratic and Islamist politics are conflicting not just in a practical
but also in a more fundamental, epistemological sense. The former bases
itself on the idea that knowledge is acquired and social truth is to be
established through a critical debate based on observable facts. The
process is evolutionary in character, hopefully leading to a consensus or a
majority decision. Truth is man made, as also is its falsification.=20

There is no a priori superiority of one idea over another and there can be
no claims to eternal validity. Reasoning, argumentation and a consensus
based on the interests of the majority are expected to be the driving
forces. Islamist politics, on the other hand, is based on the fundamental
notion that knowledge is revealed and the message has been delivered in its
complete and un-challengeable form. Argumentation and debate are for the
purpose of clarifying or comprehending the edicts not to add to their
content. Ideal social and political forms are to be found in the Arabian
Muslim society of the 7th century A.D. and salvation as well as the
ultimate fulfilment of human ambition is to implant those values and
institutions.=20

Violence and coercion can thus acquire a morally justifiable role in the
enforcement of dogmas when it is held to be a spiritual and moral duty.
While there are certain sects that lay greater stress on interpretation of
religious edicts - and the religious government in Iran is an important
example - this is a minority position.=20

One notes, however, that historically there have been several noteworthy
efforts to bridge the gap between these two positions: liberalism and
traditional religious thought. Modernization of Islam has found several
notable champions - Jamaluddin Afghani, Sir Syed, Allama Iqbal and Ali
Shariati, to name but a few. It is significant that the modernization
efforts of these stalwarts, while rooted in a profound sense of Islamic
values, have all been deeply influenced by the stream of intellectual
developments of the West with varied components such as Marxism,
liberalism, popular democracy, and even existentialism.=20

The attempts of Muslim modernists have emphasized that the project of
emancipation of human beings from the various forms of social bondage has
spiritual support in, and can seek moral guidance from, Islam. In doing so
they have in varying ways attempted to show the compatibility of modern
social and political ideas and movements with the fundamental teachings of
Islam.=20

To what extent these modernization efforts have influenced mass Muslim
consciousness can be debated, but as far as Pakistan is concerned, the fact
remains that currently we are threatened by the militant forces of a
traditional Islamist polity. With the discrediting of the traditional
political parties, and their leadership on the run or incarcerated, if the
military regime fails to deliver, the field will be open for these groups.
It goes without saying that their ascendance to power would further erode
any advances made in the direction of general social enlightenment and
emancipation.=20

The attempts to enforce social and political attitudes of medieval society
to current-day Pakistan with its complex and diverse composition would be
disastrous, good intentions notwithstanding. To confront this challenge, we
have to choose between some of the basic options. We either continue as we
have been doing, that is with the epithet of an Islamic state where
vestiges of colonial rule have been combined with traditional forms of
dis-empowerment and oppression, or strike out in a more rational, modernist
direction.=20

Do we remain an overtly Islamic state, where such basic measures as the
registration of marriages or divorce, controls on polygamy, emancipation of
women and enforcement of basic human rights remain contentious issues? Do
we continue with an ideological baggage which precludes the teaching of
history or other social sciences objectively and continues to create
cleavages and hatreds based on religious identity - in other words, based
on the accident of birth? Do we wish to continue on a path where at the
beginning of the twentyfirst century we stand a hysterical people, armed
with our ignorance and an atomic bomb, threatened with being consigned to
the status of a pariah state?=20

How many more desperate suicides, how many more honour killings, sectarian
massacres, gang rapes, abuses of children, and decimation of
poverty-stricken haris in bondage will it take to convince us that the
Islamization of the state is simply not working? We have failed to develop
institutions that are needed to give our people freedom and dignity because
we have been building on myths, pursuing a mirage - that there are ordained
solutions to our problems - that we can run away from the existential
problem of defining our choices and values.=20

We can, on the other hand, choose to move from the notion of an Islamic
state towards that of a secular state predominantly comprising of Muslims.
To do so is not to betray the ideals of the founding fathers but to realize
them, in constructing a state where citizens decide about laws, social
goals and priorities on a rational, humanitarian basis. While making its
choices this citizenry would of course derive from its innate spirituality
and religious values. But in contrast to today, it would do so voluntarily
and individually, not as a compulsion. It could throw aside obscurantist
interpretations and rules that stand in the way of emancipation of men and
women and strive to build a society where injustices cannot be perpetuated
by an alliance of the elite and reactionary clergy.=20

Furthermore, as the project of modernization of Islam unfolds alongside,
the fundamental values of the Muslim majority will find new
interpretations, expressions and manifestations. To seek a secular
disposition of the state is not to banish religion but to ensure that it
shall intercede in the affairs of the state only to the extent that the
people internalize its exhortations. It is to ensure that the political
arena affords space to a continuing dialogue and dialectic between
tradition and modernity, constancy and change, with the people as the
ultimate arbiters of their destiny.=20

______

#2.

DAWN
20 Sept. 2000
Features

THE MOB MENTALITY

By Aziz Malik

SOMEONE has, perhaps, rightly described Pakistanis not
as a nation but a "mob." This mob mentality is witnessed almost daily
somewhere in the country.

When someone says the Kalabagh dam would be detrimental to the country,
everyone repeats it in a chorus, including those who do not even know the
'ABC' of the irrigation system.

When someone says that the devolution of power plan is "a conspiracy" to
enforce One-Unit for the second time, everyone follows suit. We, as a
nation, do not believe in trying to understand things by ourselves before
joining the bandwagon.

This mob mentality was witnessed in Hyderabad on Sept 11 when a tax survey
team visited Tilik Chaari to collect survey forms.

To his bad luck, a non-Muslim income tax inspector was in the survey team.
He was reported to have made some derogatory remarks against the beard of a
shopkeeper. He denied this but, nevertheless, apologised and was forgiven.

However, when a religious group, having offices at Tilik Chaari, got wind
of it all hell broke loose. The religious sentiments of the people got
provoked and they turned into a mob, which wanted to "roast" the "guilty"
officer alive. "Hand him over to us, burn him, kill him," was the demand.
It is perhaps Ahmed Faraz who has said "Amir-i-Shahr faqeeron ko loot leta
hai, kabhi baheela-i-mazhab, kabhi banam-i-wattan." (The ruler continues to
loot the poor either in the name of religion or in the name of the
motherland).

The survey team was detained for two hours. The police had to resort to
intense aerial firing and teargas shelling. The city SDM, Sohail Rajput,
deserves credit for handling the situation. Capt Safdar is also to be
praised for withstanding pressure and refusing to hand over the tax officer
to the mob.

The deputy commissioner, Rizwan Ahmed, also held discussions with the
representatives of the traders' organisations. But since passions were
running high the administration was forced to register an FIR against the
inspector, under the blasphemy laws and arrest him. A counter-FIR for
rioting against the some persons was also registered.

When a colleague asked whether the inspector was guilty of blasphemy, I, as
a student of law, told him that he was not. Later, events proved I was
right. The ATC judge while granting "transitory remand" to the accused held
that "at the most, the allegation with regard to personal insult and
defamation of the complainant has been made out which at the most falls
under Section 504 of the PPC. Since no allegation attracting provision of
Section 295-A PPC has been made out, no remand in police custody could be
allowed..."

It is indeed a happy augury that we still have judges who refuse to succumb
to the pressure of religious groups. The inspector, whether someone likes
it or not, has been and is being crucified not only at the altar of zealots
but also by political parties who want mileage.

It was understandable when the JI Amir, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, visited the
shopkeeper and extended his support but it is incomprehensible that the
provincial president of the PPP, Nisar Khuhro, also went to sympathize with
the complainant on behalf of no less a person than Benazir Bhutto. It has
been made a cause celebre by all and sundry.

The redeeming feature is that the traders organizations had stepped in and
had taken the matter into their hands before the issue could be hijacked by
religious parties. Saner elements believe the traders took a wise step by
announcing a general strike the next day.

It cannot be understood why the survey teams were so anxious to collect the
forms when the Anjuman Tajran-i-Sindh had assured, at a press briefing on
Aug 30, that the submission of the forms would be voluntary.

This organization had also constituted a liaison committee, comprising five
members, for assisting the survey teams and requested them to contact the
traders associations' office- bearers of the area. They had sought time
till Sept 25.

Keeping this in view, and written assurance given to the income tax
commissioner and the collector of customs on Sept 6, the survey teams
should have taken the traders' bodies into confidence before starting the
collection campaign thus possibly avoiding the unfortunate incident.

Some religious zealots have made a mockery of the blasphemy laws. The
income tax official was a non-Muslim and was, therefore, a handy scapegoat.
But the irony is that even leaders of religious parties are being accused
of committing blasphemy.

The latest incident in Dadu is perhaps the best, or the worst, example in
which the general secretary of the Sindh JUI, Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro and
his partymen have been accused of committing blasphemy. An FIR has also
been registered at the Dadu police station by another religious group.

Imagine the party of Maulana Fazlur Rehman committing blasphemy. Pakistan
is an Islamic Republic and no one, including non-Muslims, dare pass
derogatory remarks against the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him), his
companions or Muslim saints and scholars. But it is very easy to accuse
anyone of blasphemy and the mob would simply lynch him, without any
verification, once that is done.

It is unfortunate that our religious leaders are maintaining a discreet
silence on the issue although they are duty-bound to educate people about
what blasphemy is and what it is not. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maulana Shah
Ahmed Noorani, Maulana Abdus Sattar Niazi, Maulana Samiul Haq, Qazi Hussain
Ahmed, Maulana Tahirul Qadri and other religious scholars should discuss
this matter in its true perspective on television.

The real Jehad is to fight against bigotry and hearsay.

_____

#3.

The Hindustan Times
20 September 2000
Op-Ed.

Opinion=20=20
=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20
MANY FACES, ONE IMAGE=20

by Balraj Puri

On the eve of Atal Behari Vajpayee=92s visit to the US, President Bill
Clinton, in an exclusive interview to The Hindustan Times, counselled that
there should be direct discussion between India and Pakistan for a solution
to the Kashmir issue.

He further emphasised that =93the wishes of the Kashmiri people must be tak=
en
into account=94. A few days earlier, he had referred to the Kashmir issue, =
in
another context, as a problem of Hindu-Muslim relations.

The statement is no different from the oft-repeated stance of the US State
Department that the =93Kashmir issue should be resolved according to the
wishes of the people, both Hindus and Muslims.=94 =91The warmth and depth=
=92 of
India-US relations and the =91constrained relationship=92 between America a=
nd
Pakistan due to =91serious differences that Clinton mentioned need not have
been reflected in a change in the basic policy of America on Kashmir. But
it represents a partial view of the reality and needs to be corrected.

Hindus and Muslims are, no doubt, the two principal communities of Jammu
and Kashmir. But they are not a homogeneous community. There are other
dimensions of their identities which are also important.

It is like advising America that its policies be framed by Protestants and
Catholics, the two religious denominations that almost comprise the whole
American nation. But that does not sum up the American reality. Nor is
public opinion divided along these lines on every issue. More correctly,
the American nation is described as composed of blacks, whites,
Anglo-Saxons, Latin, Spanish, South Asian, Chinese and other ethnic
identities. Why can=92t the US Government conceive of the multiple dimensio=
ns
of plurality in J&K?

Kashmiri Muslims are indeed devout Muslims. But it would be grave injustice
to them not to recognise the fact that they are also proud Kashmiris. They
are perhaps the only community of the sub-continent that has a recorded
history of 5,000 years. Other ethnic identities here are Dogras, Punjabis,
Paharis and Ladakhis. Gujjars are of a distinct ethnic stock =97 they are
Muslims but have as much emotional affinity with Hindu Gujjars in the rest
of the country as with non-Gujjar Muslims of the state.

It is true that due to over a decade of militancy, religious identities
have become more pronounced. Also, a unitary form of Constitution imposed
on the state has suppressed all forms of identities except those based on
religion. But this may not be a permanent reality. Though the political
distance between Kashmiri Muslims and Hindus has increased, but they share
a common language, culture and heritage.

In case of other communities, the distances are not that wide. Cultural and
political differences do exist between ethnic communities belonging to the
same religion. For a lasting solution, multiple identities of the people
must be taken into account.

The experience of Bangladesh may be relevant in this context. In 1947, the
Bengali Muslims, due to pervading communal violence, became conscious of
his communal identity vis-a-vis the Punjabi Muslims. But as soon as the
communal threat was over, he rediscovered and asserted his basic Bengali
identity.

Historically speaking, the Kashmiri identity has played a far more
important role in its politics than the Muslim identity. Before 1947, the
political support by Indian leaders =97 in particular by Gandhi and Nehru =
=97
to the struggle of the people of Kashmir against an autocratic rule, and
later at the time of Partition, to their right to choose between India and
Pakistan (in contrast to the Muslims League=92s continuous opposition)
attracted them to Hindu majority India instead of what was called the
homeland of Muslims. As Kashmiri Muslims felt that their Kashmiri identity
was threatened by the Muslim raiders from Pakistan, who tried to annex them
to that country forcibly, they sought Indian help and welcomed the Indian
Army.

The Muslim majority state acceded to India in 1947 when communal violence
had peaked in the sub-continent. But the same people who had treated India
as their saviour perceived a threat from it by 1953. Sheikh Abdullah was
dismissed from power and put under detention at a time when Indian
secularism was just about blossoming.

The zigzag attitude of Kashmiri Muslims to their relations with India
cannot be explained in terms of Hindu-Muslim relations in the country or in
the state. It was not so much a failure of secularism in India or in the
state as that of federalism and democracy at both levels due to which
Kashmiri aspirations could not be fulfilled. There is no doubt that a large
number of Kashmiri Muslims are alienated from India today but no
pro-Pakistan sentiment is yet visible. Their alienation is more as
Kashmiris than as Muslims.

I am not discussing here a possible solution to the Kashmir problem but
merely pointing out the fallacies in the US position on Kashmir. Earlier,
due to this premise, the tilt of the US was towards Pakistan. On account of
the unique clout of the US in a unipolar world today, these proposals are
also being considered in India and Pakistan.

It has been reported that American influence worked behind the recent peace
efforts and the short-lived cease-fire between the Hizbul Mujahideen and
the Indian Government. The presumed US backing for the reorganisation of
the state on religious basis is one factor which has sharpened the idea of
divided religious identities in Kashmir. May be, it suits Pakistan as it
validates the two-nation theory and disturbs the status quo.

As of now, India is more prone to the influence of a friendly US than it
ever was. But a policy based on fallacious assumptions may turn out to be
disastrous for J&K, and in the long run, for peace in the sub-continent.=20

______

#4.

The Telegraph
20 September 2000
EDITORIAL 1/=20

WATCH BIG BROTHER=20=20

Every now and then Orwellian clich=E9s vex the daily lives of people in
India. Cinema halls in Calcutta are getting ready to shut down in protest
against a new form of intervention from the Centre. The ministry of
information and broadcasting, led by Mr Arun Jaitley, has threatened
hall-owners, in Calcutta and elsewhere in West Bengal, with punishment if
they do not screen the documentaries produced by the Centre=92s films
division. The =93Indian news reel=94 had died a quiet and happy death in th=
e
state around the late Seventies, largely because of the boredom and lack of
interest these dreary pieces of nationalist propaganda met with,
unanimously, from filmgoers. Hall-owners also claim they were assured by
the ministry that the law on this mandatory screening would be reviewed and
the documentaries distributed free of charge. This renewed enforcement of
the West Bengal Cinemas (Regulation) Act, framed in the socialist Fifties,
insists on the screening of these films and imposes a levy on the sales.
Not only is the private entertainment market being subjected to an
obnoxious and aesthetically insulting form of governmental control, but
exhibitors are also being made to pay for this dose of antiquated tedium.

The larger implications of this latest instance of obtrusive legalism from
Mr Jaitley and his ministry are ominous. The sphere of private
entertainment is being reclaimed for control and homogenization. The rest
of the country does it and so must West Bengal, says Mr Jaitley. His mode
of enforcement is also blatantly punitive, with the Calcutta police
commissioner assuring him full support. It is particularly sinister, in Mr
Jaitley=92s case, to see the Thought Police speaking the liberalizing
language of the free market. Paradoxically, the ceiling on cinema ticket
prices has been removed recently in West Bengal. Alarming, too, is the
thought of Mr Jaitley=92s other ministerial charge, law and justice. From t=
he
masterly doublespeak around the suppression of Ms Deepa Mehta=92s film,
Water, to the numerous attempts at structuring the nation=92s moral and
religious education, the old face of the Bharatiya Janata Party is never
quite allowed to be forgotten, whatever its diluted and updated guise. The
culture ministry has recently vetoed an exhibit at New Delhi=92s National
Gallery of Modern Art because the painter had perched a male nude atop the
Ashokan pillar. The Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts disallowed Henri
Cartier-Bresson=92s classic photograph of Jawaharlal Nehru with Edwina
Mountbatten for the artist=92s solo exhibition in the capital. National
interests and projections continue to operate coercively through the state
machinery in the sphere of culture, in its widest definition. It is to the
credit of Calcutta=92s filmgoers, whatever the altitude of their brows, tha=
t
they had managed to keep propaganda at bay by simply refusing to turn up in
time to watch it.=20=20=20=20
_____

#5.=20

Indian Express
20 September 2000
Op-Ed.

THE MASSES WILL DECIDE=20

by Mushirul Hasan

A French journalist reminds us of our cultural and civilisational norms.
One is amused but not offended. As if this was not enough, he exhorts us
how to read and interpret our own history. The eminent historian, D.D.
Kosambi, must be turning in his grave. He was one of those who believed
that historians should be given power by attaching more credibility to
scientifically-founded knowledge of the past rather than the claim of
amateurs.

Now, a leading Indian columnist admonishes India's 110 million Muslims not
to retreat `into fundamental ghettos sustained by foreign funding.'
Assuming that the criterion for nationhood is determined by one's loyalty
to the BJP, he expects them `to forge an expedient working relationship'
with that party. Without referring to the historical roots of their
estrangement, he warns them of `the grim consequences of a contrived
alienation.' Besides the Muslims, this stern warning must alert millions of
others who may have decided not to vote for the BJP in the forthcoming
Assembly elections. I fear the next step would be putting the Christians on
the firing line.

In his customary acerbic tone, the columnist proceeds to target the mullahs
as well as the `modernists' -- people like you and me who pursue our
vocation in life unobtrusively, raise our voice against intolerance and
religio-political bigotry and nurture the vision of a strong and united
India. Why? The answer is that you and I share `a deep-rooted... aversion
to the BJP', and that we do not recognise its leaders as the new avatars
guiding our nation. The vehemence of his vituperation reaches its crescendo
when the Bakhts and Naqvis are compared with Maulana Azad, Khan Abdul
Ghaffar Khan and Rafi Ahmad Kidwai. This is, to say the least, adding
insult to injury.

That is not all. The columnist is indignant because the certified
`engineers of secularism' and `secular fundamentalists' have dismissed as a
sham Bangaru Laxman's overtures. Although cynicism and bitterness is so
palpably reflected in the usage of such expressions, the noteworthy point
that is conveniently overlooked is that Bangaru Laxman has, after all,
struck a favourable chord among some Muslim spokesmen. If others have not
joined the bandwagon, it is because their local and regional interests,
coupled with their ideology, are not served by tying up with the BJP.
Neither the first nor the second sets of people act as Muslims per se. Sure
enough, the self-appointed Muslim leaders (not the Bakhts or the Naqvis)
will decide whether Laxman's gesture merits a degree of reciprocity or not,
though the decision will ultimately rest with the Muslim peasant in
Barabanki, the coal mine worker in Dhanbad, and the fishermen in coastal
Andhra.

For the moment, though, the BJP president will have to come to terms with
the widespread aversion to his party -- an aversion, I hasten to add,
shared by many castes, communities and political groupings. If he has a
special fondness for the Muslims and desires their `expedient relationship'
with his party, he will have to devise ways and means of redressing their
grievances. If he wants them to soften their opposition, he will have to
airlift the Hindutva ideologues to the Staten Island for rest and
recuperation. In short, he will have to accept the primacy of the
Constitution as the reference point for nurturing a national perspective.

This brings me to the Congress-led Muslim `mass contact' campaign of 1937.
Flaunting my knowledge of history is not my style, and yet one has to
refute ill-informed views and interpretations. First of all, Jawaharlal
Nehru, the architect of the idea, was impressed by the favourable Muslim
responses to the 1937 election campaign. The ensuing drive reflected a
change from the corporate conception and strategy of direct appeals to
Muslims to a policy of more self-conscious, secular appeals, and direct
strategy of developing support. Contrary to what this columnist thinks, the
strategy paid off for the time being. By mid-1938, a hundred thousand
Muslims were enrolled as primary members of the Congress outside Uttar
Pradesh, Bengal, and the NWFP. Of these, 25,000 were from Bihar, 15,000
from Madras, and 13,995 from Punjab.

The campaign petered out not because of countrywide Muslim opposition, but
because it was devoid of any social and economic content, and that it
offered too little, too late. The secularist, radical rhetoric alarmed
vested interests. The Muslim Leaguers perceived a threat to their very
existence and felt that, unless they woo the poor Muslims in urban and
rural areas, they might find the Congress walking away with their flock.
Although the Congress and the League had existed as separate organisations,
never before was there such a rivalry between them for association with the
Muslim masses. Second, the Congress effort was in large part confined to
urban areas with little activity expended in the villages or among the
underprivileged groups, thus averting Nehru's interest in disassociating
Muslim peasants from Muslim landlords. Nisar Ahmad, an advocate from
Bahawalpur, complained that the Congress had not reached the Muslim masses
-- `the backbone of the community'. The pattern of mobilisation was thus
similarto that of 1930 to 1932, when Congress leaders minimised civil
disobedience propaganda in areas with high proportion of Muslims in order
to avoid igniting communal passions.

Finally, the strategy fell prey as well to a divided Congress and to
opposition from Hindu nationalists that feared the influx of Muslim
activists having a critical and unacceptable influence on party policy.
People like G.B. Pant, J.B. Kripalani and Morarji Desai girded themselves
to resist the campaign that threatened their political dominance and raised
the chances of Nehru's Muslim and communist allies dominating the Congress.
Part of their strategy was to starve mass contact committees of funds, to
fill them with rank communalists and to ensure that Muslims were eased out
of Congress committees. Thus senior Congress office-bearers in Gorakhpur
led a Holi procession with spears, swords, and sticks on display. Khushi
Lal, chairman of the Dehradun municipal board, lamented that Congressmen
tried imposing a social boycott of `the Muslims for the sins, imaginary or
real, of one or two.'

Important lessons must be learnt from the `failure' of the `mass contact'.
One of them is that national unity, grounded on the principles of
democracy, secularism, social justice and equity, must be the cardinal
political assumption in the nation-building enterprise. The other is not to
stigmatise or essentialise a community, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian,
but to help build bridges of fraternity and understanding. It will be
comforting if religious and political fundamentalists can be converted to
this idea sooner than later.

If Laxman has a special fondness for the Muslims and desires their
`expedient relationship' with his party, he will have to redress their
grievances

Copyright =A9 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

_____

#6.

>From Free Press Journal
20th Sept. 2000

FACE IS THE MASK

by Ram Puniyani *

Recently during his visit to US, Mr. Vajapayee, while addressing the
function organized by VHP and other affiliates of RSS at Staten Island
emotionally and proudly declared that he is the Swayamsevak first. As this
statement implied his association with RSS, there was a prompt reaction to
this from the opposition and the media. In response Mr.Vajapayee issued
another statement, which was like putting wool in the eyes of all
concerned. He tried to give the impression that what he means is that he is
swayamsevak of India. To this in turn RSS went on to issue slight
displeasure while putting the matters straight by stating that Mr. Vajpayee
is the swayamsevak of RSS and his trying to create an impression of not
being associated with RSS is merely for pleasing the allies in the Govt.
The storm in the teacup has currently subsided.

Vajapayee: In The Eye of The Storm

Few years ago the similar issue attracted the pubic attention when Mr.
Govindacharya, the one most trusted by RSS for his ideological
understanding of Hindutva ideology and politics, raised a similar storm
when he went on to say that Mr. Vajpayee is the mask for the Sangh Parivar
Politics. As a matter of fact Mr. Govindacharya was trying to explain the
liberal looking policies of BJP led coalition and the necessity of the same
for the long-term goals oh Sangh Parivar's goal of Hindu Rashtra. Mr.
Vajapayee despite being in BJP, despite being the RSS swayamsevak has
created an impression in the public that he is a moderate, that he has
respect for other's religion also, that he cried when his associates
demolished the Babri Mosque etc. The popular perception, which he has
created, was best put forth by Mr. Murosoli Mara, the DMK leader and part
of Vajapyee's present cabinet, during the Lok Sabha debate when BJP in 96
was asked to form the Govt. by the then President Mr. Shankar Dayal Shrama,
the they (DMK) will not ally with the BJP despite Vajapayee being the P.M.
as Mr. Vajapayee is the 'Right man in the Wrong Party'. It is to the
'credit' of the present PM that despite being the hard core RSS member
since last five decades or so his public projection has been such that even
many of those who seriously follow political chessboard are taken in by the
mannerism and projection by this politician whose politics can best be
described by one his earlier poems, 'Hindu Tan Man Hindu Jeevan' (Hindu
body and Soul)

Vajapayee and RSS

Couple of years ago in an article put on the net (this article also
appeared in newspapers) "The Sangh is my soul" for the consumption of NRI's
and for soliciting their support for Sangh Parivar, he says, "When I wrote
'Hindu Tan Man Hindu Jeevan' I was a student of class X. Till 1947 I did
the RSS work at shakha level ... I was then studying for my Intermediate
examination." In the same article he claimed to have participated in the
freedom struggle, (its another matter that this lie of his was exposed in
Feb.20, 1998 issue of Frontline), for various reasons this article was soon
withdrawn from circulation. In 1952 when ShayamaPrasad Mookerjee founded
the previous avatar of BJP, Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) the then RSS supremo
Mr. Golwalkar, loaned Mr. Vajapayee for working in this party. BJS raised
the Hindutva agenda and gradually started gaining following amongst the
elite-upper caste Hindus in the initial phase. Its anti-Muslim stance was
clear when it began the campaign to 'Indianise Muslim'. Despite its efforts
it could not become broad party with mass following due to the its image of
a party of those who killed Mahatma. Its joining the Jaya Praksh Narayan
led movement changed its political fortunes and soon it became part of the
Janata Party which came to power after the lifting of emergency. Mr.
Vajapayee as the leading person from erstwhile BJS got the plum portfolio
of External affairs. This honeymoon with the Janata party did not last long
as the other components of Janata party demanded that there would be no
duel membership. The BJS component led by him was also simultaneously
member of RSS. All these leaders had been administered the pledge at
Rajaghat by JP that they will shun communal politics. RSS's communal image
as an anti Muslim organization due to its activities was more than clear to
all and sundry. He and his associates in the ministry preferred to break
the Janata Party rather than renounce the membership of RSS and this move
of their tells all the story as to what is the real aim of Vajapayee and
Co. in continuing in electoral politics.

Babri Demolition and After

Around the RamjanmBhumi campaign BJP could polarize the society. It could
consolidate the elite/uppercastes around itself and started emerging as the
major electoral outfit for the first time. It was Mr. Advani who was
leading the Hindutva campaign and was the aggressive face of Sangh Parivar
(SP) politics. But its support base was not adequate enough to bring it to
power on its own. It is at this moment they realized that they will have to
go in for coalition politics and will need a 'mask' to lure the secular
sounding parties. Advani had so far playing the role of a Hindutva Hawk who
was too deeply identified with Muslim hatred and the minority bashing. He
himself came with the proposal that if BJP comes to power it will be
Vajapayee who will be the PM. And this trick of BJP paid in due course with
politicians ranging from Maran to Fernandes to Paswan, the erstwhile
critics of Hindutva and Hindu Rashtra started veering around to the
argument that how can any Govt. be a communal one when a person like
Vajapayee is leading the pack.

Are the Mask and the Face different?

It is sheer naivet to believe that Vajapayee is a moderate and Advani and
Govindacharya's are hawks. There may be some difference in their approach
about the tactics of the SP politics. But as far as the deeper strategy and
the goals are concerned they are all ideal pawns in the RSS project of
Hindu Rashtra, contributing to that in their own different ways and playing
the roles, which are ideal foils to each other. At the same time they are
clever enough to keep simmering the superficial differences while strongly
holding their hands together as Shakha (RSS branch) brothers.

[* Secretary-EKTA (Committee for Communal Amity) B-64, I.I T. Qutrs,Powai
Mumbai 400076, India
Ph- (R)-5723522, 5725045 ,5768763,(O) 5767763, 5767769]

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