[sacw] SACW #2. | 31 Jan. 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire - Dispatch #2. | 31 January 2002

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#1. Bangladesh acid attacks soar
#2. Pakistan 'not meant to be secular'
#3. A letter from Pakistan (M.B. Naqvi)
#4. India: Militant Hinduism takes center stage again (Sultan Shahin)
#5. India: Temple Once Again (Ram Puniyani)

________________________

#1.

BBC News
Wednesday, 30 January, 2002, 13:37 GMT
Bangladesh acid attacks soar
The breakdown of law and order could be connected

By the BBC's Alistair Lawson in Dhaka
Figures released by the Acid Survivors Foundation in Bangladesh show=20
that the number of acid attacks jumped 50% in 2001 from the previous=20
year.
There were 338 attacks throughout Bangladesh last year, most carried=20
out against women fleeing arranged marriages, the foundation said.
But, in some cases, children and men have been victimised too.

PHOTO: Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has denounced the attacks

The practice of throwing acid has been described by the Bangladeshi=20
Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia, as a disgrace to her country. Victims=20
are often left horrifically disfigured and scarred for life.
The Acid Survivors Foundation has arranged for two British plastic=20
surgeons to treat people who have been attacked, and they are now=20
operating on patients.
The foundation's executive director, John Morrison, said that while=20
the latest figures made gloomy reading, there have been some positive=20
developments in the battle to stop acid attacks.

Special courts
"The new government came into office on the first of October and they=20
have already moved," he said.
"They are setting up special courts to deal with acid violence. They=20
are passing special laws to prohibit the sale of acid to unauthorised=20
people.
"They're ensuring that the law enforcing agencies act on this."
So far at least, two people have been sentenced to death in recent=20
months for carrying out acid attacks in Bangladesh
It is not clear whether the rise in the number of attacks is in any=20
way connected with the widescale breakdown of law and order in the=20
country over the last year.
Some commentators say those who carry out the attacks may not be=20
fully aware of the pain and suffering they cause, and that the=20
problem can never be eradicated unless people are properly educated.

_____

#2.

BBC NEWS
Wednesday, 30 January, 2002, 18:12 GMT
Pakistan 'not meant to be secular'

Religious schools should not lead to a 'theocratic state'

By the BBC's Zaffar Abbas in Lahore

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has said Pakistan was meant to=20
be an Islamic republic and is certainly not a secular state.
Talking to the BBC after visiting two relatively moderate madrassahs=20
or Islamic schools in Lahore, he said his recent actions were aimed=20
at eliminating Islamic extremism from the country
He said he was in no way opposed to religious teaching or practices=20
in the country.
The two Islamic schools that President Musharraf visited during his=20
day-long trip to Lahore are quite different from hundreds of other=20
such institutions which propagate religious orthodoxy or extremism.
In these two madrassahs, several thousand students are not only=20
taught to read the Koran in a traditional way, they are even offered=20
courses in modern sciences and computer technology.

PHOTO: President Musharraf was visibly impressed and said this is how=20
religious schools should function in a progressive Islamic state.

Differing interpretations
"No-one should even think this is a secular state. It was founded as=20
the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, but the interpretation of this=20
Islamic Republic of Pakistan which I differ with is that which tends=20
to take it as a theological, theocratic state, and that is where I=20
differ," the general said.

Musharraf has been praised abroad

President Musharraf said his campaign against the groups and=20
institutions that spread religious extremism and violence will=20
continue as there was no room for such activities in a moderate=20
Islamic country.
The recent move by the general to ban five militant groups and to=20
arrest hundreds of their supporters has been widely praised by the=20
United States and many other countries.
But some critics at home say his actions were mostly aimed at=20
pleasing the outside world.
His latest move to draw a clear distinction between the moderate=20
Islamic madrassahs and those spreading extremism is perhaps to show=20
that he was not insensitive to the local religious practices and is=20
not planning to make Pakistan a secular state.

_____

#3.

A letter from Pakistan
M.B. Naqvi

Karachi January 31:

While America=92s freewheeling and open-ended war on terrorism goes on
producing a lot of fog, Pakistanis, having become accustomed to it, are
rediscovering not only their temporarily suspended politics but are
beginning to notice what is really going on around them. Military
confrontation with India continues to be a great distraction. However,
far too much attention is being paid here on how close have the Indians
come to the Americans and whether they can seduce the latter to endorse
their longer-term designs, especially those bearing on Pakistan. This is
what is concentrating the minds of the pro-establishment politicians and
commentators. Others, Perhaps drawing on the plenty of latent
anti-Americanism in Pakistan, have reacted to the latest State of the
Union address of US President George W Bush with near panic.

The US is not only on the march, it is seen as being on the rampage. Its
military presence in Pakistan on a big enough scale --- the precise
number of bases in Pakistan has become irrelevant after their getting
the use of Karachi airport --- is of course psychologically painful to
bear. True, there are so far no protests against it in the press. The
American press stories about how did the US manage to secure Pakistan=92s
cooperation in the American =91crusade=92 against terrorism no matter where
have had a great effect. Anyone can here the phrase being used at lunch
time in Karachi=92s press club: =91Afghanistan is an occupied country=92
frequently enough. But each time someone chimes in: =91so are we=92. The US
designs in Asia is a subject of absorbing interest among all aware
citizens, though it has not made any intrusion into the political
parties=92 discourses nor has it been taken up seriously in the press.

Insofar as the immediate preoccupation with the military tensions on the
borders is concerned, there is near unanimity among most analysts that
state Assemblies polls in India and the outcome of the US facilitation
between the two South Asian nuclear powers are sure to enable the two to
both thin out (first) before too long and begin some kind of a dialogue.
That is expected to be in the second half of February. Not that dangers
of brinkmanship can be ignored. But a robust kind of opinion --- based
on a belief in the omnipotence of American diplomacy --- pervades the
Pakistani commentators. Only a few hardline commentators, persons, like
Shirin Mazari, who is the Director General of the Institute of Strategic
Studies, believe that there might be a deeper anti-Pakistan conspiracy
in the making among the US, Israel, and India at Pakistan=92s unspecified
expense. Others mostly think that for the Americans the most important
thing is to go on =91managing=92 the two unfriendly states in South Asia an=
d
not to become a partisan on India=92s behalf. They have had plenty of such
experience.

The operative part of this last assessment is that the US leadership of
South Asia can become a great launching pad for Americans throughout the
Asia-Pacific region, to begin with. The assumptions are two: one that
the Americans are likely to succeed in recruiting the active cooperation
of both New Delhi and Islamabad in promoting the New Order Mr. Bush is
creating in Asia --- that will later sweep over the rest of the non or
less resisting world. American physical presence in Kyrghistan,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and of course Afghanistan --- and now the
Philippines, with intimations of extending the war to North Korea, Iran
and Iraq --- given the earlier military presence in Asia is sure to
result in winning new and influencing old friends in Asia, especially in
the former Soviet republics.

It is hard to ignore the old adage that wherever soldiers reach, you
should soon expect businessmen of that nation. Behind the GIs come
corporate America=92s executives, especially of the Seven Sisters. When
people talk of oil and gas, they ought not to forget two other groups:
the war industries and the fund managers, George Soroses and high tech
services industries. Most Asian countries are now, as a result of WTO
and adoption of neoclassicist economic management paradigm, ready to
receive surplus American capital for exploiting their mineral and other
resources and yielding income-bearing assets. Of what use will be
American leadership role, if American economy does not pick up as a
result of heavy war expenditures and if American businessmen do not find
new markets for their capital hoards. After all American banks also need
new customers and to give bigger credits to old and tried customers.

BM Kutty, the Information Secretary of National Workers Party --- a new
name for the old leftist NAP --- has called the near silence over the
looming threat of the US getting away with its neo-colonialism without
much opposition from democratic forces in India --- and Pakistan. Such
forces in Pakistan were never absent or silent but were always (since
1954) weak, vulnerable and prone to being suppressed. He noted that
protesters in America are already active ahead of World Development
Forum=92s meeting in New York; that does credit to the US itself. In other
developed countries too the WTO, IMF and World Bank as well as those of
G7 meetings occasioned big protests. Even in Malaysia and Thailand there
were protests, underpinned by NGOs from the west. But, he castigated
that, democrats and socialists in India and this country are silently
watching the brutal advance of Anglo-American capital in Asia in
silence. Why?

_____

#4.

Asia Times
31 January 2002

Militant Hinduism takes center stage again
By Sultan Shahin
NEW DELHI - Militant Hindu fundamentalists have started playing=20
dangerous political games again, ostensibly to shore up their support=20
in state assembly elections - the winning of which is considered=20
crucial for the stability of the central Atal Bihari Vajpayee=20
government. But this could lead to serious religious conflict with=20
the largest minority community of Muslims and undermine the alliance=20
of secular and fundamentalist parties in the central coalition, thus=20
destabilizing the very government they are trying to protect.
In a bid to garner upper-caste Hindu support in the forthcoming=20
elections in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), the=20
fundamentalists have embarked on a movement to build a temple on the=20
site of the 16th-century mosque they demolished just a little over=20
nine years ago in the UP town of Ayodhya in full view of=20
international television channels. The demolition lit a communal=20
conflagration throughout the country and beyond, lasting several=20
months and taking a toll of several thousand lives.
A delegation of militant Hindu leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad=20
(VHP - World Hindu Congress) met Prime Minister Vajpayee this week to=20
remind him that his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had come to power=20
with an agenda to construct a Hindu temple by demolishing the Babri=20
mosque, and that this inalienable fact should not be forgotten by the=20
government. (The VHP and BJP are part of the Sangh Parivar - the=20
family of Hindu fundamentalist organizations spawned and led by the=20
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). The VHP has now been given the=20
task of temple construction as the BJP, being the party in power at=20
the center and in several states including UP, has to function at=20
least overtly within legal limits.)
The central BJP-led coalition government has officially distanced=20
itself from the Ram temple movement under pressure from its secular=20
allies, without whose support it cannot run the government. But the=20
BJP has constantly equivocated on whether this divisive and illegal=20
movement that proposes to defy specific orders from the highest court=20
is part of its agenda or not. It speaks in several voices and=20
constantly changes its stand, thus causing confusion in the minds of=20
its own followers as well.
Vajpayee's strategy of winning the election merely by creating war=20
hysteria aimed at Pakistan has not worked. The VHP leaders have said=20
they could consider postponing the building of the temple only if=20
there is an actual war. Mere threat of war and mere talk of using all=20
and every weapon (including nuclear weapons) will not do. Even strong=20
statements like the demand made by Vajpayee on Monday, that Pakistan=20
should return the part of Kashmir under its occupation as a=20
precondition for dialogue, has not helped matters.
All material preparations have already been made and the=20
prefabricated temple only needs to be erected on the site of the=20
demolished mosque. The VHP is adamant that it will begin the=20
construction of the temple at Ayodhya after March 12, regardless of=20
the court verdict prohibiting it, and its impact on the stability of=20
the government. It will gather a million activists at the mosque site=20
on that day. (The BJP, led by its then president and now Home=20
Minister Lal Krishna Advani, had gathered 600,000 activists for the=20
purpose of the demolition of the mosque in 1992.)
The VHP led what it called a Chetwani Yatra (Warning March) from the=20
UP capital, Lucknow, to New Delhi last week. It was not clear for=20
whom the warning was meant. But the yatra ended at the door of the=20
prime minister. Vajpayee has referred the matter of the temple to the=20
Law Ministry, in effect asking it to find a way to defy the law=20
lawfully.
Scholars who have studied RSS philosophy are not at all surprised at=20
this attempt to defy the law of the land. An article in the Hindustan=20
Times (January 29), for instance, quotes RSS founder Guru Golwalkar's=20
views about the constitution of India from a collection of his=20
writings, Bunch of Thoughts: "Our Constitution is just a cumbersome=20
and heterogeneous piecing together of various articles from various=20
Constitutions of western countries. It has absolutely nothing which=20
can be called our own. Is there a single word of reference in its=20
guiding principles as to what our national mission is and what our=20
keynote in life is? No!"
Indeed, the BJP-led government has instituted a body to review the=20
constitution, despite the constraints imposed by the fact that the=20
government is in coalition with secular parties which swear by the=20
same constitution. The present RSS chief, K S Sudarshan, argued in=20
Bangalore on Sunday that there is nothing wrong in changing the=20
constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar (a Dalit leader of the=20
independence movement who led millions of "untouchables" to convert=20
to Buddhism).
These extraordinary developments have made a section of the=20
mainstream media worried about the fate of the nation. India's=20
second-largest-circulated newspaper, The Indian Express, hopes that=20
the Law Ministry will point out to the VHP the absurdity of its=20
position of stretching a legal point too far. The ministry must point=20
out to the VHP the untenability of its demand for permission to begin=20
construction of a temple on the disputed site. "The process of=20
justice cannot be reduced to quibbling of this schizophrenic kind; it=20
must be tempered by a larger, and coherent, perspective. Basically=20
the process of the resolution of the Ayodhya dispute, if it is=20
already afoot, must proceed at its own pace. It cannot allow itself=20
to be disturbed by the nuisance value, fast diminishing, of a bunch=20
of hoodlums."
In an unusually hard-hitting editorial, north India's=20
largest-circulated newspaper, the Hindustan Times, also expressed its=20
apprehensions: "The Sangh Parivar speaks in so many voices that it is=20
never easy to decipher its real intention. It is not clear, for=20
instance, what the VHP's latest antics mean.
"Is it serious about constructing the temple at the disputed site in=20
Ayodhya or is it just a ploy to boost the BJP's election prospects in=20
Uttar Pradesh? Prima facie, its latest activities may seem to be in=20
keeping with its pledge to start the construction work on March 12.=20
But even in the midst of all the fiery speeches, there are still=20
muted hints that the deadline is not sacrosanct. It is also not=20
impossible that the parivar comprising the BJP component of the=20
government and the rest of the saffron [the color of the RSS flag]=20
brigade is contemplating a somewhat devious plan involving the=20
transfer of a portion of the disputed land to the builders. The move=20
to refer to the law ministry has led to this speculation. However, it=20
may also be nothing more sinister than a time-honored delaying=20
tactic."
"The point," the paper adds, "is not so much about the games which=20
the Sangh Parivar may be playing, as their unhappy consequences. It=20
is a matter of deep regret that one organization, with its dubious=20
claim to speak for the entire Hindu community, is allowed to hold the=20
country to ransom with its provocative postures. Some of the speeches=20
made by their leaders should have landed them in jail straight away=20
for violating the simple norms of decency, not to mention abusing a=20
particular religious group [Muslims].
The paper concludes by reminding the BJP government of its=20
constitutional responsibility: "As may be expected, neither the=20
Centre nor the BJP government in UP has acted against their brazen=20
defiance of the law. Instead of persistent pussy-footing with the=20
objective of keeping the hotheads in the parivar in line, the=20
government should make it absolutely clear that any organization=20
trying to disrupt peace will be sternly dealt with. As a member of=20
the same saffron family, the BJP may find it easier to hedge its=20
bets, but it must remember that its primary loyalty is to the=20
Constitution of India and the law of the land."
The Chetawani Yatra has not been as successful as the VHP, BJP and=20
other members of the Sangh Parivar may have hoped. According to the=20
Times of India, the yatra took on a distinct anti-minority=20
[anti-Muslim] hue. And yet, as newspaper reports from UP seem to=20
suggest, the common people are largely unmoved by what they perceive=20
as nothing more than an election gimmick. No more than 4,000 people=20
joined the march at any point.
The Times of India commented: "Weighed down by inflation, corruption=20
and criminalization [of politics], the common villager of UP has=20
little time for an issue that has been raked up over and over again=20
by the VHP. It peaked in December 1992 when the Babri mosque was=20
demolished and for the past nine years now the people of this=20
poverty-stricken state have heard little else from sections of the=20
BJP and its front organizations but the promise to construct the=20
temple."
The paper thinks that those who at one time allowed development and=20
their rights to be overshadowed by the politics of Ayodhya have=20
become wiser and do not appear to be eager to allow non-existent=20
issues to dominate the political scene.
An influential newspaper, Asian Age, seeks to understand the attitude=20
of the common man and paints a rather depressing picture of the=20
setting in which these dangerous political games are being played. It=20
says: "The common voter in UP is now so disillusioned, that he has=20
given up even hoping that the next government in power will actually=20
work for his well being and progress. He, thus, allows issues like=20
terror, security, secularism to color his vote in the belief that on=20
this front the political parties might be able to deliver more than=20
they have done insofar as hospitals, drinking water, roads,=20
electricity are concerned.
"Over the years UP has been unable to move forward on any front that=20
can bring it into some level of competition with other states in=20
India. Even social evils like child marriage have not been=20
eradicated, and remain the norm in the eastern districts of the=20
state. Scavenging, although punishable under the law, is still a=20
practice encouraged by the upper caste dominated administration of=20
Uttar Pradesh."
The Indian Express takes a more serious view of the situation and is=20
not prepared to excuse it as mere electioneering. In an editorial of=20
January 30, "Lunacy at Large", it asks: Are we a theocratic state?=20
"What the people of this country want most of all," it says, "is the=20
freedom to carry on with their lives without being dragged into=20
atavistic campaigns that disrupt lives and foment lasting and=20
debilitating animosities. We have time and again criticized Pakistan=20
for allowing itself to be under the thrall of the mullah and=20
madrasas, of allowing religious fundamentalism to set its political=20
agendas. But what are we doing about our own variation of similar=20
entities - in this case sants [saints] and sadhus [holy men] who live=20
in a world and time-frame that has very little to do with modernity.=20
Do we allow them to take us back in their indigenously crafted time=20
machine?"

_____

#5.

Issues In Secular Politics
No.3, Jan III, Vol.1(2002)

Temple Once Again

Ram Puniyani

With UP elections round the corner (Feb. 2002) the VHP, a part of the
Sangh Parivar (Sp) has begun its Chetawani Yatra (warning campaign).
Contrary to their expectations they drew flak from public and fortunately
it has turned out to be a poor flop. The attempt of VHP 'Sants' to
influence P.M., Mr. Vajpayee, to let them initiate the temple building are
unlikely to yield any 'helpful' results as Mr. Vajpayee is adept in the
game of 'politics' and knows well as to how to carry on the RSS agenda
without jeopardizing his 'image' and contingencies of the political chess
board.

Currently all the components of Sangh Parivar, the progenies of RSS, may
be sounding to work at cross-purposes but their deeper coordination
becomes obvious when we analyse the whole picture. UP elections has forced
the Sp to 'search' for an issue that can have appeal on the emotional
level. Sp knows well that its Govt. in UP has nothing positive to project
to be able to lure the voters. Just before the attack on parliament by
terrorists, on various occasions Mr. Advani, the 'architect in chief ' of
Ram Janmbhumi campaign and demolition of Babri Masjid, had pointed out
that this campaign will be central to the BJP's future programs as it is
this campaign which has built up the BJP to its present strength. Since
the demolition in 1992 this issue has been raised off and on depending on
the needs of Sp politics, the current effort being one of the most serious
in this direction. What are the portents of this politics, which breeds
hatred and is patronized in the name of religion? What are the dangers
posed by this politics, which rouses religious sentiments on one hand and
tries to create a barrier between two communities at deeper level? What is
the future trajectory of this politics, which buries the issues, which our
society should be addressing on urgent basis like the one's related to
food clothing employment, shelter and health care etc. This retrograde
politics ensures the marginalization of the issues of Human rights of
weaker sections of society while giving strength to the affluent sections
and the prevalent status quo of caste and gender relations.

As a matter of 'fact' a process of trial and error discovered this 'issue'
over a period of last five decades. Initially Sp had seriously tried the
issue of 'protection of mother cow' (Janam Janam ka Nata hai, gau hamari
mata hai. "It is a question of generational relations, cow is 'our'
mother). This Cow campaign launched by RSS was a total failure even in the
cow-belt. The Babri masjid was not made an issue out of the blue. It
remained in the freezer for decades after the Ram Lalla idols were
installed in the mosque on the night of December 22-23 in 1949. The
mosque, where regular prayers were held, was locked on the order of local
magistrate and all the efforts of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to revert the
status to pre- 49 situation were foiled by the local administration,
especially by K.K.Nayyar the local magistrate, who after his retirement,
joined the previous avatar of BJP, Bharatiya Jana Sangh, to become its
M.P. The matter remained frozen in the files of the court while a thick
lock adorned its doors.

With the rise of the communal impact of the affluent middle classes in the
80s, VHP campaigns started drawing some responses. VHP, on the pretext
that Islam and Christian are a threat to Hinduism, as they are forcing the
gullible to embrace the 'alien' religions, started its Yatras etc.
Conversion of Dalits to Isalm in Meenakshipuram and later the retrograde
response of Fundamentalist section of Muslims in getting the Shaha Bano
verdict was used as a pretext to intensify the VHP's agenda. The upper
caste/class sections of society lapped up 'Hinduism in danger' theme and
they started supporting Sp through and through. At the same time Rajiv
Gandhi did play in the hands of fundamentalists of both the religions and
after getting the court order in ShahBano case reversed through an act of
parliament got the locks of Babri masjid open for performing puja by the
Hindus.

Seeing that a section of Hindus is coming in the ambit of religion based
politics, Mr. Advani took it up as 'the' core BJP agenda and made a
thorough brew of religion and politics. The earlier goal of BJP, Gandhian
Socialism (!), was dumped for the Temple politics and with his Rath Yatra,
which bled the nation, which led to series of communal riots; the seeds
for the upper caste Hindu vote tree were laid down.

Violating all the norms of decency, commitment to judiciary etc., Sp
mobilized three lakh Kar Sevaks and twenty thousand Kar Sevikas to
Ayodhya. The former for Kar Seva with 'bricks and shovels', and the latter
for cooking and cleaning. In a well-planned manner the Mosque was
demolished in a span of Five and a half hours and the debris thrown in
river Sarayu. In the aftermath of this act of Sp the whole nation was
plunged in the ghastly communal riots resulting in the loss of thousands
of lives and thousands of cores worth of property. The role of Sp
affiliates (Shiv Sena etc.) in inciting communal violence came out very
well in yet to be implemented Shrikrishna commission report. These
assaults on the country put 'flesh and muscles' in to the BJP and the
party, which was on the margins of Indian politics, jumped to higher and
higher steps reaching its acme in 98 elections with 25% of votes and 200
odd MPs in the Lok Sabha. And surely it cannot go beyond this despite
opportunistic alliances with the power hungry outfits and personalities
like Fernandes and Mamatas. That precisely is the dilemmas, which Sp is
facing today. Can its vote bank be further broadened? Can 'social
engineering' to lure the low caste/class into the Hindu Fascist politics
of Sp succeed? Can the 'temple mantra' work again and yield the political
dividends?

Since BJP was unsure about this, it kept vaguely talking about role of
temple construction movement (or Babri demolition) in building the BJP as
it is today, but did not take it up outright. Also if we recall in the
decade of 80s also it was VHP, which first tested the waters before BJP
plunged in it to catch the electoral fishes. Now it seems the maximum
dividends have been reaped and this issue may not be gainful any longer to
Hindutva politics. It is because of this that BJP was keen on Indo Pak war
in the wake of attack on Parliament, as the hysteria created in the wake
of war would have surely appealed to a newer set of gullible to come in
the ambit of Hindu vote bank. Since Uncle Sam vetoed the war, BJP has been
caught in the horns of dilemma. The way it has been prostrating in front
of US, it dare not go against its dictates. So it does face the risk of
getting wiped out from the UP scene, and in due course may get
marginalized from the national scene as well.

Some facets of this problem need to be recounted. The RSS progeny, VHP has
a big collection of persons who are called sants (saints). They
participated and worked for demolition of a mosque so that they could
build a temple on the ruins of destruction and mayhem. These self
proclaimed Rambhakta's claim that they are deprived of worshipping their
idol, Lord Ram, whose temple they want built precisely at the 'same spot'
where he is supposed to have been born. The saintliness of these VHP sants
needs to be evaluated. As one of the sants, a Rambhakta, Tulsidas,
responded in a very different way when he was barred from entering Ram
Temples. He was debarred as he wrote the story of his idol in the
Lokbhasha (language of ordinary people), Avadhi dialect of Hindi,
violating the norm of writing in Devbhasha (language of gods, Sanskrit),
access to which was not allowed to Shudras and women. For this 'crime' of
his he was 'outcasted' by the Brahmin community. Undeterred by this he
wrote
Tulsi Gulam sarnaam hai Ram Ko
Jako Chahe so kahe vohu,
Mang ke khaibo, Masjid man Rahibo
Laibo ka ek, Na debe Ko Dou
(Tulsi says he is slave of Ram. Whatever people say, let them say; I
survive on alms and live in a mosque. My give and take with the worlds is
done-Goswami Tulsidas, from his autobiography-Vinaycharitavali). Was it
the same mosque, which the current 'Ram Bhaktas' demolished to satiate
their 'love for Ram'? This crop of 'saints' is 'redefining' the virtues of
saintliness and is a cog in the politics for Hindu Rashtra. They are being
'used' by RSS for Hindutva politics should be clear to all except those
who are feigning to be ignorant of this politics or those who are
benefiting from this fundamentalist politics.

The deeper coordination of different wings of Sp is clearly obvious. There
seems to be a Chaturvrnay (Caste hierarchy and division of labor) in this
political conglomerate. While RSS decides the strategy, VHP incites the
religious hysteria and BJP converts that into the electoral 'notes'
(!votes), while the lowest on the hierarchical scale the Bajrang Dal
wields Rampuri knives, disguised as Trishuls. Now even the guns are being
made available to this layer of Sp. Superficially it may sound that there
are trishuls drawn between them, but their patriarch RSS, ensures a
'smooth' coordination and so all the stepping on each others toes is
avoided.

With failure of the Chetavani yatra and plea to the PM not yielding the
desired results what new strategies this wily outfit, Sp, will come
forward with, is a million vote question.

(The writer works for EKTA, Committee for Communal Amity, Mumbai)

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