[sacw] SACW #2 | 05 Mar. 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire - Dispatch #2 | 05 March 2002=20

Hindu-Muslim Violence Imperils Secular India
__________________________

#1. A madness of politics, not religion (Yasmin Alibhai-Brown)
#2. Letter by a coalition of Non Resident Indians individuals/=20
groups being sent to the Indian PM's office, and the National Human=20
Rights Commission
#3. Defeat of BJP is Defeat of Communalism (Asghar Ali Engineer)
#4. Ruling by Riots -Indian politicians give space to political=20
violence when it works for them
(M.J. Akbar)
#5. PUCL (Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry) statement on the Gujarat killings
#6. Killing Thy Neighbor - Hindus and Muslims go on the worst murder=20
spree in a decade. Is secular India a fast-dying dream? (Anthony=20
Spaeth)
#7. The myth of Ram's temple has become a licence to kill in India=20
(Peter Popham)
#8. Sunset of communal politics (Swami Agnivesh & Valson Thampu)

________________________

#1.

The Independent (UK)
04 March 2002 18:50 GMT
http://argument.independent.co.uk/regular_columnists/yasmin_alibhai_brown/s=
tory.jsp?story=3D251138

A madness of politics, not religion

'As an East African Asian, I find it incomprehensible. We were racist=20
towards Africans, but there was no animosity between religions'

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

04 March 2002

As I write this, 4,000 Muslims are gathered in a dilapidated mosque=20
somewhere in the Gujarat (I won't say where as the information could=20
be used by well connected Hindu Nationalists determined to kill these=20
bakre (goats) as they call Muslims), weeping, wounded and terrified=20
that they will not survive this conflagration, the most recent=20
manifestation of uncontrollable (or uncontrolled) hostilities between=20
Hindus and Muslims, 100 million of whom live across India and have=20
done so for countless generations.

Six days ago, 63 people were killed by a group of these Muslims who=20
set fire to a train carrying some Hindu fundamentalists from Ayodhya,=20
a place like Jerusalem, which is claimed by different faiths who=20
regard it as sacred and theirs alone. If only earthquakes would=20
swallow all such places in the world. The deliberately started=20
inferno was a dreadful act - whatever the root grievances of the=20
perpetrators- and it killed 14 children who never knew the word=20
nationalism.

The fact that Muslims did it is yet one more reason to despair,=20
another blot on our already charred landscape. That they never=20
thought about how many lives would have to pay for this crime makes=20
it doubly wicked. They knew how vulnerable Muslims now are in India=20
and increasingly so (as are Christians too, an almost unreported=20
truth. Churches in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere are being attacked=20
with congregations intimidated, beaten up and worse) and that Muslim=20
victims of violence would not be protected by the state police or=20
army because of institutionalised Islamophobia which is rampant=20
across the country.

Shamsul Islam, an Indian journalist and activist who has spent his=20
life bringing the communities together through street theatre=20
projects, forwarded an email to me from the India Centre for Human=20
Rights and Law: "We have been in touch with friends in Gujarat. The=20
situation against minorities is completely out of control. The police=20
are actively involved in perpetrating violence against the Muslims.=20
At the moment there is a situation of state sponsored genocide".

The dispute has been rumbling for 10 years now and has much more to=20
do with the malignant views and underground activities of those who=20
make up the present government of India than with what happened in=20
Ayodhya 500 years ago when, apparently, the Babri mosque was built on=20
the site where Hindus believed their supreme deity, Ram, was born.=20
Sure, during the Raj there were moments of serious claims and=20
counterclaims and on this one the British did rather a good job first=20
insisting that both faiths could use separate spaces in the mosque=20
and then summarily closing the place down in 1949 when passions were=20
high with Partition, to my mind the most destructive thing that ever=20
happened to the sub-continent and one which showed the more devious=20
side of perfidious Albion.

In 1984, hard line Hindus started campaigning to replace the mosque=20
with a temple and, in 1992, they destroyed the precious old building.=20
Riots which followed killed 3,000. Most of them were Muslims who were=20
raped, burnt, their children torn in two like cooked chickens, by=20
vegetarian Hindus who worship the right to life of animals and=20
insects. There are ministers in the government today who encouraged=20
this. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which swept into power in the=20
mid Nineties is as committed to reclaiming India for one religious=20
group as were the Serb leaders in ex-Yugoslavia.

We have such instigators on our soil too. Although we hear rather too=20
much about Muslim fanatics, ethnic and religious hatred is also being=20
preached by British Hindus and Sikhs and their campaigns are closely=20
connected to the dangerous politics of modern India. Post 11=20
September, these people have got bolder about expressing their=20
prejudices against Muslims in particular. Some intellectuals are no=20
better. In February this year, VS Naipaul, Nobel Prize winner, said=20
that he was glad the BJP was using his many denunciations of Muslims=20
in India. "It is the beginning of self awareness," he pronounced.

Sidarth Bhatia, another writer, describes in her article, God or=20
Democracy, in Index on Censorship (January 2002) how India is=20
becoming lethally sectarian and may now be incapable of following the=20
nuanced understanding of Hinduism which was projected by Gandhi and=20
Nehru (remember, it was a Hindu nationalist who killed Gandhi for=20
being too fair to Muslims) and that secular democracy itself is under=20
threat.

As an East African Asian, I find all this incomprehensible. We were=20
racist towards Africans (and still have to acknowledge that) but=20
there was no religious animosity between Asian Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus=20
and Christians. Even today, when tribalism has appeared with such=20
vengeance, East African Asians carry on close relationships across=20
the barriers which religious leaders are busy erecting. When I=20
married my English husband, I asked Bhikhu Parekh (a Hindu) to take=20
the place of my father who died many years ago. Fundamentalists from=20
both communities were outraged.

My father was a clever man but an out of place bohemian who=20
disappeared frequently, leaving us bewildered and impoverished. He=20
went out to buy fags and came back two, maybe three years later. I=20
was born during one of these disappearances and my mother had to wait=20
in hospital until Ramankaka Patel, our Hindu next door neighbour,=20
paid the bill and took us both home. My mother was inconsolable when=20
he died a few years ago.

Sugrabai, our Sunni Muslim neighbour was a formidable,=20
cigarette-smoking matriarch who had been on Haj and was more devout=20
than we could ever be. She didn't think the rest of us had even a=20
slim chance of entering paradise, but she loved me like I was her=20
own, paying my school fees when there were hard times. Her children=20
and grandchildren who live in Bolton call me didi (older sister)=20
still. Goan teachers, Sikh carpenters, even Greek orthodox caf=E9=20
owners were in and out of our doors, which were always open to them.=20
One reason why we East African Asians have succeeded so well and fast=20
in this country is because of this ease with diversity.

The irony is that we used to say this ease was a priceless=20
inheritance passed on by the many migrants to Africa from the Gujarat=20
after colonial policies and famines had destroyed what was once a=20
fertile place. Gujaratis were known for being good at business and=20
bad at war. These were not the people the British recruited into the=20
army, too soft, too agreeable, that was their problem.

Many of my ancestors were Hindus who had converted to become Shia=20
Muslims but they spoke Gujarati to each other (it is one of the four=20
languages I learnt as a child) and culturally there was nothing to=20
divide them from us. Gandhi and Jinnah, both fervent believers in=20
secular states, went to school in the Gujarat. To think that this=20
state now supports ultra-nationalist Hindu leaders and has descended=20
into a pitiless, lawless place where mass murder is seen as an act of=20
true faith.

_____

#2.

Letter by a coalition of Non Resident Indians individuals/ groups=20
being sent to the Indian PM's office, and the National Human Rights=20
Commission.

To:
H.E. Lalit Mansigh
Ambassador,
Embassy of India
2107 Massachusetts Ave
Washington, D.C. 20008

Re: Violence in Gujarat

Dear Ambassador Mansingh,

We are Indian citizens who have come together spontaneously to=20
express our anguish and outrage over the recent widespread violence=20
in Gujarat. We extend our condolences to families of all those=20
killed. We demand that the perpetrators of violence be brought to=20
justice, from those responsible for the burning of the Sabarmati=20
Express train compartments in Godhra, to those responsible for the=20
killings and arson in Ahmedabad, Rajkot and other parts of Gujarat.=20
We are pleased that a judicial inquiry is going to take place on the=20
Godhra incident; by the same token, we demand a full judicial probe=20
into subsequent incidents of violence.

We are outraged over the handling of law and order in Gujarat, and=20
the state and central government's inability to prevent systematic=20
killings of innocents. It is inexcusable that the retaliatory=20
violence in Ahmedabad was not forestalled, especially since it was=20
anticipated. We hold the Gujarat Chief Minister fully responsible=20
for this lapse in public security and we demand his resignation. We=20
strongly object to the sentiment that taking lives is somehow=20
understandable and appropriate 'revenge.' We are shocked that this=20
sentiment is being expressed by police officials and BJP party=20
leaders in Gujarat. For instance, Rajendra Rana, BJP president is=20
quoted as saying =93What is happening is a natural statement of Hindu=20
anger=94 (Washington Post, March 2, 2002). P.C. Pande, Ahmedabad=92s=20
police commissioner declared that =93Just as people get carried away=20
by sentiment, the police (are) equally influenced by the overall=20
prevailing mood=94 (Washington Post, Mar 1, 2002).

In view of the widespread targeting of innocent civilians in Gujarat,=20
which are terrorist acts by any standard, we call on the Government=20
of India to restrain all religious fundamentalist organizations. They=20
have been allowed to spread bigotry and bloodshed for far too long,=20
and they undermine the democratic and secular tradition of the=20
country we love. We are Indians of diverse religious and ethnic=20
backgrounds who stand together in our hope for peace, and we firmly=20
believe that fundamentalist organizations act against this goal.

Sincerely,

_____

#3.

[Secular Perspective, March 1-15, 2002]

DEFEAT OF BJP IS DEFEAT OF COMMUNALISM
by Asghar Ali Engineer

The crushing defeat of the BJP in the recent elections=20
in U.P. Uttaranchal and the Punjab is, in fact, defeat of=20
communalism. The BJP for long had been playing double game. It=20
pretended to be secular before the Indian people in general but=20
maintained its communal face before its hard core cadre. It is not=20
possible to deceive the people for ever. Its leaders, including the=20
Prime Minister Shri A.B. Vajpayee told the nation that the=20
construction of the Ramjanambhoomi Mandir was not on its (NDA) agenda=20
but whenever elections were declared its other face appeared in the=20
form of VHP and Bajrang Dal. And these outfits of the Sangh Parivar=20
would threaten to construct the temple from a declared date to=20
satisfy the Hindutvawadis. This bluff now has been called off.

Of course the VHP and some hard core elements still=20
maintain that the BJP faced crushing defeat, as it did not fulfil its=20
promise to construct the Ram temple in Ayodhya. They maintain that=20
the BJP would have won had it taken up the cause of the Ram temple.=20
However, this claim is not born out by the ground reality. All=20
surveys show that people are tired of temple issue. They are more=20
interested in developmental issues than temples and mosques. The BJP=20
was defeated simply because it did not deliver.
The BJP failed on all fronts. Its slogan was "bhay, bhook=20
aur bhrashtachar se mukti i.e. freedom from fear, hunger and=20
corruption. It was nothing more than a deceptive slogan. The BJP=20
governments in all states - in Gujrat, in U.P. and in Uttaranchal=20
indulged in record corruption. In Punjab too, along with the Akalis=20
it was partner in corruption. It had several criminals among the=20
elected representatives and even in the Cabinets. In Gujrat the VHP=20
and the Bajrang Dal repeatedly attacked the minorities and minorities=20
including Muslims and Christians have been living in perpetual fear=20
in Gujrat. In U.P. they had to moderate their attacks on minorities=20
as they ruled in alliance with other secular parties. The Gujrat was=20
referred to as the 'laboratory of Hindutva' by the supporters of the=20
BJP.

The minorities in Gujrat are living in the constant fear=20
of attacks. The attacks on Christians also began from Dang in Gujrat.=20
Their churches were demolished and bibles burnt down in various parts=20
of Gujrat. So much for their slogan of freedom from fear. While BJP=20
launched a tirade against the corruption in the Congress it described=20
itself as the 'party with the difference'. Its governments turned out=20
to be more corrupt than the Congress governments.

As often asserted by this writer a democracy cannot be run by=20
communalising the polity. A democracy has to be based on secular=20
principles. In democracy it is citizenship which is fundamental=20
category and not religion. Parties like the BJP in India and Islamic=20
parties in other countries try to make religion as fundamental=20
category rather than citizenship. Only a secular democracy can=20
guarantee rights of all citizens irrespective of their religion,=20
caste or creed. Communal parties cannot.

It is unfortunate that even Prime Minister Shri Vajpayee=20
was not above this kind of politics though he is projected as=20
moderate in the BJP politics and Shri L.K.Advani as the hawk. Shri=20
Vajpayee went to the extent of saying during his election campaign=20
that he does not care for the Muslim votes and that the BJP will win=20
even if the Muslims do not vote for his party. This resulted in=20
furore and Mulayam Singh went to the extent of demanding his=20
resignation. The party managers had to do the damage control and=20
Vajpayee issued a clarification maintaining, as politicians always=20
do, that he was misquoted by the press.

But the fact is he did say the BJP could do without=20
Muslim vote. No doubt he said this in sheer frustration. He was of=20
course receiving the results of pre-poll surveys which clearly=20
indicated that the BJP is losing and the Muslims will vote either for=20
Samajwadi party of Mulayam Singh Yadav or the BSP of Mayawati. Muslim=20
votes are crucial in more than 60 assembly seats of U.P. No party can=20
win without the Muslim support in these constituencies and sixty=20
seats matter a lot.

And it is interesting to note that it was not the first=20
time that the BJP leaders had made such statement. In previous=20
elections too, in U.P. in 1991 elections as well as in the Centre in=20
the 1999 elections the BJP leaders had said that they have shown that=20
one can win without Muslim votes. Shri A.B.Vajpayee spoke in the same=20
vein. Somewhere it is the desire of the BJP to win the elections=20
without the Muslim support and then dispense with their democratic=20
and constitutional obligations towards minorities. This is what the=20
communal politics is based on. After all the RSS talk about the Hindu=20
Rashtra is not just a slogan. It is their deep desire and their=20
political logic is based on this. Zial-ul-Haq also marginalised the=20
Hindu and Christian minorities in Pakistan politics by introducing=20
separate electorate for them

Shri. Vajpayee also sings different tunes in different=20
places. First he said in Staten Island in USA among the crowd of the=20
VHP sadhus that "RSS is his soul" and changed his statement when he=20
returned to India. To please his Hindutva constituency he made a=20
statement that construction of Ram temple reflected national=20
sentiment but when he came under attack from opposition he mused from=20
his holiday resort in Kerala that " do not disturb the status quo"=20
at Ayodhya, Kashi, Mathura and other places. "The Government will not=20
remain a silent spectator" he said "and adopt delaying tactics, as=20
unfortunately happened eight years ago."

The BJP, and any communal party for that matter, tries to=20
arouse communal sentiments and bases its politics only on these=20
sentiments. Under compulsions of the NDA politics the BJP-led=20
Government at the Centre tries to maintain a moderate and secular=20
face but reverts to its communal face when it comes to winning=20
election taking people's religious sentiments for granted. The BJP=20
had totally failed to provide good governance in U.P. and other=20
states and as soon as the U.P. elections were announced it resorted=20
to various emotional measures like banning the SIMI (Students Islamic=20
Movement of India), enactment of POTO in the teeth of opposition to=20
fight terrorism and raise the Mandir issue through VHP and Bajrang=20
Dal.

However, as the results show nothing helped it. The BJP=20
by itself could not get even 100 seats in U.P. The SP of Mulayam=20
Singh Yadav has emerged as the largest single party with 148 seats=20
and Mayawati's BSP got 94 seats, which is an impressive gain. This is=20
the worst performance of the BJP since its ascendance to power on the=20
Ramjanambhoomi issue. Not only this Shri Vajpayee, sensing the=20
defeat, was not referring to local issues in his campaign speeches at=20
all both in U.P. as well as in the Punjab. He was referring only to=20
emotional issues of cross border terrorism and attack on parliament=20
on 13th December.

Again it was keeping in view the U.P. elections that the=20
Vajpayee Government severed all connections with Pakistan. Rail, bus=20
and air links with Pakistan were snapped to arouse emotional=20
hysteria. The people to people contacts in both the countries are=20
very important to promote amity and friendship between the two=20
countries and peace in South Asia depends on peace between India and=20
Pakistan. Now it will take, one does not know how long, to restore=20
these links again. Pakistani rulers of course are no less to blame.=20
It is, however, another story.

The BJP should now learn a lesson that its communalism=20
and politics of religion will not take it far. The basic issues of=20
the people will have to be addressed which are issues of development,=20
poverty, unemployment and housing. People cannot vote for it=20
indefinitely on issues of temple and mosque. The defeat in the U.P.=20
elections is a clear writing on the wall for the BJP. The=20
Hindutvawadis, it must be understood, will not rest in peace. They=20
may put more pressure on the BJP leadership to intensify the Mandir=20
issue arguing that it lost because it did not fulfil its promise to=20
build the temple.

Thus one has to wait and watch. One does not know who=20
will form the Government in U.P. If Mulayam Singh forms the=20
Government the BJP may intensify the Mandir issue to embarrass the=20
Mulayam Singh Government. Or under pressure from its hard core=20
elements the BJP leadership may try to intensify it and put the=20
country again on fire. The Gujrat elections are due in next 11 months=20
and conditions in Gujrat are also not very congenial for the BJP. The=20
BJP lost heavily in Panchayat elections in Gujrat last year despite=20
weak and faction ridden Congress. In bye-elections in Gujrat along=20
with the elections in U.P. though its Chief Minister Narendra Modi=20
scrapped through the BJP lost two other seats to the Congress.

Thus it is not the end of woes of the BJP. It has lost the=20
biggest state of U.P. and is likely to face tough time in its=20
'laboratory of the Hindutva'. It may play its Hindutva card much more=20
intensely as Gujrat is also quite crucial to the survival of the BJP.=20
The secular forces, unfortunately, are endlessly divided. The future=20
of the country lies only in strengthening secular democracy.

There may not be immediate fall out of the U.P. results=20
on the NDA Government at the Centre but cracks may appear soon. There=20
are already rumblings within the BJP against the Vajpayee leadership.=20
They now doubt his capacity to deliver. His charisma is wearing thin=20
and the hawks may gain upper hand. And if the secular forces fight=20
among themselves as in Maharashtra, only the communal hawks will gain.

Centre for Study of Society and Secularism
9B, Himalaya Apts., 1st floor, 6th Road,
Santacruz (E),
Mumbai:- 400 055.

_____

#4.

Time
http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/india_ayodhya/viewpoint.html

Ruling by Riots
Indian politicians give space to political violence when it works for them
By M.J. Akbar
Great events in india have been shaped by the politics of the lynch=20
mob. The last and decisive impetus to the great divide between Hindus=20
and Muslims, which in turn led to the bitter harvest of partition in=20
1947, was provided by the Muslim mobs of Calcutta who ravaged the=20
city in 1946. In 1984, Sikhs were identified, torched and killed by=20
sword and bullet after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. In 1992=20
the destruction of a mosque on a disputed spot in the holy city of=20
Ayodhya, where the Himalayas begin to meet the plains, was followed=20
by wanton nationwide riots in which Muslims were surrounded,=20
terrorized and massacred; rape was thrown in for evil measure in=20
cities like Surat in polarized Gujarat, where it was also videotaped=20
as proof of rapine conquest.
Each time, the government of the day gave implicit help to the lynch=20
mobs by providing breathing space for hatred. Despite sufficient=20
evidence of the coming firestorm, the police were kept immobile=20
before and mute during the public assault, mayhem and murder. The=20
guardians of the law handed selected areas for an average of two days=20
to the lawless of their preference, while some group of Indians paid=20
an indescribable price in blood. For these mass lynchings have an=20
almost celebratory air. Mobs roam the street as if on some gruesome=20
holiday during which they have been released from all the codes of=20
humanity, chatting as they roam, roaring as they kill. Fire and sword=20
is not a metaphor in my India.
Each time, politicians offer formal regrets even as they privately=20
savor the political rewards that the storms will blow in their=20
direction. Such hypocritical tears were more effectively shed when=20
the world was not in the constant glare of television. These days=20
some of them are barely able to keep a thin smile hidden while they=20
trot out pompous phrases of concern, interjected by poison-words that=20
send private signals to their violent constituency. The camera shows=20
it all.
In 1946 the Muslim League government in Calcutta, and the rest of the=20
party across the undivided subcontinent, found the "evidence" it=20
needed for its two-nations theory in the riots it inspired in=20
Calcutta. In 1984 the Congress Party more or less condoned with a=20
shrug the massacre of Sikhs. The Muslim League got its Pakistan, and=20
the Congress was re-elected in the general elections that followed=20
the Sikh slaughter. But the consequences of both "achievements" have=20
haunted this subcontinent.
A peculiarity of the episode in December 1992 was the collusion=20
between the Congress government in New Delhi and the main opposition=20
party of the country, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was in=20
the forefront of the movement to destroy the mosque built, it said,=20
where the revered Hindu god Rama was born. The Congress Prime=20
Minister at the time, P.V. Narasimha Rao, in a modern variation of=20
the Nero legend, slept while the mosque was being destroyed. Even his=20
Cabinet colleagues were not allowed to disturb his sleep, according=20
to numerous statements made by them (after he lost power). Rao=20
rationalized his abdication of responsibility with Machiavellian=20
rationale. The BJP was committing suicide, he argued. Why interfere?
He, not the BJP, died a political death. At least the latter was not=20
duplicitous. But that clarity has been fogged by the nature of the=20
first BJP Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, a liberal at heart=20
though not always in action. An attendant problem is the nature of=20
the coalition that runs India now: most of its members do not share=20
the Hindu ideology of the principal party and want a settlement of=20
the dispute through the courts.
The impatience of the mobs has been a constant headache for the Prime=20
Minister. His ability to keep contradictions under control was=20
strained with the call given by sadhus and zealots to start=20
construction of a temple at the disputed site this month; it snapped=20
when Muslim fanatics attacked a train in Godhra, Gujarat, and killed=20
Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya. In its first test of lynch-mob=20
politics, the government of Vajpayee in New Delhi failed, while the=20
BJP administration in Gujarat could barely conceal its support for=20
those mobs. Paradoxically, Muslim fundamentalists, like the=20
hectoring, acid-tongued Syed Shahabuddin, created a platform for the=20
Hindu resurgence in the 1980s with their virulent and purposeless=20
rhetoric. Their successors in 2002 have provided Hindu fanaticism=20
with another cause c=E9l=E8bre. Sadly, in the darker shades of India's=20
patchwork history still lie the present and perhaps the future.
(M.J. Akbar is editor in chief of The Asian Age. His next book, The=20
Shade of Swords: Jihad and the Conflict Between Islam and=20
Christianity, will be published in May)

_____

#5.

PEOPLE'S UNION FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES - TN & Pondy
32, Kachaleeswarar Agraharam Street, Off. Armenian
Street, Chennai - 600 001. Tel.: 5233639 Tele-fax: 5245412
e-mail: counsels@v...
Sudha Ramalingam, Member-National Council
President: Mr. Ravikumar General Secretary: Dr.V.Suresh

1.3.02

The People's Union for Civil Liberties (Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry) is=20
deeply concerned at the horrifying violence that has occurred in=20
Gujarat over the past two days. We condemn in the strongest possible=20
terms both the attack on the Sabarmati Express at Godhra and the=20
assault on minority communities in Ahmedabad, Baroda and other cities=20
of Gujarat.

The horrendous killings in Godhra and the targeting of minority=20
communities in other places have occurred against the backdrop of the=20
communal frenzy whipped up in the last few weeks by persons=20
supporting construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in=20
Ayodhya. The events of the last few weeks in North and West India=20
have similarities to the early nineties, when an orchestrated=20
campaign created the momentum for generating communal hatred and=20
hostility across the country. More than the acts of violence, the=20
language of hate and the rhetoric of enmity have left terrible scars=20
on the secular psyche of India and our history of tolerance and=20
respect for diversity.

The generation of hate and orchestration of communal forces had=20
reached such a crescendo in the last few weeks that the outbreak of=20
violence was inevitable. At this time of crisis, we should not allow=20
our wounded sensibilities to be anaesthetized to the reality of ugly=20
communal politics mobilized at the grassroots to gather one million=20
'Ram sevaks' to construct the Ram temple. While firm and determined=20
action should be taken against all perpetrators of violence,=20
regardless of the community to which they belong, the prevailing=20
climate of communal hate should be acknowledged and directly=20
addressed. Further, action does not require the use of POTO or other=20
draconian laws; stern and decisive moves, as required and authorized=20
by ordinary law, would be sufficient.

For the last one year, it has been a matter of public knowledge that=20
the VHP was determined to whip up sentiments regarding construction=20
of the temple. Neither the Central Government's nor the Uttar Pradesh=20
government did anything at the ground level to prevent the escalation=20
of the rhetoric and the gathering of the sevaks. This criminal=20
inaction on their part is directly responsible for the current=20
incendiary situation.

PUCL demands that the least that the government can do now is to act=20
immediately and decisively by rushing in security forces to maintain=20
law and order in Gujarat and other communally sensitive states. The=20
VHP and their allies have announced bandhs throughout the country.=20
They should not be permitted to indulge in any form of violent action=20
or in any way to flout the rule of law.

The gathering of the 1 million-plus 'sevaks' in Ayodhya is already=20
taking place. The recent violence is bound to result in more number=20
of frenzied supporters gathering at Ayodhya. It is a matter of utmost=20
constitutional importance and urgency that the Central government and=20
the State government act firmly to ensure dispersal of all these=20
people from Ayodhya until peace and calm return to the country.

In the specific context of Tamil Nadu, there is a possibility of=20
violence erupting in communally sensitive areas that have a past of=20
violence in the last decade. It is of utmost importance that the=20
State Government takes quick action to prevent the rhetoric of hatred=20
and encouragement of violence from occurring.

We stress the extraordinary urgency of the situation and the need=20
for all sections of society, be they the press, the government,=20
political parties, or other organisations, to reaffirm the principles=20
of secularism, democracy and the rule of law. In the last two days,=20
two hundred people have paid with their lives for years of=20
callousness and inaction. Yet more will die if there is no immediate=20
action.

Sincerely,
(Dr. V. Suresh)
Secretary, PUCL-TN & Pondicherry

______

#6.

Time
http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/india_ayodhya/cover.html

Killing Thy Neighbor
Hindus and Muslims go on the worst murder spree in a decade. Is=20
secular India a fast-dying dream?
By ANTHONY SPAETH
When Afsana, an 18-year-old Muslim living on the outskirts of the=20
Gujarati capital of Ahmadabad, heard last Wednesday that a Muslim mob=20
had torched a train, the Sabarmati Express, at Godhra, she was=20
appalled-and very, very frightened. She knew that revenge would be=20
nigh. Her neighborhood, Naroda, is largely Hindu. On the day after=20
the Godhra killings, local Hindu leaders gathered a crowd of 2,000=20
residents and gave them simple instructions: Muslims had to be=20
destroyed. When part of the mob reached Afsana's house, she fled with=20
her five-year-old brother to a Hindu neighbor's house. From the=20
neighbor's roof, Afsana saw the mob pull her parents from their home,=20
douse them in gasoline and set them alight. Her four sisters were=20
stripped, raped and killed. Along the lanes, other Muslim houses were=20
burning.
After a couple of hours, her neighbor said it was safe for her to=20
leave. It was a trick. In the lane, a pack of men attacked her. "I=20
fell on the ground," she says, "and I could see all these people.=20
They were people I knew who lived around our house." Both she and her=20
brother were splashed with gasoline but she managed to scramble up=20
and get away, clutching her brother's hand. Both of their clothes=20
were alight. When she reached a wall and started climbing up, she=20
lost hold of her brother. Once on a roof, she looked down and watched=20
him burn to death.
The quilt of the 20th century was a patchwork of bloodstains, one of=20
the largest spreading from the partition of the Indian subcontinent=20
in 1947, when the departing British ordered Hindus to live in certain=20
areas and Muslims in others. Millions of Hindus and Muslims picked up=20
their belongings and took flight. And then the slaughter began: up to=20
1 million lost their lives in the bloody end to the colonial era. The=20
most indelible memory of that tragedy is of railway carriages, filled=20
with stabbed and mutilated corpses, coming across the border from=20
India or from the newly created Pakistan-Hindus on some trains,=20
Muslims on others.
Last week, almost 56 years later, it happened again. A train ferrying=20
a group of Hindu pilgrims from the temple town of Ayodhya in central=20
India pulled into the western town of Godhra shortly after dawn,=20
where a group of local Muslims was waiting. As the engine gathered=20
speed leaving Godhra, someone pulled the emergency brake chain and=20
attackers stormed the passenger cars. They hurled bottles filled with=20
gasoline, setting coaches aflame. Able-bodied men managed to escape=20
the conflagration; 40 of the 58 deaths were of women and children=20
charred on board.
The following days, it was the Hindus' turn. Mobs fanned out through=20
Muslim neighborhoods like Afsana's in the western state of Gujarat,=20
led by local politicians and their rabble-rousers-as the Muslims had=20
been at Godhra, according to the police, who charged four local=20
councillors, of whom two were arrested. Their blood lust was fanned=20
by exactly the kind of rumors that fueled the slaughters in 1947:=20
Muslims had abducted teenage girls, or slaughtered cows, which are=20
worshipped by Hindus. The mobs burned families in their houses,=20
demolished mosques, raped wives and daughters. Community police=20
insist they were powerless, but if history is a guide, many probably=20
stood back approvingly. The government in New Delhi, led by Atal=20
Behari Vajpayee and his staunchly pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party=20
(BJP), didn't send in the army to cool things down for several hours.=20
By the weekend, more than 300 people had been murdered following the=20
Godhra ambush-most of them Muslims.
The sight of India devouring itself is depressing precisely because=20
the scenes are so familiar from the past. More troubling, though, is=20
what last week's mayhem says about the country's future. Even after=20
partition, India ended up with one of the largest Muslim populations=20
in the world, now numbering 150 million. Friction with the Hindu=20
majority is inescapable. But the long-term solution for national=20
harmony believed in by hundreds of millions for decades-a purely=20
secular state that respects all religions equally-is looking=20
increasingly like some hoary fantasy. Vajpayee and his BJP claim to=20
believe in secularism, but they came to power by banging the drum of=20
Hindu pride-and fanning hatred of the Muslim minority-by stirring=20
things up in Ayodhya, where a revered Hindu deity was supposedly=20
born. The party has been in power in Delhi twice for a total of four=20
years, and there hadn't been a single communal riot, giving=20
widespread hope that the BJP had gone centrist and wouldn't allow its=20
chauvinistic urges to disrupt a country discovering itself=20
economically-or, at the very least, that the supposedly moderate=20
Vajpayee could rein in the wilder elements of his group. But last=20
week's violence was sparked by more Hindu chest thumping in Ayodhya,=20
where militant Hindus want to build a grand temple on the site of a=20
mosque destroyed by mobs in 1992, which was virtually guaranteed to=20
set off trouble.
The sight of India devouring itself is depressing precisely because=20
the scenes are so familiar from the past. More troubling, though, is=20
what last week's mayhem says about the country's future. Even after=20
partition, India ended up with one of the largest Muslim populations=20
in the world, now numbering 150 million. Friction with the Hindu=20
majority is inescapable. But the long-term solution for national=20
harmony believed in by hundreds of millions for decades-a purely=20
secular state that respects all religions equally-is looking=20
increasingly like some hoary fantasy. Vajpayee and his BJP claim to=20
believe in secularism, but they came to power by banging the drum of=20
Hindu pride-and fanning hatred of the Muslim minority-by stirring=20
things up in Ayodhya, where a revered Hindu deity was supposedly=20
born. The party has been in power in Delhi twice for a total of four=20
years, and there hadn't been a single communal riot, giving=20
widespread hope that the BJP had gone centrist and wouldn't allow its=20
chauvinistic urges to disrupt a country discovering itself=20
economically-or, at the very least, that the supposedly moderate=20
Vajpayee could rein in the wilder elements of his group. But last=20
week's violence was sparked by more Hindu chest thumping in Ayodhya,=20
where militant Hindus want to build a grand temple on the site of a=20
mosque destroyed by mobs in 1992, which was virtually guaranteed to=20
set off trouble.
The main fear is that a secular India, with equal rights for all,=20
will evolve into a tyranny of the majority Hindus-a calamitous idea=20
in a country where the main minority group makes up almost 15% of the=20
population. And if that tyranny ever arises, its soldiers are already=20
identifiable and organized in groups allied with the BJP. They bear a=20
frightening similarity to the fundamentalist Muslims who have=20
declared war on the West. The Hindus wield tridents and sticks and=20
talk of protecting the Hindu nation while the latter carry assault=20
rifles and promote an Islamic state. Both feel their holy sites have=20
been besmirched by outsiders. Both may be minorities within their=20
faiths-the vast majority of Hindus are satisfied with their rituals=20
and customs and the great land that nourishes them-but have=20
supporters in positions of power. Yet, since 1992, the Hindu=20
fundamentalists have kept a low profile and India has been calm.
Last week they came back with a vengeance. Just as each marauding mob=20
in Gujarat had leadership, almost always a local pol, their=20
inspiration (if not their directives) come right down from people=20
within the party now ruling India. The big question: Which train is=20
Vajpayee pulling? That of a modern India trying to get away from its=20
blood-drenched past-or one heading off in a new and different=20
direction?
ayodhya is a name mostly associated with conflict, like Beirut or=20
Belfast. But in reality it's a charming temple town on the banks of=20
the Saryu River just south of the Himalayas. It has plenty of places=20
of worship, mostly Hindu but also Muslim. Its renown is based on the=20
fact that Rama, hero of the eponymous epic Ramayana, is believed to=20
have been born there.
In the 16th century, the fiery invader Babur swooped down from=20
present-day Afghanistan to begin his conquest of Hindu India, which=20
started three centuries of foreign rule known as the Mogul period. In=20
1528, one of his noblemen built a mosque in Ayodhya. History suggests=20
the Muslim invaders dismantled a Hindu temple to do so. That's the=20
building and the site that is provenance of the current conflict:=20
some Hindus say the temple, and then the mosque, sat on the actual=20
birthplace of Rama. For a century-and-a-half, Hindus and Muslims=20
squabbled over the mosque. For Hindus, reclaiming the site is more=20
about punishing the Muslims for the Islamic invasions and partioning=20
of the subcontinent in 1947-in other words, a chance to reopen old=20
wounds. For Muslims, the mosque was an ugly wreck, but it was a=20
touchstone of the secular policy of postindependence India: Would the=20
politicians treat them with respect, or succumb to Hindu sentiment to=20
hold onto or gain political power?
That's exactly what the BJP did in the early 1990s. Sensing that the=20
glory days were over for the Congress Party, which governed India for=20
most of the years after independence, it started a rambunctious=20
campaign to build a temple on the mosque's site. The campaign=20
captured public imagination and the BJP did well in the general=20
election of 1991. In 1992, it brought its masses to the mosque once=20
again. As BJP leaders, including L.K. Advani, now the country's Home=20
Minister, watched-professing to be shocked-trained kar sevaks (holy=20
volunteers) broke down the mosque with iron rods and sledgehammers.=20
That set off riots by Muslims across India, particularly in Bombay,=20
its commercial capital. As usual, the Hindus followed. A month later=20
in Bombay, three days of rioting killed nearly 500 Muslims. It was=20
among the worst communal slaughters since partition.
Then came a nasty but surprisingly effective twist: on March 12,=20
1993, 10 bombs simultaneously exploded in Bombay, some of them near=20
Hindu targets. At about 300, the body count was alarming and the=20
message was clear: the Muslim community was telling the Hindus to=20
cool it or real war would break out. The Hindus relented, but voted=20
increasingly for the BJP. The party took power for 13 days in 1996 in=20
a doomed coalition. After elections in 1998, it cobbled together a=20
stronger alliance, which insisted that hard-line Advani-legally=20
charged with being responsible for the mosque's destruction-be=20
replaced with the more moderate Vajpayee as the prime ministerial=20
candidate. Relations between Hindus and Muslims since the Bombay=20
blasts have been calm, if not happy: neither group wanted to go back=20
to the warfare of 1992.

They do now. Despite a central government injunction on construction=20
at the Ayodhya site, the BJP's radical counterpart, the Vishwa Hindu=20
Parishad party (VHP), announced it would start construction of the=20
Rama temple on land surrounding the former mosque's site. Since 1992,=20
craftsmen shipped into Ayodhya have been carving pillars and=20
balustrades. In the past two weeks, the VHP has been ferrying=20
thousands of Hindu pilgrims from all around the country in and out of=20
Ayodhya to take part in temple rebuilding rituals. The VHP says it=20
will start building on March 15, and that's when it was thought=20
things would get dangerous. Until, that is, the Sabarmati Express=20
pulled into Godhra from Ayodhya.
Not far from where Afsana watched her brother burn to death, a group=20
of Muslim residents fled for shelter to the home of Ashan Jafri, a=20
local Congress Party politician. Jafri tried scaring away the=20
pursuing Hindu mob by shooting a revolver and inflicting injuries.=20
But then the gang gained control, dragging Jafri and his family out=20
and killing them. "I was throwing stones at the Muslims," says=20
Roshan, a 12-year-old Hindu boy, "but when they began firing, I got=20
scared and ran away." Roshan saw Jafri's daughters being stripped and=20
raped. Would he do that when he was older? "Maybe not rape," he says,=20
"because that is bad. But I would kill Muslims when they have to be=20
punished."
In Naroda, 60 people died that day. Afsana was severely burned and is=20
now in a hospital in Ahmadabad. "I had such a big family," she says,=20
"and all of them are dead." But she is a lot wiser than Roshan,=20
despite her own youth, despite her personal trauma, about what really=20
happened that day. She, like most Indians, knows the reality of=20
communal mayhem in India. "I did not hurt those Hindus and they did=20
not hurt me," she says. "It is the politicians who hurt us both."
Those politicians were noticeably absent during the crucial first few=20
hours after the attacks in Godhra. The 75-year-old Vajpayee finally=20
scrambled over the weekend to restore order, sending 1,300 soldiers=20
to Gujarat and ordering curfews in 34 cities in the region. Vajpayee=20
appealed to his sympathizers in the VHP for peace and announced that=20
he would skip a planned foreign trip. He said, "Violent incidents=20
that have been reported are against helpless and innocent people,=20
which is a big blow to the country's image."
But his brand of politics has already harvested dangerous fruit. The=20
past decade of truce between Hindus and Muslims now seems to have=20
been d=E9tente rather than peace, based more on mutually assured=20
destruction than any deep understanding. That cold war turned hot=20
last week thanks to Ayodhya, the genie that Vajpayee and Advani=20
released from its bottle. Vajpayee is in a tight corner. The other=20
parties in his ruling coalition have always insisted that the temple=20
issue be downplayed because it was so dangerous, and he went along=20
with the demand. But the BJP is as close to the VHP as Sin Feinn is=20
to the I.R.A., and the activists at Ayodhya have their own agenda: to=20
build the temple.
"Let us see how Vajpayee stops us," threatened kar sevak Jagish, 25,=20
in Ayodhya last week. "He will have to shoot at his fellow Hindus and=20
that will be the end of his prime ministership. If we can bring him=20
to power, we can also take him down." Today's VHP has its holy men=20
and wild-eyed fanatics, but also a whole lot of educated, soft-spoken=20
professionals. Borrowing lessons from Christian missionaries and=20
jihad forces, it has opened schools and health-care centers in rural=20
areas to win public support and unite Hindus now divided by ethnicity=20
and caste. There are also training camps where boys are taught=20
unarmed commando warfare. "The Hindus are not helpless anymore," said=20
one such commando, Rakesh Singh, lovingly stroking a lethal-looking=20
trident. "We know how to protect ourselves." In fact, the close ties=20
between the BJP, the VHP and the group's parent organization, the=20
Rashtriya Swayamasevak Sangh (rss), does give Vajpayee some leverage=20
in calming down Hindu rioters-at least for now.
Meanwhile in Ahmadabad over the weekend, you could still smell=20
charred flesh in the air and black smoke billowed from the torched=20
Muslim homes, as if signaling a threat to the rest of the country. In=20
one mob on Friday, an angry Hindu refused to disclose his name but=20
was determined to explain who he was in another essential way. He=20
wanted it known that he was from the neighborhood he was torching,=20
and he knew the people whose lives he was destroying. "This was no=20
outside mob," he said. "We did this ourselves." Another man, who=20
claimed to have killed nine Muslims that day, offered this=20
explanation: "I am just a Hindu. That is enough, because I was acting=20
for all Hindus." For all Indians, those are frightening words.

Reported by Meenakshi Ganguly/Ahmadabad and Ayodhya

______

#7.

The Independent (UK)
http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=3D270940

Peter Popham: The myth of Ram's temple has become a licence to kill in Indi=
a

'Muslim equals terrorist, Hindu nationalists tell each other; we have=20
140 million terrorists in our midst'

05 March 2002

India is a big country, and it is usually big-hearted enough not to=20
betray signs of being bothered by what we Delhi-based foreign=20
correspondents write. So it was a rare event when, nearly a year ago,=20
I was politely summoned to the office of Raminder Singh Jassal, then=20
Chief Secretary for External Publicity in the Ministry of External=20
Affairs, and given a sound ticking off.

The main complaint was that I had written at some length about=20
Hindu-Muslim clashes that had broken out in several towns and cities=20
across India following the Taliban's demolition of the Bamiyan=20
Buddhas.

The Indian officials didn't question the veracity of my report, but=20
they made it plain that they regarded it as "unfriendly" of me to=20
have written on the topic of communal disturbances at all. "Relations=20
between majority and minority communities have been far better under=20
this government than they were before," Mr Jassal told me. "So when=20
there is some little incident, why focus on it?"

I expect no such call from the ministry this week. The deaths of at=20
least 450, and probably more than 1,000, Gujaratis, nearly all=20
Muslims, in four days of communal bestiality have exploded for ever=20
the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) claim to have=20
presided over an era of communal peace.

And now, riding the crest of that particular wave, the Vishwa Hindu=20
Parishad (VHP, or "World Hindu Council"), an extremist group within=20
the same Hindu nationalist family as the BJP, is pressing ahead with=20
its plans to begin construction of the long dreamed-of temple to the=20
god Ram in Ayodhya, on the ruins of the mosque torn down by a mob of=20
the same people in December 1992. These two events, the Gujarat=20
bloodbath and the Ayodhya temple, are intimately connected. Taken=20
together they throw into urgent focus the question: what sort of=20
people are ruling the world's biggest democracy today? Where are they=20
headed?

The first man on earth was an Indian, and a Hindu. Hinduism was the=20
primeval religion, not just of India but of the world. There was no=20
Aryan invasion of India, no enslavement of the southern Dravidians.=20
Hindus were here from day one. Other people arrived on these shores,=20
but eventually they bent the knee to Bharat Mata, Mother India, and=20
were knitted into the Hindu fabric. Only the Muslims (and to a lesser=20
extent the Christians) stood out. They smashed temples and erected=20
mosques on the rubble, with sword and fire they tore millions of=20
Hindus from the breast of Mother India and brought them forcibly over=20
to Islam. It is the duty of patriotic Hindus to reverse that historic=20
wrong.

That, reduced to its crude essentials, is the Hindu nationalist=20
creed, and it helps to explain why the primary goal of the most=20
powerful political party in this vast, impoverished country, with all=20
its desperate problems, should be the construction of a temple in a=20
squalid little town in Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, goes the mythology, is=20
"Ramjanambhoomi", the birth place of Ram, an avatar of Vishnu. The=20
Muslim invader Babur (and this, too, is myth) tore down the great=20
temple that stood here and built the Babri Masjid mosque, demolished=20
by the mob in 1992. "Hindu Rashtra", the true Hindu nation, cannot=20
come into being until the temple is rebuilt.

The men who have been ruling India for nearly four years, including=20
the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and his powerful=20
second-in-command Lal Krishna Advani, the Home Minister, are true=20
believers in this, India's exotic variety of neo-fascism. But the=20
world at large has gradually lost sight of that fact. The nuclear=20
tests conducted in May 1998, immediately after they came to power,=20
gave due warning that they meant business. But the need to keep a=20
squabbling and disparate coalition intact forced Ayodhya off the=20
government's agenda. Mr Vajpayee's became the first Indian government=20
to develop cordial relations with the US. Last September, India=20
became a front-line ally in the war against terrorism.

But while India's stature grew abroad, at home Mr Vajpayee was often=20
described by critics on the left as the "mask" of the BJP, the=20
acceptable face of a neo-fascist movement that was only biding its=20
time.

Mr Vajpayee, increasingly doddery at the age of 78, remains in place;=20
but in the past week the party's mask has been ripped away. The war=20
on terrorism and India's long military stand-off with Pakistan, which=20
continues undiminished, have given a new licence to the Hindu=20
nationalists. Muslim equals terrorist, they tell each other: we have=20
it on American authority; we have 140 million terrorists in our=20
midst. At the same time, recent BJP losses in state elections both in=20
Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh have given the hardliners a new urgency and=20
and a new determination. Strike, they have been told, while the BJP=20
still holds power. Strike to maintain and increase that power. Now is=20
the moment for dramatic, decisive action.

Mr Vajpayee has fostered the illusion of being a truly national=20
leader, but in Gujarat there is no such pretence: the BJP state=20
government is starkly partisan. After the killing of 58 Hindus in a=20
train last Wednesday, the event that ignited the violence, Gujarat's=20
Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, quickly announced compensation of=20
200,000 rupees, about =A33,000, to the bereaved families. Hundreds of=20
Muslims have died since, but there is no word of compensation for=20
them. Mr Modi endorsed the VHP's call for a strike last Friday, his=20
official nod to the ensuing bloodbath. The police have stood idly by=20
while the mob did its work; sometimes, victims allege, they actively=20
led the violence.

The BJP rose to power, as fascists do, through violence and the=20
threat of more: the Ayodhya demolition signalled its rapid rise from=20
obscurity, the vision of a state where Hindus rule supreme continues=20
to excite its ideologues. In this amazing but horrifyingly immature=20
democracy, muscle power - and that includes the mass burning alive of=20
women and children - can yield political power. The liberal,=20
English-language papers here have tut-tutted in a worried way, but=20
encouraging communal carnage has done Mr Modi's government no harm at=20
all. With the parliamentary opposition still weak and divided, India=20
has set off down a nightmare road.

______

#8.

The Hindu Tuesday, Mar 05, 2002 | Opinion - Leader Page Articles
http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2002030500131000.htm

Sunset of communal politics
By Swami Agnivesh & Valson Thampu

It is imperative for the people to take a firm and final stand on the=20
side of secularism and responsible governance.
SUCCESS TURNS into a snare when the temptation to repeat it ever so=20
often is not resisted. L. K. Advani is right in his assertion that=20
the BJP prospered only because of the mandir movement. But much water=20
has flowed under the bridge since December 6, 1992. And it would be=20
suicidal for the BJP to overlook the message, loud and clear, from=20
the recent Assembly elections especially in Uttar Pradesh. Between=20
Kargil and now, the Indian voter has come a long way. He has had=20
enough of this communal clap-trap. The mandir as an electoral milch=20
cow has had its day. Not even the genius of an Advani can make it=20
yield again.

The electoral seductiveness of communal politics has been grossly=20
exaggerated all along. What has been appealing to the voters in=20
recent years is not so much the prospect of crafting a Hindu=20
theocracy but the heady excitement of the Ayodhya movement which=20
relieved, for a while, the sense of stagnation and drift that=20
afflicted especially the youth. What they hailed was not the triumph=20
of one religion over another, but the emergence of a political=20
alternative with a difference. The Indian voter still cares for his=20
religion. And that is precisely the problem that confronts the BJP=20
today. Those who love and value their faith cannot be a party to its=20
repeated exploitation for ulterior gains.

If communalism ever had the kind of mass appeal it is today claimed=20
to have, the Jan Sangh would not have had to reinvent itself as the=20
BJP, professing faith in its own version of secularism. Events in the=20
recent past are a tribute to the unerring secular instinct of the=20
Hindu mind, which it would be unwise for the BJP to belittle. The BJP=20
could not have ruled at the Centre if it had not put on the mukhota=20
(mask) of secularism and abandoned its communal agenda for a while,=20
as amply proved by the 13-day innings of the Vajpayee Government at=20
the Centre when there were no takers for seats of power in the hall=20
of communal politics. The decline of the Congress(I) started with the=20
blurring of its secular image. In contrast, leaders such as Laloo=20
Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Sigh Yadav have maintained and consolidated=20
their political power-base largely because of their commitment to=20
secularism. It was Laloo Yadav's boldness in stopping the Rath Yatra=20
that turned him into a folk hero in Bihar. The plight of the BJP=20
today illustrates the self-contradiction inherent in every ideology=20
of negativity. Till the Babri Masjid stood, it symbolised the=20
contrived grievance of a section of Hindus against the Muslims on=20
account of what their ancestors were alleged to have done in the=20
twilight of history. Admittedly, it is a grievance the merchants of=20
hate have manipulated with consummate skill and considerable profit=20
for a period of time. The destruction of the Babri Masjid, however,=20
burst the bubble of this exhumed pseudo-grievance. After the=20
destruction of the mosque, the manipulated resentment of the=20
pro-mandir masses turned slowly into bitterness against their own=20
manipulators who did not know how to conceal either their precipitous=20
affluence or their glee at being able to convert the gullibility of=20
the people into a political windfall. Not surprisingly, while Lord=20
Ram's temple continued to be electorally exploited, the country=20
itself was degraded into a den of corruption literally on a=20
war-footing. Only those capable of monumental cynicism about the=20
common sense of the common man could have expected this honeymoon of=20
hypocrisy to continue forever. Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Punjab=20
were, in other words, just waiting to happen. The sincere Ram bhakts=20
are neither amused nor fooled any longer.

For the politics of hate to survive, it is imperative that the=20
catalytic symbol of hate stands. Yet, to prove its virility, this=20
symbol needs to be attacked and brought down, as the mosque was. But=20
this very success is also its defeat; for the catalyst of grievance=20
ceases to exist. It is this realisation that accounts for the=20
ambivalence in Mr. Advani's averments before the Liberhan Commission.=20
With equal sincerity he gloated over the Ayodhya movement and grieved=20
over the destruction of the mosque. What unmasks the true face of a=20
communal project is its success in reaching the seat of power. Having=20
developed only the genius of negativity, its proponents find=20
themselves out of their elements vis-a-vis the task of governance.=20
What people expect from a party in power is different from what they=20
demand from an Opposition party. People expect a Government to=20
deliver the goods, as is proved by the anti-incumbency factor. But as=20
long as a party does not shed its communal blinkers, it cannot evolve=20
or embrace a positive vision for society.

So far the BJP think-tank has covered up this bankruptcy in=20
governance by improvising emotionally-charged hypes one after the=20
other as the opium of the masses. The anti-terror agenda was=20
virtually turned into a national cult, no doubt encouraged by the=20
electoral goldmine that Kargil proved to be. Both Kargil and the=20
December 13 attack on Parliament should have gone against the NDA=20
Government, for in both instances the Government's inability to act=20
in time on the intelligence available precipitated the crises. Both=20
were custom-made situations for the

Opposition parties to hold the Government to account. But that did=20
not happen. What happened, instead, was that the BJP managed to annex=20
the political space of the Opposition.The ruling party hogged the=20
limelight of national grievance! The Opposition's mouth was sealed,=20
but not the mind of the voter. Now he has spoken.

It would be an unmitigated disaster for the country if the Sangh=20
Parivar were to respond to this reality in terms of another communal=20
avalanche, as events in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh seem to portend. To=20
sow the winds of a communal bloodbath for ulterior gains at this time=20
will be to reap the whirlwind of political extinction. Already an=20
economic time bomb is ticking at the foundation of our country. The=20
bewilderment and frustration of the masses has reached unprecedented=20
proportions. It would be a monumental folly to push the country now=20
into avoidable anarchy.

The near-total extinction of statesmanship in politics and the=20
prevalence of negative and divisive ideologies that degrade elections=20
into opportunities only for kicking out crooks and political=20
shenanigans from the seats of power, are pathological symptoms that=20
point to our collective decay. The silver lining, though, is that the=20
people are now waking up to their right to have quality of life. This=20
bottom-up pressure could pave the way for the emergence, sooner or=20
later, of a new political culture. It is imperative for the people to=20
take a firm and final stand on the side of secularism and responsible=20
governance. The merchants of hate and hurt need to be shown the=20
lumber-room of history where indeed they belong.

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