[sacw] SACW | 21 Nov. 02

Harsh Kapoor aiindex@mnet.fr
Thu, 21 Nov 2002 03:04:13 +0100


South Asia Citizens Wire | 21 November 2002

'THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE OF HATE: IDRF AND THE AMERICAN FUNDING OF HINDUTVA'.
by Sabrang Communications (India) and South Asia Citizens Web (France)
20 November 2002
A detailed investigative report on the use of American corporate=20
funds by the US based India Development and Relief Fund to promote=20
the projects of Hindu supremacist groups in India.

The online report is available at:
Sabrang Communications (India) http://www.sabrang.com
South Asia Citizens Web (France) http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/

The full report is also being hosted by a growing number of web sites=20
worldwide.
The current list is:
Isis Creations (Australia): http://www.isis.aust.com/sacw/
Outlook (India): www.outlookindia.org
India Committee of the the Netherlands: http://www.indianet.nl
Z Mag South Asia (USA): http://www.zmag.org/southasia/southasia1.htm
Alliance for Secular and Democratic South Asia (USA):=20
<http://www.alliancesouthasia.org/>http://www.alliancesouthasia.org/

__________________________

#1. Is US Corporate Philanthropy Funding Hate Groups In India?
The Campaign to Stop Funding Hate Announces Project Saffron Dollar
#2. India: Announcing the release of "Crime Against Humanity" Report=20
of the Concerned Citizens Tribunal - Gujarat 2002
#3. Indian states must not muzzle voice of dissent (Kuldip Nayar)
#4. India: Gujarat elections (Praful Bidwai)
#5. Gujarat Was Gifted to Godse (I.K.Shukla)

__________________________

#1.

The Campaign to Stop Funding Hate
P.O. Box 20136 Stanford CA 94309
http://www.stopfundinghate.org

Press Advisory

Date: Wednesday, November 20, 2002, 3:30 PM IST (India)/5 AM EST (USA).

For More Information Contact:=A0 <idrf_fx_report@y...>

Is US Corporate Philanthropy Funding Hate Groups In India?
The Campaign to Stop Funding Hate Announces Project Saffron Dollar

Are the charity dollars generously provided by American companies,=20
including some of our leading corporate citizens of the high=20
technology world, being used to fund violent, sectarian groups in=20
India? The Campaign to Stop Funding Hate (SFH) announces the launch=20
of Project Saffron Dollar to bring an end to the electronic=20
collection and transfer of funds from the US to organizations that=20
spread sectarian hatred in India.

The Campaign to Stop Funding Hate (SFH) is a coalition of=20
people=8Bprofessionals, students, workers, artists and=20
intellectuals=8Bwho share a common concern that sectarian hatreds in=20
India are being fueled by money flowing from the United States. SFH=20
is committed to an India that is open, tolerant and democratic. As=20
the first step, SFH is determined to turn off the money flow from the=20
United States to Hindutva hate groups responsible for recurring=20
anti-minority violence in India.

IDRF: THE SANGH=B9S FUNDING BRANCH IN THE USA

Project Saffron Dollar aims to put an end to the collection of=20
hundreds of thousands of dollars by the most =8Crespectable=B9 of the US=20
based funding arms of the violent and sectarian Hindutva movement=8Bthe=20
India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF). In its communications and=20
on its website, the IDRF claims to be a non-sectarian, non-political=20
charity that funds development and relief work in India. However, a=20
report =AD A Foreign Exchange of Hate =AD co-published today by the South=20
Asia Citizens Web (SACW) based in France, and Sabrang Communications,=20
Bombay, India, documents in rich detail the fundamental connections=20
between the IDRF and the Sangh Parivar (or simply the Sangh, the name=20
commonly used for the network of RSS-linked organizations that=20
collectively define the Hindutva movement). Amongst other documents,=20
the SACW/Sabrang report examines a tax document filed by IDRF (at its=20
inception in 1989) with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the US=20
Federal Government. The report offers the following:

[F]orm 1023, duly filled by IDRF executives when it was created in=20
1989, identifies nine organizations as a representative sample of the=20
types of organizations IDRF has been set up to support in India=8A All=20
nine are clearly marked Sangh organizations.

The report concludes that the fact of money being sent to=20
organizations linked to the RSS is not a =8Cmere=B9 incidental to IDRF=B9s=
=20
larger operations, but rather that raising funds for the Sangh=20
Parivar is, and continues to be, the primary reason for the existence=20
of IDRF in the US.

It is critical to underscore that IDRF=B9s claim to being non-sectarian=20
is entirely misleading. The SACW/Sabrang report indicates that a=20
whopping 82% of the funds disbursed at the discretion of IDRF go to=20
Sangh organizations. Of the remaining, the bulk goes to sectarian=20
Hindu charities that may or may not have a direct Sangh affiliation.=20
Less than five percent of their funds go to agencies that do not have=20
a distinct Hindu-religious identification. Examining the IDRF fund=20
disbursement from a =8Cactivity-funded=B9 viewpoint, the SACW/Sabrang=20
report documents that nearly 70% of the monies are used for=20
"hinduization/tribal/education" work, largely with a view of=20
spreading Hindutva ideology amongst Adivasi (tribal) communities.=20
Less than 20% of the total sent by IDRF is used in what are commonly=20
understood as =8Cdevelopment and relief=B9 activities. However, the=20
report also concludes that "the 15% funds that the IDRF disbursed for=20
"relief" must also be seen as sectarian funds" because of the=20
sectarian basis of how relief work is carried out by the=20
organizations that IDRF funds.

DOLLARS OF DECEPTION: IDRF FUND RAISING TECHNIQUES

A substantial proportion of IDRF=B9s fund-raising is done through=20
electronic means:
=85 money transfer portals such as PayPal;
=85 company foundations and their electronic portals such as Cisco Foundati=
on;
=85 other charity portals such as Givingstation.org; and
=85 credit card commissions through a NSC/MBNA Bank issued IDRF Master Card=
.

SFH research indicates that in excess of half a million dollars may=20
be going every year into the hate-lined coffers of IDRF through such=20
transfers. As of 10AM PST (USA), November 19 2002, petitions seeking=20
an immediate cessation of the transfer of funds to IDRF have been=20
dispatched along with comprehensive back-up documentation, including=20
A Foreign Exchange of Hate report, to ten of the leading=20
corporations, portals and money exchange facilities. The SFH=20
petition urges these corporations to immediately disallow IDRF from=20
using their facilities for direct or indirect fund-raising.

Many large US corporations such as CISCO, Sun, Oracle, HP and AOL=20
Time Warner match employee contributions to US based non profits.=20
"Annual Giving" programs normally happen once a year in late=20
Fall=8Btimed to occur between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Unsuspecting=20
corporations end up giving large amounts of money as matching funds=20
to IDRF as employees of these firms direct funds to IDRF. For=20
instance, in fiscal 1999, Cisco Foundation gave almost $70,000 to=20
IDRF =AD placing IDRF among the top 5 of Cisco grantees. In=20
comparison, a well-regarded mainstream institution like the Nobel=20
Peace Prize winning Doctors Without Borders received only $2,560.=20
Also, other Indian-American development organizations such as Asha=20
($1,417), CRY=8BChild Relief and You ($4,427) or the Maharashtra=20
Foundation ($2,000) all fared much worse than IDRF. Clearly, at=20
least among Cisco employees, the IDRF has come to occupy much of the=20
giving space. When you add Cisco=B9s matching grants to the original=20
amounts given by its employees, a total of at least $133,000 went=20
through Cisco to IDRF in 1999-2000=8Bthis is more than 5% of IDRF=B9s=20
total cash collections for the same time period.

The dynamics of IDRF=B9s corporate funding strategy are simple. As=20
professional Indian migration to the US has boomed over the last=20
decade, especially in the software sector, groups of Sangh=20
operatives, in each of the large high-tech firms with liberal giving=20
policies, have worked to put IDRF on the corporations=B9 list of=20
grantees. The swayamsevaks (Sangh =8Cvolunteers=B9) within these=20
corporations then push IDRF as the =8Cbest=B9 and the =8Conly=B9 way to=20
provide funding for =8Cdevelopment & relief=B9 work in India, thus=20
causing not only other unsuspecting employees, but also the=20
corporation itself to fund the Sangh in India. Such activities of=20
Sangh operatives, within firms such as Cisco, constitute a clear=20
effort to mislead the corporation into funding organizations that=20
spread sectarian hate: explicitly in contravention of company policy.=20
For instance, a criterion for eligibility for donations that Cisco=20
outlines is that the "organization/project being funded must have a=20
nonreligious primary purpose"; and, equally explicit, is the=20
criterion for an ineligible organization: "organizations whose=20
primary mission is to promote or serve one culture, race, or=20
religion.=8A" Clearly IDRF falls outside of the purview of eligibility=20
because of its Sangh connection and is also marked clearly as=20
ineligible because of its single minded focus on Hindus and the=20
creation of a Hindu Rashtra (a vision of an exclusivist Hindu=20
Supremacist nation).

The case of Charity portals such as Giving Station or Donation Depot=20
is similar. Many US corporations use one or other of these donation=20
portals to encourage annual giving by their employees. For instance,=20
Hewlett Packard, the California based computer and peripherals giant,=20
manages its annual giving plans through Giving Station.

IDRF has also adopted an older Hindutva strategy. Between 1993 and=20
1995 the VHP of America had signed up with AT&T in its Associations=20
Rewards Program, wherein a fixed percentage of any subscribers total=20
telephone bill could be directed to a non profit of his/her choice,=20
provided the non profit was registered with AT&T in its Association=20
Rewards Program. Under consistent pressure from people appalled by=20
this misuse of charitable giving, AT&T withdrew all support to VHP of=20
America. IDRF has reproduced exactly the same method for funds=20
collection, this time through a credit card issued by MBNA bank as=20
part of a program managed by the National Scrip Center=8Ban=20
organization founded primarily to simplify fund-raising by schools.=20
The operation of this scheme is similar to what the VHP-A had tried=20
with the AT&T Rewards program=8Bfrom one to fifteen percent of all=20
transactions conducted on an MBNA-IDRF credit card goes to IDRF.

What is perhaps morally more reprehensible than individuals directing=20
money to IDRF knowing that most or all of it will be used for Sangh=20
activities, is the subterfuge involved in misusing the generosity of=20
well meaning individuals and organizations for the securing of hate=20
money. Such deception does great harm to the Indo-American community=20
by taking advantage of people (and corporations) who care, people who=20
give money in the belief that they are helping non sectarian relief=20
and development work in India.

A CALL TO BE VIGILANT

The diversity of the funds collection strategies employed by IDRF in=20
the small sample outlined above indicates that it is very likely that=20
there are many more such tactics employed by the Sangh that have yet=20
to be uncovered. SFH is committed to following the last dollar.

Although it is clear that a large amount of money does go from the US=20
to fund Sangh operations in India=8Bwhat the exact amount is, is still=20
an open question. The SACW/Sabrang report clearly locates=20
"development" and "seva" work as the most potent Sangh cover in its=20
spreading the ideology of hate. SFH sees its role as not just a=20
campaign to stop such relatively =8Cover-ground=B9 funding as done by=20
IDRF, but also to promote an awareness of how even funds that are=20
given to temples and cultural organizations may be ending up in the=20
hands of the Sangh and similar organizations.

A decade ago, people who funded development work in India could do so=20
without being too vigilant on the specific usage of these funds. But=20
in the wake of the growing levels of sectarian violence across the=20
world, we all need to heighten the level of scrutiny regarding the=20
funds being transferred to organizations overseas=8Bfunds ostensibly=20
collected for =8Cdevelopment & relief=B9 work but being used to foment=20
hatreds and spread violence.

Corporations also have a responsibility in ensuring that their funds=20
are not misused by agencies like IDRF. By inadvertently promoting=20
such groups, corporations end up not only supporting violence in=20
India but also importing the divisions and hatreds of Indian society=20
into the Indo-American community and promoting extremism on American=20
soil.

For SFH our guiding light is well expressed by the apostle of peace,=20
Mahatma Gandhi, who when told that the RSS had done some excellent=20
relief work in the wake of the 1946 communal riots, answered, "But=20
don=B9t forget, even so had Hitler=B9s Nazis and the Fascists under=20
Mussolini." He saw right through this fa=E7ade of seva and=20
characterized the RSS as a =8Ccommunal body with a totalitarian=20
outlook.=B9 He paid for this with his life. Our task is to ensure that=20
his message of peace, love and tolerance does not die in India.

=8B end =8B

______

#2.

The [Gujarat] Tribunal Report release on

November 21, 2002 Ahmedabad
November 22, 2002 New Delhi

The report is available at: www. sabrang.com

Concerned Citizens Tribunal - Gujarat 2002
November 20, 2002

Press Invite

The Concerned Citizens Tribunal =ADGujarat 2002 will be releasing it=B9s=20
two volume report, "Crime Against Humanity" on November 22, 2002 at=20
the Press Club [New Delhi] at 11. 30 a.m. We request you to send a=20
representative to cover the event.

The eight-member panel, headed by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer and led=20
by Justices P.B. Sawant, Justice Hosbet Suresh, Senior Advocate=20
K.G.Kannabiran will address the press on the occasion. Other panel=20
members include Ms Aruna Roy, Mazdoor Kisan Sanghatan, Professor=20
Ghanshyam Shah and Professor Tanika Sarkar and Mr K.S. Subramaniam,=20
former DIG Assam.

The Tribunal spent a fortnight in Gujarat in May 2002 recording=20
evidence. In all 2,094 statements, written and oral were processed by=20
the Tribunal. These were from the affected areas, from over 16=20
districts of the state. Apart from Ahmedabad, the Tribunal had made a=20
field visit to Godhra and the sight of the arson, and Vadodara,=20
Ankleshwar where victim survivors from different areas came. The=20
testimony of two members of the government and several bureaucrats=20
and policemen were also taken on record. The findings and=20
recommendations of the Tribunal will have far-reaching consequences=20
for the struggle for justice for the victim survivors of the carnage.

Anil Dharker

Concerned Citizens Tribunal

_____

#3.

Gulf Times
Saturday, November 16, 2002

Indian states must not muzzle voice of dissent
New Delhi=A0|=A0By Kuldip Nayar

In the fifties there was a poet in communist ruled Hungary, who said:=20
"We are living in cannibal times." I was reminded of the observation=20
the other day when an eyewitness said that the Ansal Plaza shootout=20
at Delhi was no encounter but a straight murder of the two ill-fed,=20
unarmed men. In one sense it is a sad commentary on the environs=20
where people can be bumped off without trial.

The witness, Dr Hari Krishna, was afraid for his life after he=20
contradicted the police. Officers had given a detailed account of how=20
the encounter took place and how the two terrorists armed with the=20
AK-47 guns were killed before they could harm any of the hundreds of=20
Diwali shoppers.

Krishna phoned me frantically that the police had threatened him of=20
dire consequences if he did not withdraw his version. Harsh words=20
were used after he rejected several entreaties. His wife and son felt=20
unsafe. If such a sequence of events does not constitute "cannibal=20
times", then what does?

But I must admit that most people have not liked my submission to the=20
National Human Rights Commission for an inquiry on the shootout. In=20
fact, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has demanded my arrest under the=20
Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). Most of the criticism is on two=20
counts.

First, why had I relied on the doctor's statement and not verify the=20
facts myself.

My explanation is that the doctor, who had no axe to grind, is as=20
credible as anyone else. Why should the doctor be telling a lie? He=20
happened to be in the parking lot of Ansal Plaza's basement at the=20
time of the shooting. It requires courage for someone to contradict=20
the police version. It impressed me.

The charge that I did not verify the facts is neither here nor there.=20
With whom could I check? The police were ruled out. The Ansal Plaza=20
shopkeepers were so afraid after having found that the terrorists=20
were in their midst that they were all praise for the police. They=20
went to the extent of giving Rs100,000 to the police for their=20
courage.

Incidentally, the person who presented the purse of Rs100,000 is the=20
one against whom a criminal case is pending for the death of 65=20
people during a cinema tragedy.

Another point of the criticism is: Why had I asked in my petition for=20
the transfer of the two officers who had carried out the encounter.=20
It is but fair that those who are suspect should be kept out till the=20
inquiry is complete.

However, I had one point against them. They are the same officers who=20
had recently picked up some human rights activists from a closed-door=20
meeting and detained them for 72 hours without warrants or any=20
explanation.

I do not understand why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the=20
police have tried to confuse the incident. At issue are not the=20
"so-called human rights activists" or their "anti-national stand."

Nor is it the past record of Kirshna's "frauds or dacoity" as alleged=20
by the police are relevant. I am concerned only with the eyewitness=20
account he has given. The point to ascertain is whether the=20
"encounter" was genuine or not.

The version of the police is that the doctor reached the shopping=20
complex two hours after the shootout. I doubt if there is any=20
technology which can trace the movement of a person on the basis of=20
mobile telephones or calls. Still the police have stuck to their=20
stand that it was an encounter and that the doctor did not witness it.

I have come to be sceptical about the encounters after reports from=20
Kashmir and Punjab where innocent people have been bumped off by the=20
hundred. Many cases, challenging the veracity of encounters, are=20
pending before the courts and the National Human Rights Commission=20
(NHRC).

In the name of eliminating the Naxalites, the Andhra Pradesh police=20
have committed atrocities beyond words. In Guwahati, two people were=20
recently killed outside the chief minister's residence, and the story=20
given out was that they were terrorists.

At Ahmedabad, a person in police custody was killed. In Punjab, a=20
person by the name of Kalra has not been produced in the Supreme=20
Court even though a judge ordered his presence some eight years ago.

Even when I saw some clips of the shootout on television I felt that=20
the police story had many gaping holes. Reports in the print media=20
only heightened my doubts. Still I left the matter at that.

But when the doctor's eyewitness account appeared in two newspapers,=20
I decided to follow up the story. I met Justice A.N. Verma, Chiarman=20
of the NHRC, to request him to order an inquiry to find out the=20
facts. He saw my point and ordered an inquiry.

The question to ask is why did the BJP spokesman rush to defend the=20
police when the inquiry was in progress. And why he should get=20
irritated if I am one of the "so-called human rights activists" and=20
"the overground face of the underground." If he or his government has=20
any proof, let them move against me. Maligning people because they=20
are critics is neither legally or ethnically correct.

The problem with most of us is that we do not hold any discourses=20
dispassionately. Those who constitute the establishment do not use=20
arguments to defend themselves but resort to abuses to cover up their=20
deficiencies.

The BJP spokesman's outburst made the Foreign Office at Islamabad say=20
that the Indian media had suggested that the evidence of terrorists'=20
nationality was "fabricated." There has been no such discussion in=20
the media. There is enough evidence that they were terrorists. They=20
may well be from Pakistan because it has not stopped cross-border=20
terrorism. The Lashkar-e-Toiba still has its headquarters in Pakistan.

My concern is with my country which is open and democratic and where=20
the rule of law has pre-eminence. The doctor's charge is a serious=20
one, not to be belittled or ignored on the ground that the police=20
morale would be affected if the allegation was pursued.

When there are persistent voices that law protectors have become law=20
violators, the government must sit up and ponder. The state can frame=20
as many laws as it requires for fighting terrorism. But it has to=20
stay within the limits of the law. It cannot become a law unto itself.

Human rights activists are as much against state terrorism as against=20
the terrorists. The activists do not want the voice of dissent to be=20
muzzled. Nor do they want the right to differ misused. But no=20
governance is worth a dime if human rights are not an integral part=20
of it. I am surprised that those very people who suffered during the=20
emergency in the hands of the police are defending them.

Some people =AD even television networks =AD have warned me that my=20
credibility would suffer if the doctor's story turned out to be=20
false. I do not know about my credibility. But it would definitely=20
hurt the credibility of eyewitnesses. The point to consider is how to=20
impress upon the police not to kill even terrorists without proper=20
trial. At stake are the law and law courts.

Still the courage to stand up and be counted, which is lessening in=20
the country day by day, should be applauded. People are afraid to=20
tell the truth lest they should land themselves in trouble. Such an=20
attitude does not portend well for a democracy.=A0

Kuldip Nayar is a Rajya Sabha MP and former High Commissioner to the=20
United Kingdom.

_____

#4.

The News International
Thursday November 21, 2002

Gujarat elections

Praful Bidwai

It is only rarely that history takes such a capricious turn in a=20
nation's life that a single event can produce two diametrically=20
opposite outcomes. That's precisely what is happening in India as=20
elections to Gujarat's state Assembly approach. Their result could=20
either see the ignominious decline of Hindutva politics and the=20
victory of secularism at the national level, or, ironically, the=20
triumph of neofascism and the inauguration of a dark period in the=20
country's life.

Hindutva is playing for broke in Gujarat. The BJP and the Vishwa=20
Hindu Parishad have launched a no-holds-barred, hysterical=20
confrontation against all Constitutional authorities including the=20
Election Commission. This is calculated to further inflame communal=20
passions during India's most sectarian election campaign. The VHP=20
knows that for the sangh parivar, the contest in Gujarat is "make or=20
break".

This time around, the Gujarat BJP has not distanced itself from the=20
VHP's incendiary anti-Constitutional, anti-secular politics. It too=20
has attacked the EC in ways which put a big question-mark over its=20
government's willingness to comply with the Commission's directives -=20
Prime Minister Vajpayee's belated counsel notwithstanding. The next=20
two weeks will see an ugly tussle between Constitutional legality,=20
and the politics of consensus and sanity, on the one hand, and crass=20
sectarianism, and partisan, intimidatory politics and hysterical=20
communalism, on the other.

A lot will depend on the integrity of the state's civil servants. If=20
they capitulate to their political bosses, as many did during the=20
March pogrom, they will bring further ignominy upon their state. If=20
they act impartially following the EC's statutory authority, they=20
could still redeem themselves. The EC will have to monitor the whole=20
election process in Gujarat very, very closely to ensure that it is=20
not hijacked by inflamed passions.

The Gujarat contest is bipolar: between the Congress, and a BJP which=20
has morphed itself into a virulent adjunct of the VHP nourished by=20
the poison of the post-Godhra violence. The VHP has branches in 55=20
percent of Gujarat's 18,600 villages. It controls the BJP at the=20
grassroots level. Without the VHP, the BJP's election campaign would=20
be lifeless.

The VHP behaves like a movement, a neofascist form of mass=20
mobilisation, much in the way that precursors to the Nazis in=20
Germany, organising pogroms, spreading hatred against the Jews,=20
stoking militarist and national-supremacist ideas, and building up=20
the cult of authority.

Narendra Milosevic Modi fashions himself as "Chhota Sardar", a=20
pitiful, super-communalised caricature of Vallabhbhai Patel in order=20
to consciously create the image of the fuehrer. It is around his=20
authoritarian personality, his politics of confrontation and communal=20
extremism, and his stormtrooper tactics, that the BJP is being=20
radically reshaped.

Modi has firmly refused to moderate his style. He maintains a steady=20
outflow of venomous rhetoric about "Italian dogs" and "Mian=20
Musharraf's progeny". He attacks reconciliation, inter-religious=20
tolerance and social harmony. Modi believes himself to be a messianic=20
figure who is about to capture the hearts of the Hindu masses - and=20
not just in Gujarat. Should the BJP win Gujarat, Modi will have a=20
profound impact on the party nationally.

However, the BJP won't find it easy to win the election - despite=20
communal polarisation and its all-out effort to whip up=20
Hindu-supremacist sentiments. If the 1998 pattern repeats itself - a=20
big if, this - the Congress' vote (35 percent) combined with=20
Shankarsinh Vaghela's (13 percent) will easily outweigh the BJP's 45=20
percent. Of course, then, the pogrom had not happened.

However, the Patel caste - fully one-fourth of the population, and=20
economically and socially, upwardly mobile - was solidly behind the=20
BJP in 1998. Today, their principal leader, former Chief Minister=20
Keshubhai Patel, is a bitter man, unreconciled to Modi's takeover of=20
the party.

Following the pogrom of March to June, there is reportedly an 11 to=20
12 percent vote swing against the BJP. Going by all reports, many of=20
the party's leaders feel shaky about their electoral prospects. As=20
many as 24 MLAs, including 11 Ministers, are changing their seats.=20
Modi himself is looking for a new seat, away from Patel-dominated=20
Rajkot. Opposing the BJP is the Congress' combative Vaghela who is=20
leading an energetic campaign on shanti, salamati and samriddhi=20
(peace, security and prosperity).

The Gujarat election is a contest not only between two parties but=20
between two rival agendas: governance and development-related issues=20
vs issues of identity and insecurity. The BJP is focused exclusively=20
on the second, while the Congress is struggling with the first.=20
Logically, in a "normal" election, governance issues should count.=20
If, after raising the stakes sky high, the BJP loses in Gujarat, it=20
will experience the rudest shock of its political life.

A BJP defeat in Gujarat will accelerate its downturn nationally. It=20
has lost every single state, municipal and panchayat election in the=20
past 4 1/2 years (barring, with qualifications, Goa, where too it=20
failed to win a majority). The party is unfit to rule and utterly=20
bankrupt on policy, organisational qualities and governance. Its=20
claim to be a "party with a difference" stands badly exposed -=20
witness the obscene show, with splits and defections in Uttar=20
Pradesh. Also exposed are its empty boasts about national security.=20
Following a Gujarat defeat, the BJP will probably shrink in the next=20
Lok Sabha to under 100 seats (of a total of 545).

However, if the BJP wins in Gujarat - not necessarily on the Hindutva=20
identity platform, but because of its relatively large social base=20
and a long history of communal and caste polarisation - it will see=20
this as the triumph of its hate-based politics at the core of which=20
lies the original Programme of the RSS's most important ideologue,=20
Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar.

The Golwalkar Programme consists in unleashing a frontal attack on=20
all modern and liberal ideas and institutions, and using coercion to=20
politically disenfranchise the religious minorities and to turn them=20
into second-class citizens without rights. It is designed to create a=20
situation of permanent near-civil war. In this enterprise, Modi is=20
backed by apex-level leaders, including L K Advani, and also young,=20
super-ambitious men without a base, like Venkaiah Naidu and Arun=20
Jaitley.

If he triumphs in Gujarat, Modi will ride on the Gowalkar Programme=20
to bid for the BJP's national leadership and the top job in=20
government. He will not allow "effete", aged, spent leaders like=20
Vajpayee to obstruct the Programme's implementation. One immediate=20
gainer from Modi's ascendancy will be Advani, who has linked his own=20
upward career movement to Gujarat. But Advani too will probably have=20
to defer to the fuehrer.

A Modi victory is thus likely to unleash a furious inner-party=20
struggle. This can have one of two consequences. The Vajpayee=20
leadership, already dispirited and compromised, could collapse,=20
yielding to an aggressively communal, ultra-sectarian dispensation -=20
a kind of Hindu Taliban, which will push India back towards the=20
Middle Ages.

This will be a social and political nightmare.

Alternatively, the BJP, and with it, the NDA, will come tumbling down=20
like a house of cards in a mid-term general election, in which=20
secular parties win, giving a healthy turn to Indian politics and=20
returning to real bread-and-butter issues.

All South Asians who value democracy and political decency must hope=20
for the second outcome.

____

#5.

GUJARAT WAS GIFTED TO GODSE
I.K.Shukla

Even God cannot change the past. - Agathon (447-401 BC)

What God cannot change, the HinduTaliban will. In fact, ever since=20
their ascent to power they have done nothing else. As this mighty=20
enterprise keeps them terribly busy, they have left governance to=20
gods. In their book, Bharat can dispense with governance, but not=20
spirituality..

Hindutva has built Godse a quite a memorial. Its blood-splattered=20
title is Gujarat. Hindutva has intoned the requiem of India's secular=20
democracy as enshrined and statutorily mandated in the Constitution.=20
The requiem is Gujarat. In Gujarat, if Hinduism was ruthlessly=20
decapitated, humanity was savagely desecrated too.

Hindutva has re-defined patriotism and pride as Rape, Loot, Arson,=20
Kleptomania, Genocide of Innocents- Muslims, Christians, Dalits, and=20
Adivasis. Hindutva has laid down the concrete parameters of culture=20
and nationalism: permanent violence against minorities and permanent=20
belligerency or war against Pakistan. For this purpose, the=20
pseudo-Hindus have to be loud, liars, lewd, and lethal.

Issues in polity and society could never have been more candid, more=20
criminal, more constricted, or more diversionary.

Hindutva paradigm embraces both the Neanderthal man and the Nazi. It=20
would not let history come in the way. It can and does maul history=20
radically. But it cannot be accused of inconsistency. Since all that=20
is alien is its staple, all that is abysmal its sustenance, however=20
regressive or recidivist, however reprobate and reactionary, it=20
wallows in its delight that like Nazis, Neanderthal man too belonged=20
to Germany, in a valley near Dusseldorf. In Hindutva iconography the=20
ideational source is as important as the substantive model.

Its marauding hordes of hired hoodlums and mercenary militias, its=20
vandals and vigilantes have equally fearsome freaks as "leaders". In=20
ugliness and obscenity they vie with one another. These subhuman=20
abortions make up for their deficit of mind with an aggressive=20
deficit of morals. This makes them monsters that are unfit for any=20
human society. Their only corral can be a lunatic asylum, or a=20
fossils=92 museum. There they can be visited as curiosities and=20
commiserated with or entertained by.

The statements they keep making with impunity betray them as guilty=20
of moral turpitude and high treason. Not only they urgently deserve=20
to be nabbed as terrorists and confined in solitary cells, they=20
imperatively need to be permanently barred from the political and=20
cultural life of the nation. The alternative is chaos, bloodletting,=20
massive destruction and mega violence ripping the nation to=20
smithereens.

Overtly or covertly, the intrusion of religion in a polity is=20
disastrous, as example after bloody example bears out in history.=20
Under various cloaks and deceptive guises, once such elements=20
contaminate a polity, the corrective measures become either=20
permanently hobbled or irremediably handicapped. Religion cannot be=20
allowed to override and rescind the state and disrupt a democracy.

Democracy is not majority rule. Were it so, it would be nothing other=20
than tyranny. Democracy is accommodation of various compromises,=20
validation of and respect for various interests, inclusion and=20
concession of various claims and rights.
Democracy is not usurpation of power by an elitist minority of the=20
privileged few.
Of course, Hindutva neither subscribes to democracy nor would yield to it.

Therefore, MadVani's chameleon statement that India will not become=20
Hindu Rashtra
should be taken with a spade of salt. This has been impelled by=20
temporal and tactical purposes, for consumption by the gullible and=20
the na=EFve. The leather-face SinGhoul immediately repudiated him and=20
asked Muslims in Gujarat to behave or else. It means, in effect, that=20
genocide and violence against the minorities have not been abjured,=20
nor will be abated. This is borne out by the low-intensity but=20
continual violence and mayhem ravaging Gujarat still.

The elections in Gujarat are a sinister and sordid joke. What will=20
they achieve or prove?
Modi, the Grim Grocer, supervising the polls! As a "caretaker"=20
Carnage Monger! No President=92 Rule in Hindu Rashtra! Whether he wins=20
or loses is beside the point. VedicTaliban have won there and will=20
not be dislodged. Not as long as Atom Bomb Vajpayee and=20
Mandir-Wahin-Banayenge MadVani are at the helm in New Delhi, and Modi=20
in Ahmedabad.

The electoral exercise will be a sop to formalists =96 those who swear=20
by notional democracy, a shell without any substance. It will not=20
relieve the pain of the victims of Hindutva, it will not bring them=20
any respite from the roving band of Hindu criminals,
it will not restore security and dignity to the minorities, it will=20
not guarantee them survival as full fledged Indian citizens as long=20
as Rashtriya Shatru Sangh and its brood mangle Indian society and=20
manipulate Indian politics.

I see no sign of remorse on the part of criminals (they are=20
candidates in the poll), no plan of remedial restitution adopted by=20
the state or the centre to mitigate their fault and the victims=92=20
misery.

I only find demands regularly being made of the victims to forget=20
claiming relief and rehabilitation, and to disclaim there were any=20
wrongs done them. If anything happened it was "natural".

In these circumstances to trumpet, as AdVani did, that the polls will=20
be free and fair, is a mockery. I would ask fair to whom, free to=20
whom?

If I sound pessimistic in this prognosis, I wish to be proved wrong.

Tailpiece. Here is something to make Indians proud, but pseudo-Hindus=20
ashamed: "We have been following the news of (Madan Lal) Dingra's=20
trial for the assassination of Sir Curzon Wyllie; the papers printed=20
his statements in court and before his execution and there is no one=20
here (in Cairo, 1909) who speaks a word against him. Al-Liwa came out=20
on the morning of his execution with an eulogy which has already=20
earned it an official warning, and a whole spate of fair to middling=20
poems about him started to appear. From this you may judge the=20
strength of feeling there is against Britain. The Government has seen=20
fit to reissue the 1881 decrees to muzzle the Press..." -- p.447, THE=20
MAP OF LOVE (a novel) by Ahdaf Soueif, a Booker Prize finalist.

20 Nov.02

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