People's Democracy

 Ashok Singhal & His Hindu Rashtra

 Shitala Singh

SECULARISM was what our constitution makers included in the independent India’s democratic and republican constitution as its basic framework, and took a pledge to defend it on January 26, 1950. But this is precisely what Ashok Singhal, leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), has taken a vow to finish. Not long ago, he had boasted that his outfit had demolished one edifice, that of Babri Masjid, and now it would demolish yet another edifice --- that of secularism. He now says he would not rest content till the time he does away with secularism. He even lambasted the prime minister, Vajpayee, that he too is turning secular and is not prepared to make India a Hindu Rashtra. The threat is that if Vajpayee fails to achieve a Hindu Rashtra within three years, he too would not be spared! The “Hindu Samaj” can grant him pardon only if he strives to realise this goal!  

Whether Singhal and his likes would be able to do away with secularism or not, is at the best a futile question. For, secularism is a force that binds the whole Indian nation while, to the VHP, it is a force that stands in the way of its fond dream of a Hindu Rashtra.

The fact is that the VHP concept of a Hindu Rashtra can only strike at the roots of our national unity. Granting for a moment that the VHP succeeds in establishing a Hindu Rashtra in this country, will it not unleash a chain of fissiparous tendencies? Will there be a Khalistan far behind? Will the Dalits not demand a separate nation? Will the demand for a Dravidistan not be raised? What force will be able to keep the North East, situated on the other side of Bangladesh, joined to the rest of the country? What will happen to Kashmir?

As for the concept of a Hindu Rashtra, one will have to first define the term Hindu itself. For, the term Hindu does not occur in the Vedas, the Puranas or the Shastras. The term came into vogue only after the Muslims came here. Even the Supreme Court has said that the term “Hindu” denotes no separate identity; whosoever calls himself a Hindu should be accepted as such. In other words, the concept of Hindu is no imposition from outside but a voluntarily accepted fact. This is the reason that a very big chunk of the Hindus, who constitute some 83 per cent of India’s population, are opposed to the RSS and its outfits including the BJP. And this is the reason that, despite all its desperate moves and gimmicks, the VHP is still not accepted as a representative of the Hindu community. 

The VHP was born in 1965. Before its formation, it was the Hindu Mahasabha that used to talk of Hindutva. Several of its leaders were well known figures. It was the Hindu Mahasabha that first propounded the two-nation theory, way back in 1923 --- that the Hindus and the Muslims constitute two separate nations and, as such, they could not coexist. This was about 17 years before the Muslim League first propounded the same theory in 1940 and demanded Pakistan on that basis. It was this very thinking that led to the vivisection of the country in 1947, with all the accompanying horrors. But history is witness to the fact that the “Islamic nation” called Pakistan could not remain united either, even though an overwhelming majority of the people in both West and East Pakistan believed in one God, one prophet and one book. The fact of one religion could not hold that country together and it got divided in 1971-72 when a new nation called Bangladesh was born. Then, who would believe that religion can hold India together?

Also, the RSS-VHP notion of religion is fundamentally different from what our tradition says. The country’s original conception of dharma (religion) is based on ten attributes, but these do not include the modes of worship. So much so that three out of the six “Vedic” philosophies (Shastras) --- the Nyaya, the Samkhya and the Mimamsa --- do not believe in any god; yet they were not rejected because of their atheism. Charvak (Lokayat) materialists were also regarded as Hindus; here only the Buddhists and the Jains regarded themselves as non-Hindus. Therefore, one can well imagine how difficult it is to usher in a Hindu Rashtra. Even if unwillingly, our prime minister and the deputy prime minister are on record saying that there would be no attempt to convert India into a theocratic state; nor is it possible.  

Then the question is: what will happen to Ashok Singhal’s anti-constitutional goal of doing away with secularism? How will he behave towards the people who do not subscribe to his idea? Will he limit the concept itself or will he run a campaign to finish his opponents? But would it not mean an end to the Indian nation itself, as here we have no single language, no single religion, no single book and no single mode of worship? Not to talk of others, there is a myriad of modes of worship within that very community that is called Hindu. Tribals have their own modes of worship. In sum, what Ashok Singhal and his likes visualise can only generate hatred and enmity in the country, and can only make Indians fight Indians. May be they are able to mislead a few people in the name of religion, but they cannot unite Indians on their plank.

The fact is that in India, secularism is not something imposed from above, by law, but a spontaneously accepted creed. In Punjab, there are many families where one member is a Sikh and another a Hindu, and both live under one roof. Separate religious beliefs do not divide them. In such a situation, Singhal and his likes will have to face tremendous odds in trying to realise their pet dream of a theocratic state in this country.

And let us not forget the fact that many of those who shared Singhal’s dream are now in highest positions in the country after taking an oath in the name of the country’s secular constitution!

The society is changing. Religion is losing its importance in our social life. Science and technology are gaining ground. The grandeur of even religious places is now judged on the basis of the wealth they command. The reality is that the shape of the emerging society in India will be determined not on the basis of religion but on other grounds. The Nazism of Hitler has been the VHP’s ideal, but its reality too has been laid bare. Therefore any attempt to establish a fascistic rule in the name of religion is bound to fail.

SHRINKING BASE, FALLING CREDIBILITY

If one has to evaluate the success or otherwise of the Ayodhya march and Sankalp Sammelan, recently organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), on the basis that the Uttar Pradesh government had to take strong measures to prevent it --- the state’s Road Transport Corporation had to cancel several Ayodhya-bound buses, the state government had to request the centre to cancel several trains, it had to erect barricades in several districts, impose section 144 in Ayodhya and Faizabad, and arrest about 35,000 persons coming by trains or by road --- then one can only conclude that the VHP is still a big force and the government cannot face it without using force. The outfit has branches in many parts of the country; the RSS is its patron and the BJP favours it as its programmes yield political benefits to the same BJP. That was the reason the prime minister and his deputy had had to appeal the UP government to have “trust” in the VHP.

What, after all, was the compulsion that the prime minister and the deputy prime minister had to come forward to appeal for “trust” in the VHP’s credentials? The fact is that VHP leaders like Ashok Singhal, Praveen Togadia and Giriraj Kishore viciously criticise these two leaders and the NDA government they preside over. The prime minister’s and his deputy’s appeals in favour of the VHP have only put them in the dock. This is because the VHP has been notorious for violating whatever assurances it gives. In 1989, just before the shilanyas programme, the VHP had given a written assurance to the UP government that its programme would remain peaceful and that it would abide by the court verdict. Then, in 1992, the VHP resolved to perform a token karseva in Ayodhya. But what happened on December 6, 1992, the whole world knows. It will be noted that the present deputy prime minister and the human resource development minister are also facing court cases, along with VHP leaders, for their role in the Babri demolition. When the BJP came to power in UP on its own for the first time in 1991, chief minister Kalyan Singh and his cabinet went to the disputed site to take an oath in the name of Rama that they would build a temple on the same spot. Then the prime minister Vajpayee pleaded that he was a loyal swayamsevak of the RSS. But it is precisely him whom the VHP is criticising for having ditched the temple agitation.

Be that as it may, the fact remains that the VHP’s popularity has only gone down and, despite all certifications by Vajpayee and Advani, its credibility has dwindled. This is the conclusion one reaches whenever one takes note of the meetings, processions and marches the VHP organises. All the recent gimmicks of the VHP have in fact been like desperate moves to restore its credibility.

Let us take the case of the recent Sankalp Sammelan itself, which was to take place in Ayodhya on October 17. Compared to this year, the year 1990 had witnessed much more stringent measures to foil the VHP game. All the buses and trains had been cancelled; all routes leading to Ayodhya had been blocked. And yet, lakhs of people had come forward to court arrest and 26,000 had actually reached Ayodhya to take part in the VHP programme. But nothing of the kind was seen this year. Some VHP karsevaks did court arrest along with Ashok Singhal in the so-called Karsevakpuram, but no local sadhu or sant took part in it. They were not there in the lists of the arrested persons, nor were they visible on the TV channels. Does it not mean that the sadhus and sants of Ayodhya too have got disillusioned with the VHP? Have they not got fed up with these frequent gimmicks?

If one goes by the newspaper and TV reports, these sadhus and sants, who have been so far loyal to the VHP, have begun to issue statements against the same outfit. They also claim that they now well understand the real aim of the VHP’s agitations. That is why the president of the Ramjanmabhoomi Trust could be seen nowhere in this ‘do or die’ struggle on October 17 even though he was very much there in Ayodhya on the day. He did come to the meeting the next day, but it was only a formality and nothing more. For, he had already opposed the VHP’s call for a Bharat Bandh and also held that the karsevaks themselves were guilty for the police lathicharge. Why the sadhus and sants, so far associated with the VHP, are increasingly turning away from it, no VHP leader shows the courage to explain. However, the reason is well known to one and all --- that the people have got to the reality that the VHP’s temple agitation is not a religious movement but a gimmick for deriving political mileage. And that is why, in order to flaunt their own distinct identity, VHP leaders are finding themselves constrained to lambast their own dear leaders like Vajpayee and Advani.

There also remains the question: why the VHP had to organise its Ayodhya march and Sankalp Sammelan in Karsevakpuram while the same or similar programmes could well be held in the national capital and state capitals? One will note that in their meeting held in Delhi, even leaders like Mahant Nrityagopal Das and Mahant Avaidyanath had opposed the VHP’s latest move. Thus, the terms like temple, karseva, karsevaks, Rambhaktas and Ramsevaks, that were coined in order to dupe the masses, are fast losing their dubious charm. The VHP is annoyed that its calls for agitations are regularly failing to evoke any significant response, and its credibility is fast dwindling. So much so that even the sadhus and sants so far associated with it are turning their faces away from this rabble-rousing outfit. This is a real cause of worry for them. Up till now, the VHP used to get a seal of approval from these same religious figures at the so-called Sant Sammelans. But what the outfit will do now if these very figures turn their backs upon the outfit?

(Shitala Singh is editor of Hindi daily Janmorcha, published from Faizabad.)