People's Democracy

Harkishan Singh Surjeet

THREE separate but not entirely unrelated events last week have once again drawn attention to the fact that notwithstanding the solemn assurances from the highest quarter of the land, the communal forces are going to intensify their activities in the coming days with the UP elections in mind.

They are

1. the VHP has sought the "return" of 42 acres of land taken over by the centre at Ayodhya,
2. the RSS chief K S Sudarshan has strongly advocated Indianisation of Islam, and
3. not to be left behind, BJP president Bangaru Laxman has called for a national debate on the trifurcation of Jammu & Kashmir.

In a meeting with the prime minister on February 24, the VHP reiterated its demand that the centre remove all hurdles in the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya. Led by Ramachandra Paramhans, chairman of the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyasa, a 15-member VHP delegation met the prime minister. The delegation demanded that the 42 acres of land taken over during P V Narasimha Rao's premiership be "returned," to enable the VHP to begin construction of the gates to the proposed Ram temple.

Speaking to the press, Paramahans candidly admitted,

"Vajpayeeji has been associated with the Ayodhya movement. Deep within his heart, he is all for the construction of the temple, but feels handicapped in the absence of a clear majority for the BJP at the centre."

Not long ago, Vajpayee had said that the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya was a matter of "people’s sentiment," a "national" task to be completed.

Pre-fabricated columns of the temple are ready to be transported from Rajasthan to Ayodhya. December 6 last year was celebrated as "Victory Day" by the VHP-RSS and its affiliates. In the build-up to this campaign, heightened rhetoric was witnessed on the temple issue and on the question of the rights of Hindus in this country. The timing of the subsequent door-to-door campaign was not accidental. It was timed to coincide with Ramzan and Christmas. In some places in Gujarat, there was violence during this period. It may be recalled that last year, during a similar campaign when Id coincided with Mahavir Jayanti, curfew had to be imposed in Jaipur.

Only recently, after sustained pressure both from the opposition and from within the ranks of its allies, in order to allay the fears of the people, the Vajpayee government had to categorically state that nothing would be done till the court gives its verdict in the case. The government should therefore take possession of the construction material and not permit any violation of the status quo until the courts take a decision. By not committing itself to such a move, and by not coming out against the VHP's demand, the BJP-led government is only adding fuel to fire.

Having failed in convincing the government to adopt swadeshi in the realm of the economy, in his latest outburst on the swadeshi theme in the realm of faith, RSS chief Sudarshan has come out strongly advocating "Indianisation of Islam." Shri Sudarshan was addressing a public meeting on February 24 at Bhubaneshwar. This espousal comes even while criticism against his controversial remarks on Indianisation of churches has not yet died down. Launching a broadside against Muslims, Christians and communists, the RSS chief said:

"While Christianity, projecting Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation, divided the world into believers and heathens, Islam dubbed those not believing in Allah as kafirs."

Similarly, he said, communism split the world into haves and have-nots, while capitalism propagated the theory of survival of the fittest.

The RSS chief has stated the obvious. Either the minorities get assimilated into a large composite family under Hindutva, or be reduced to second-class citizenship. It is just another way of preaching and spreading hatred against the minorities. The minorities can keep their faiths. All that is required of them is that they be ‘political Hindus’ and ‘nationalists.’ Now they must also be ‘swadeshi.’ The Hindutva brigade will have no quarrel with those from amongst the Muslims and Christians who are reconciled to the idea of a Hindu Rashtra.

It was on the occasion of its foundation day that the RSS chief had called for Indianisation of the churches. Add to this his the latest call of Indianisation of Islam. By implication, the RSS chief is conveying that both are 'foreign' and hence anti-national.

The RSS chief's ignorance about the emergence of the "Indian nationhood" is obvious. Let alone not being a participant in the freedom movement, the RSS had in fact served British interests by trying to divide the people on communal lines. Shri Sudarshan needs to be reminded that it was the freedom movement that brought together different nationalities and linguistic groups, hitherto engaged in quarrels against each other, and merged them into the mainstream. It is in this spirit that the framers of the constitution rightly chose federalism and secularism to be the cornerstones of our constitution. But the RSS and its affiliates do not subscribe to either. Unfortunately, the RSS and its other outfits who were outside the orbit of the freedom movement, continue with their communal politics.

The issue of trifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir has received a boost with the call by BJP president Bangaru Laxman for a national debate on the issue. The RSS, the VHP, the Muslim fundamentalist forces and the Pakistani ruling establishment, have been united in demanding the division of the state into three separate entities – Buddhist-dominated Ladakh, Hindu-dominated Jammu and Muslim-dominated Kashmir. Unfortunately, even the regional autonomy committee constituted by the J&K government advocated in its report the division of the state into districts based on religious identity. Separation on a religious basis of Kashmir will only help the Muslim fundamentalists who want to Talibanise Kashmiri society.

The trifurcation proposal has its roots in the RSS campaign in Jammu for a separate state of Jammu. Apart from some street protests, a dharna was organised in Jammu some time back by certain RSS outfits like the Jammu Mukti Morcha, the Nationalistic Front, etc. This campaign had, however, failed to obtain support beyond the RSS support base in Jammu.

Like the RSS chief, the BJP president too is oblivious of the historical background against which Kashmir became a part of India. He needs to be reminded that, as in the rest of the country where the RSS worked against the interests of the freedom movement, in Kashmir an RSS front (the Praja Parishad) acted as a spokesman of Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Kashmir. When the people were engaged in a fight against the Maharaja's plans to declare Kashmir independent, the Praja Parishad was supporting Hari Singh. When thousands were being butchered on both sides of the border in the wake of partition, the people of Kashmir were unitedly fighting against the Pakistani raiders. It is continuation of the advocacy of the poisonous propaganda and policies, based on a communal approach, that is today spoiling the atmosphere in the state.

In a situation where more and more miseries are being heaped on the common man in the pursuit of the policies of liberalisation and privatisation, and when the masses are coming forward and joining struggles against these policies, the RSS-BJP-VHP and other RSS outfits are attempting to divert the discontent into disruptive channels so that the interests of the foreign monopolies and Indian big business and landlords do not get adversely affected. But more and more people are realising not only the adverse consequences of the policies of globalisation and liberalisation, but also of the communal politics. The various actions during the last couple of months directed against the government's policies are an indicator of this. But the efforts by the communal forces to once again vitiate the atmosphere should not be underestimated. It is upto the Left, democratic and secular forces to warn the people of the games which the RSS-VHP-BJP is up to.