People's Democracy

THE fast rising discontent among the people and the Vajpayee government’s growing alienation is not being met with a response which the people expect, i e, a reversal of the government's policies. It is, instead, being met in the classic manner --- of seeking to divert the people’s attention by whipping up communal tensions and clashes. This is the only response one could have expected from the saffron brigade.

As elections to the UP and other assemblies draw closer, a fresh round of communal conflagration appears to be on the cards --- provoked by the RSS and its affiliates. And, leading the brigade once again will be Atal Behari Vajpayee, the prime minister. His statement in Lucknow that the temple construction issue at Ayodhya will be resolved by March 2002, conforms to the earlier threats held out by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The prime minister appears to be eager to prove his detractors wrong and declare to the saffron brigade that he is the same man who was once sent by Golwalkar to set up a political party to function as the political arm of the RSS so as to facilitate the establishment of a rabidly intolerant "Hindu Rashtra." Naturally, therefore, Vajpayee is not bothered by the responsibility of office as prime minister or by his oath to abide by and safeguard the Indian republican constitution. The Ayodhya dispute may be pending in the court. But the law of the land does not restrain this prime minister from making irresponsible and communally charged statements.

A few days earlier, the prime minister spoke at an official function at his residence. He did what normally other prime minister's would have been loathe to do. He released a book eulogising Laxman Inamdar, an advocate of yore, who pleaded the defence of those charged with the conspiracy for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. Further, he had the temerity to compare Inamdar's defence of the RSS with Jawaharlal Nehru's historic defence of INA prisoners during the freedom struggle! There could not be a greater travesty of truth.

It was in the course of this very saffron exuberance that Vajpayee decried the work of Christian missionaries. According to him, they use the cover of social service for religious conversions. Not stopping at pouring out such communal venom, Vajpayee also bemoaned that the "selfless services" of the swayamsevaks are ignored by the media. He cited the killing of four RSS people by extremists in Tripura being largely unreported. He, however, chose not to utter a single word against the hundreds of CPI(M) leaders and activists, both tribals and others, who have been killed by the extremists over the past few months. Seven were gunned down in July alone. In any case, it was Vajpayee's government that withdrew security forces from Tripura, emboldening the extremists to mount murderous attacks.

Not long ago, when Christians were being mercilessly attacked in district Dang in Gujarat, instead of taking action against the culprits, Vajpayee had called for a national debate on conversions. This was seen as a sanction and patronage to the saffron brigade to go on with such attacks. Shortly after this statement, Graham Staines and his children were brutally torched to death in Orissa. This time round, Vajpayee's not so veiled attack against the Christians was seized upon by his cadres to indulge in another round of attacks. Is Vajpayee protecting the country's citizens as the prime minister or provoking a section (the saffron brigade) to attack the minorities?

The mask is not slipping; it has been cast away. As the presiding deity of the saffron brigade, the prime minister is invoking the only weapon the communal forces have, so as to somehow remain in office.

Communal tensions are hotting up at many places. At Asind in Rajasthan, a mosque was razed and an idol erected at that place. Subsequent intervention by the authorities led to the clearing of the spot, but tension continues. In Gujarat, the beleagured BJP government has let loose the Bajrang Dal in Ahmedabad city. In the name of collecting donations for the Ganapati festival, they unleashed a barrage of vituperative offensive against the minorities, leading to tension and eventually police firing and killings.

It is a tragedy of immense proportions for the country and its people --- that a combination of more than two dozen parties is propping up a government that is out to destroy the secular democratic character and content of the Indian republic for its political advantage. For sure, such a government can neither be tolerated nor allowed to continue in office. And that’s why