People's Democracy

S K Pande recently spoke to the former prime minister V P Singh on behalf of the INN, People’s Democracy and Lok Lahar, on the tangled skein of Indian politics since the Babri Masjid demolition and the various facets of communalism.

The Beginning of the End of Communalism: V P Singh

FORMER prime minister V P Singh, in a special interview to India News Network, People’s Democracy and Lok Lahar, called for a concerted battle to fight communalism in all its facets and guises and to expose the psyche behind the Babri Masjid demolition. Citing the Babri demolition as barbaric and reflective of the mindset behind it, he called for a united fraternity that believes in the plurality of the country to unite. “If Hindu Rashtra is our nation, as the Sangh Parivar believes, then what will happen to the others,” he asked.

Referring to the period when he was the prime minister and pressure was being exerted on him in regard to the Ayodhya tangle, he said it was his duty to uphold the constitution. “We had to choose between the government and the republic, and we chose the latter. Therefore, I resigned,” he said giving some details.

Calling for a united battle against hunger, unemployment and disparities created by the new economic policy and the WTO, he said, “They (Sangh Parivar) fight their battles in their own akharas and we should choose our issues.” “The battle against hunger is the key issue which will unite people against the manoeuvres of the communalists. That is the battle of the future,” he said.

“I don’t believe the BJP and other communal outfits can keep the same pitch all the time, just as alcohol can pep some only for a while but does not give health. What is required is identification of real issues. The condition of the people is deteriorating so fast that they are bound to set aside caste and religion for more real issues.”

The aim of the secular forces should be twofold: to unite the masses and strengthen fraternity, and to weaken the combine which the Bharatiya Janata Party has gathered. I want to introduce the word “fraternity” because it is more relevant today than secularism. Fraternity signifies a more positive emotional bondage. The communalists are dangerous because they attack fraternity, he said. His views on other questions follow.

Q. What future scenario do you visualise?  

ANS: The contradictions in the ruling alliance are bound to sharpen in the near future and come out in the open. Secular forces should exploit them fully, as the need for weakening the combine need not be stressed. The BJP cannot afford to mark time in states like Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is difficult for them to reach the magic figure of 270 in the Lok Sabha. It will have to contest all seats in the north. They will not get too many in Bihar because Samata and others are there to be adjusted. Further, the regional parties will not surrender their base. So it will have to increase its base in the south if it wishes to reach anywhere near the magical figure. But there also, the regional parties will not yield ground to it. All fraternal parties opposed to the Parivar should unitedly take advantage of the contradictions in the present ruling alliance, which are bound to sharpen. The local partners of the BJP should be made to realise that they must confront it before it succeeds in saffronising the region and eroding their base.

(Scanning the Indian political scenario from the time he resigned as prime minister rather than submitting to the diktat of communal forces on the Ayodhya issue, he said: “The Sangh Parivar is even against the spirit of Hinduism which is for pluralism.” Referring to former RSS chieftain Golwalkar, he compared him to Hitler and his extermination of the Jews.)

What racism was to Hitler, communalism is to the Parivar. Racism was an instrument for establishment of fascism for Hitler and communalism is an instrument for the Sangh Parivar and its covert goal of fascism for temporary gains. There is no religion involved in their Hindutva. It is to capture power by any means, and that was the psyche behind the demolition of Babri Masjid. Ultimately, not the minorities but the people at large will be subjugated and the country divided. They are the true believers of the two-nation theory and now want to make India a Kosovo. For the minorities they leave only three choices --- extermination, absorption or subjugation --- as per the views of Golwalkar.

Q. You said something about the ISI?

ANS: They (Sangh Parivar) do the actual work of the ISI through their thought process, their talk of a strong Hindu Rashtra and all the mumbo jumbo attached to it, which actually divide the country. And for many ills in the country, they say it is ISI and ISI, just as in Pakistan you had Jinnah and others using the façade of two-nation theory. They are its true representatives in India, seeking to perennially divide the people.

Q. You were talking of their Hindutva concept!

ANS: It has nothing to do with religion; it has everything to do with power. First it was the cow: Save the cow. Then they dropped it and took up the Ayodhya issue, but that too has not proved to be vote-catching. They can now resort to any matchstick to fire anything that will work. Therefore I say that their defeat in the Gujarat polls will send a positive message that communalism will not pay. But it is not a question of polls alone; the battle against communalism will have to be taken to the grassroots.

Q. It is said that much of what happened in Gujarat was a Hindu reaction to Godhra!

ANS: What about areas in Maharashtra and Rajasthan just around thirty kilometres away? Why were there no riots? Why were the riots only confined to Gujarat?

Q. How do you look at the current situation in Gujarat?

ANS: There should have been one-to-one contest, which unfortunately is not there. But even after the elections in the state, the task for the fraternity would be more challenging. In the years of power, in Gujarat and outside, the youth have been and are being mobilised on mere jingoism. The scars of the rioting are still there. Not only this, very young minds are being poisoned through curricula. But there are rays of hope too. In UP assembly polls, the Sangh Parivar was humbled. This has happened in other states also. We may be seeing the beginning of the end of the Parivar. In UP, I remember, I was told that karsevaks were all set to launch a movement on the temple issue. I asked people at a rally: will that give them electricity, water and food? The crowds cheered in approval. This perhaps is just a pointer.

Q. Is there a continuum in the pattern of communalism from your period to the demolition and now?

ANS: There is a continuity historically, but patterns become clearer and clearer. There is a change of slogans, however, but not on real issues. They are on divisive issues for electoral gains.

Their Hindutva has nothing to do with religion; it has everything to do with power. First it was the cow: Save the cow. Then they dropped it and took up the Ayodhya issue, but that too has not proved to be vote-catching. They can now resort to any matchstick to fire anything that will work. Therefore I say that their defeat in the Gujarat polls will send a positive message that communalism will not pay. But it is not a question of polls alone; the battle against communalism will have to be taken to the grassroots.