People's Democracy

THE recent so-called Sant Chetavani Yatra of the VHP and the meeting a VHP delegation had with the prime minister have demonstrated that the BJP has indeed run out of issues on which it may hope to mobilise votes in the UP polls. Even though Punjab, Uttaranchal and Manipur too are going to the polls at the same time, the UP polls are crucial as the BJP’s defeat here may have repercussions for its rule at the centre itself.

It is in such a situation that the VHP, a virulent outfit of the saffron brigade, has reiterated its threat of starting the temple construction at Ayodhya after March 12. As is known, the threat was issued from the Kumbh Mela last year, after the VHP-brand sadhus had ostensibly performed all the Hindu rites that are regarded necessary on such occasions. This was just a way of hoodwinking the devout and at the same time eminently secular Hindu masses. It is another thing that not more than a few hundred out of over two million pilgrims that had thronged Allahabad for the Kumbh, went to the VHP mandap.

The same attitude of the Hindu masses made the recent yatra too an utter failure. All along its way from Ayodhya to Delhi, it failed to attract the people who also offered it not a single occasion to create a riot-like situation or a riot anywhere. The common people of UP deserve to be congratulated for this mature attitude.

The real attitude of the people towards to the yatra in particular and towards the BJP’s communal designs in general can be summed up in the words of a small shopkeeper in Tundla. He said, "I was working in a factory, earning twice I make now. In the name of pollution, it was shut and I lost my job. First give jobs, then build as many temples as you want" (The Indian Express, January 25).

This well sums up the pathetic plight in which the BJP finds itself today. As said last week, the party tried a number of dirty tricks to avoid its imminent downfall in the state. But they have all come to naught. It is in this situation that even the opportunist defectors, who propped up the BJP rule in the last four and a half years, are deserting it one by one. If some have deserted because they have been denied tickets, some have run away just as rats run away from a sinking ship. To date, more than half a dozen ministers have quit the caretaker government of Rajnath Singh. These do not include Amar Mani Tripathi, a criminal who was sacked from the ministry only after his role in a kidnapping case came to limelight. All other ministers with criminal backgrounds are, otherwise, still safely ensconced in their gaddis.

This is indeed a tragic situation, that is, from the BJP’s angle. While it has run out of issues and cannot present anything positive to the people as its achievement, the Ayodhya issue too has run out of steam. It is known that the BJP has been trying to capitalise on this issue for at least 16 years, that is, since the lock of the disputed structure was removed in February 1986. One cannot say that the issue did not pay the party any dividend. The fact is that the BJP was able to form its first government in UP in 1991 only due to the communal passions it was able to arouse on the issue. But it is also true that the people of UP did not take long to realise the incendiary game of the BJP. The party lost the assembly polls that took place in UP, MP and Himachal after the Babri demolition; it could form a government in Rajasthan only with the help of some defectors.

But precisely herein lies the danger. As the BJP has been left with no other issue, it may well be forced to try to create a tense atmosphere in the state. The RSS has already pushed all its outfits into action and nobody can say with certainty as to where and when will communal peace be disturbed in the state.

The threat is further heightened by the fact that the central government is out to appease the communal hawks instead of taking note of their threat. In his meeting with the VHP leaders, Vajpayee did not issue to them any warning against taking the law into their hands. Nor did he advise them to wait till the law of the land takes its course and the court pronounces a verdict on the Ayodhya dispute. This was the least that could be expected from the head of the government of a civilised country. Instead, he assured them that he would refer the matter of 67 acres of land adjoining the disputed site to the law ministry for its ‘advice.’ It will be recalled that this was the land the erstwhile Narasimha Rao government had taken over.

But what if the law ministry, that is under a BJP man, ‘advises’ the government to hand this land over to the VHP? The possibility cannot be ruled out. But, in that case, the VHP may well start its construction activity in no time, as already the prefabrication work has been going on at four places in Ayodhya (UP) and Sirohi (Rajasthan). This means an outright, and unjustified, victory for the VHP even before the court pronounces its verdict in the dispute --- a ‘victory’ at the cost of our national unity, at the cost of our syncretic culture, at the cost of the norms of a civilised life.

As for other BJP leaders, they are persisting in justifying their heinous role in Babri demolition. A clear proof is Advani’s last deposition before the Liberhan commission. Here he, on the one hand, tried to underrate the gravity of the crime by comparing it with the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 and, on the other, sought to shift the guilt on to other parties. Talking to the counsel for the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, he repeated the same old worn-out phrases about respecting the sentiments of the Muslim community. But, at the same time, he said the situation could not have arisen (read: the demolition could not have taken place) if only others had not been appeasing (!) the Muslims (The Times of India, January 30). In plain words, this means that other parties and forces must let the BJP do what it wants to do, and must not oppose it, otherwise that will amount to "Muslim appeasement." Needless to say, blaming secular forces for "Muslim appeasement" has been a pet game of the BJP that it has been playing since the Jan Sangh days.

It was the same Advani who had the cheek to say that temple issue involves the sentiments of the Hindus (read: of the brigade) and therefore no court can adjudicate it!

In the meantime, the BJP and other RSS outfits have already intensified their communal campaign. As said earlier, despite ostensibly not associating with the recent VHP yatra, the BJP gave its men a go-ahead to take part in it, and these men gave it wide publicity at their levels during the seven days of its march to Delhi. Apart from playing the casteist game, Rajnath Singh is neck-deep in the game of arousing communal passions in the state as his last resort. The next three weeks are therefore very crucial and require heightened vigilance on part of the Left, secular and democratic forces and on part of the people at large.

However, not only these forces and not only the people at large but also the non-communal NDA constituents have to do some thinking. The Pioneer (January 30) says the TDP and DMK have made their "unease" about the VHP plan "quite evident." This is welcome. But, given the gravity of the situation, this is far from adequate. When Father Graham Staines and his minor sons were burnt alive in an Orissa village, the allies did nothing beyond a whimpering protest, so that the anti-Christian attacks continued unabated in several parts of the country. The thing is: will the allies persist in the same ignominious course or will they take some determined action to prevent the saffron brigade from causing havoc to our national unity, communal harmony, composite culture and civilised life? The fact is that it is these parties that have been the prop of the BJP at the centre in the last four-odd years and they can well bury the brigade’s incendiary game deep if they like. But the thing is: are they prepared to do so?

It is to be noted that these parties have already lost a good chunk of their mass base in the last four years because of their tie-up with the BJP.

It is no doubt true that our people at large are patriotic and secular to the core. They will definitely rise in unison to take this challenge head on and to defend whatever is positive in our culture. The response the Samajwadi Party and other Lok Morcha parties are getting in the run-up to the UP polls is an unmistakable pointer to our people’s thinking in this regard. But some amount of damage cannot be ruled out. It is here that the BJP’s NDA allies have to prove that they are worth their salt.