THE FORKED TONGUE SPEAKETH AGAIN

Sitaram Yechury

PRIME MINISTER Atal Behari Vajpayee, once again, demonstrated his mastery over the art of double-speak while inaugurating the International Youth Conference on Terrorism organised by the BJP's youth wing.  Assuming the halo of a statesman, Vajpayee declared "no organisation, whether it claimed to espouse the cause of the majority or the minority community, can be allowed to inflame passions, spread hatred and incite violence."

If terrorists are to be identified by this definition, where would Vajpayee place the saffron octopus and its multiple tentacles? Except for shedding  crocodile tears for public consumption and expressing concern over the beating his image has taken abroad due to the Gujarat genocide, he virtually endorsed,  sanctioned and celebrated the victory of the state apparatus that was used to sponsor such a genocide. 

TAKING LIBERTY WITH THE TRUTH

Such logical inconsistency in his preaching and practice, has never deterred Vajpayee, from taking liberties with the truth. These are, however, explained away by his prime accusation that "Jihadi terrorism has become the principal form of terrorism, not because Islam justifies it --- no religion  preaches hatred  or sanctions killings --- but terrorist groups were using religion as a shield, a cover for the campaign of hatred."

At the same time, the prime minister went on to emphasise that India had lost 60,000 innocent lives in terrorist attacks over the last two decades.  But here, the subterfuge lies in the fact that he does not mention the character and the antecedents of the terrorist groups that claimed these lives.  These include the non-Islamic groups like the LTTE, the Punjab terrorists who ravaged the state for over a decade, various terrorist outfits operating from camps across our borders in the north-east, etc, etc.  Clearly, by not naming these organisations, the impression conveyed is that it is only the Islamic terrorists that have wreaked havoc in our country. 

No Indian patriot today refuses to join the fight against terrorism in the name of Islam, particularly the support it receives from across our western borders.   In fact, no other government in independent India received such a blanket support from the opposition as this government receives on this question.  The Indian people, as one, rise to defend our country against this menace. 

USING TERRORISM FOR POLITICAL BENEFITS

However, in the anxiety to use terrorism for its political benefits, the RSS-led BJP and its other outfits adopt a selective attitude in dealing with this menace.  As we go to press, innocent people continue to be killed in the north-east, particularly in Tripura, by terrorist outfits. The CPI(M) has lost hundreds of valuable lives at the hands of terrorists earlier in Punjab, Assam and in the north-east. It is the CPI(M) cadres in Tripura who are valiantly facing this terrorist outrage and defending our country's unity and integrity.  No one, least of all the RSS-led BJP and its other tentacles, has any moral authority to issue `certificates' of patriotism in this fight against terrorism.

When we say “least of all the RSS and its tentacles,” we say so because they seek to utilise the struggle against Islamic terrorism as a means of whipping up passions against the Islamic community as a whole which, in turn, assists them in consolidating their Hindu vote bank. The fight against terrorism is, thus, cynically sought to be exploited for their electoral and political gains.   It is this diabolic agenda that actually weakens the united struggle of the Indian people against terrorism of all varieties.

It is indeed an irony, in fact a tragedy, that those responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi --- a terrorist act --- are today holding the reins of power in the country! Communal riots are also expressions of terrorism. Imposing terror by whipping up communal passions, resulting in violence and mayhem of unprecedented dimensions, like the country witnessed in Gujarat early last year, is a case of state-sponsored terrorism.  The RSS/BJP and all its affiliates were party to this. And it is some of them who organised this international conference with explicit support and  blessings of the Vajpayee government. Indian diplomatic missions abroad were utilised to mobilise tourist delegates to this conference! What perfidy!

  DANGER TO DEMOCRACY

The prime minister chose this occasion to make an ominous declaration. Fighting the terrorist menace, he says, often means taking steps which may include some infringement and curtailment of civil liberties. Apart from justifying the enactment of the draconian POTA, Vajpayee is clearly warning that this fight against terrorism can sanction and justify the infringement of democratic rights. This authoritarian admission signals  serious dangers for the future of Indian democracy.

In the Indian context, as we have repeatedly stated in these columns, any erosion of secularism simultaneously means the erosion of democracy. In a vast diverse and pluralist society like ours, the rights of every minority --- religious, linguistic, ethnic etc --- constitute the core of a healthy democracy.  If the rights of religious minorities are curtailed by weakening the secular foundations, then the health of democracy cannot but degenerate into fascistic authoritarianism. The RSS/BJP-led communal forces who target secularism also simultaneously target democracy in our country.

Equating terrorism with freedom struggle, the prime minister says, "is dubious logic.”  True, absolutely true. By the same logic, terrorism cannot be equated with nationalism. The passions whipped up over the issue of building a temple in Ayodhya resulted earlier in the demolition of the Babri Masjid.  The subsequent passions that were whipped up across the country claimed thousands of innocent lives.

Such passions continue to be roused even today. It is this very prime minister who stated on the floor of parliament that the construction of temple in Ayodhya is the reflection of the national sentiment. The demand of the Hindutva zealots is equated with the nation as a whole. In other words, Hindus, and Hindus alone, are nationalists while all others belonging to different religious affiliations are not. Unless, of course, they support the Hindutva cause. 

Terrorism can never be equated with the freedom struggle, but can terrorism be equated with nationalism? The prime minister seems to suggest that all acts of terrorism by the Hindutva brigade are in the interests of the Indian nation while all other trends of terrorism are against the nation's interests.  Such a deliberately selective and diabolic approach towards terrorism smacks more of the intention to use this for political benefits rather than rid the country of this menace.

PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMUNAL FORCES

That such is the logic being followed by Vajpayee & Co.  is confirmed, once again, by the government's recent actions concerning the issue of construction of temple at the  disputed site in Ayodhya. Last year, around the same time, when this issue was used to rouse communal passions across the country, which saw the ghastly developments like the incidents in Godhra and subsequently in Gujarat, the Supreme Court was petitioned to intervene.   The apex court ruled on March 13, 2002 that no part of the acquired land "shall be handed over by the government to anyone and the same shall be retained by the government till the disposal of this writ petition. Nor shall any part of this land be permitted to be occupied or used for any religious purpose or in connection therewith.”  No ambiguity whatsoever. 

The apex court also ruled that this interim verdict can be returnable to a larger bench after ten weeks. A full year has passed! The government of any day is duty bound to implement the orders of the apex court. Instead, this Vajpayee government, on February 4 this year, filed an application in the Supreme Court for the vacation of the earlier order! Instead of upholding the law of the land, the government itself initiates a process where the apex court's verdict is challenged and sought to be annulled. 

Such has been the blatant partisanship of this government with the other tentacles of the RSS like the VHP who declared with contempt that they shall not obey the law of the land, and threaten to carry out the construction of the temple irrespective of the court's verdict.

Such diabolical subterfuge is accompanied by a shrill inflammation of communal passions by the VHP and the other tentacles of the RSS all across the country. The Modification of India, that we spoke of earlier in these columns, is proceeding in full steam. What else is this, Mr Vajpayee, but an "effort to inflame passions, spread hatred and incite violence"? 

ANOTHER DIABOLIC SUBTERFUGE

But, then, Vajpayee would say that espousing the cause of Hindutva is the furthering of Indian nationalism! Similar was the Hitler's logic behind espousing German nationalism by imposing Nazi fascism. 

But then, Vajpayee would argue, as he did in the latest edition of his annual musings, that Hindutva is inherently secular and tolerant. He often invokes an earlier Supreme Court judgement to state that Hindutva is a way of life.  Justice Verma, who delivered the judgement, has recently clarified that what was said was about Hinduism being a way of life and not about Hindutva. Nay, the learned judge even says categorically that his verdict was misinterpreted. (See p.14 in this issue.) And misinterpreted by whom? That is anybody’s guess. 

Herein lies another diabolic subterfuge. Hinduism or the Hindu religion is deliberately equated with Hindutva, thus obfuscating an important difference between the two. As noted earlier in these columns, the word `Hindutva' was coined by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, way back in 1923, as a political slogan. He, in fact, categorically states that "Hindutva is not identical with what is vaguely indicated by the term Hinduism.”  Hindutva, by the author's own admission, is a political slogan designed to be  used to capture political power.

By equating Hindutva with Hinduism, Vajpayee and the RSS tentacles  are deliberately and blatantly misusing the religious sentiments of the people for their political agenda. This is an agenda that seeks to transform the secular democratic Indian republic into an rabidly intolerant fascistic "Hindu Rashtra.”  This is the true import of the prime minister's verbose perorations.