People's Democracy

EDITORIAL

PEOPLE�S DEMOCRACY conveys its warm Independence Day greetings to our readers.

This special issue is dedicated to strengthening the sovereign secular democratic foundations of our republic. We are, indeed, grateful that some of India�s pre-eminent minds have contributed to this effort. Professor Irfan Habib, paying homage to one of India�s intellectual giants, Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi, discusses India�s unique syncretic historical evolution. Professor Prabhat Patnaik analyses the dangers to India�s sovereignty that are being mounted through imperialism�s neo-liberal agenda and hegemonic efforts. Professor Suraj Bhan discusses the Ram Sethu controversy highlighting the efforts by the communal forces to pass off mythology as history and theology as philosophy. Professor Amar Farooqui discusses the communalisation of Indian history and how communal historiography seeks to undermine India�s secular democratic foundations.

Needless to add, all of these contributions call for a strong people�s movement to safeguard and strengthen our country�s sovereignty and its character defined by the secular democratic framework. This, of course, requires powerful popular mobilisations to change the correlation of forces within India that will champion the people�s interests as opposed to pursuing imperialism�s hegemonic drive and the neo-liberal dispensation�s quest for unending profit maximisation by intensifying the economic exploitation of the people. In other words, this means the strengthening of the Left forces and weakening the ruling classes and eventually defeating their pro-imperialist anti-people policies.

Celebration of India�s independence means the celebration of its immensely rich diversity that has evolved over centuries of syncretic civilisational advance. However, the 61st anniversary of our independence comes at a time when incendiary flames of communalism and separatism fiercely compete with each other in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Through these columns, last week, we had warned, �It is imperative that the incendiary flames of this communally-charged movement (then confined to the Jammu region) must be doused urgently�. The week since has seen the separatist forces in the Kashmir valley whipping up passions that has led to the death of many innocent lives with curfew imposed all over the valley, as we go to press.

For over a month, the RSS and its tentacles have mounted a vicious communal campaign charging the governments� of �Muslim appeasement� by propagating falsehoods like : `Hindus are prevented from undertaking the Amarnath yatra while the government subsidises the Haj�. The fact that such wild charges find a resonance amongst the people of Jammu is reflective of the deep-rooted prejudices based on genuine or �perceived� injustices. The truth of the matter is that the yatra is continuing with all required facilities being provided by the state government.

A solution to the land controversy which triggered this movement, as stated in these columns last week, can be arrived at through a dialogue. But a solution does not seem to be the objective of the RSS/BJP. They appear bent upon to intensify communal polarisation and enlarge the confrontation to the national level. Clearly, they see a window of opportunity to consolidate the �Hindu vote bank� at the expense of mayhem and bloodshed that this may well lead to. Such, alas, has been the history of the communal forces who had not even spared the Mahatma soon after independence!

At the other end of this spectrum, the communal forces are admirably aided and abetted by the separatist extremist forces in the Kashmir valley. A temporary change in the land use pattern to provide facilities for the yatris only for the duration of the yatra has been projected by these forces as a permanent settlement comparable to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and the consequent settlement of Jews there. Charging that this is a prelude to changing the demographic composition in the valley, these extremist elements have communally surcharged the atmosphere. Stating that the Hindus in Jammu have blocked the national highway � the valley�s lifeline � they began to march towards Muzaffarabad across the line of control between India and Pakistan. Apart from the obvious grave consequences for India�s security and sovereignty, it is clear that the communal forces and the separatist forces feed and strengthen each other.

In the process, it is innocent life that is the casualty. So is the assiduously built, over the centuries, warmth of coexistence between Hindus and Muslims in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. India�s secular fabric has, once again, come under a severe strain. This UPA government, which has come into existence primarily on the claim to safeguard the secular foundations of India, has failed so far to douse these flames. India cannot afford to allow this situation, which has serious implications for our territorial sovereignty as well as social harmony, to slide into disastrous anarchy.

This situation has rudely shaken the conscience of the country, by driving home the tenuous fragility of our secular foundations. Secularism is inseparable from the Indian reality. The only way that the unity and integrity of India�s rich plurality can be preserved is by strengthening the bonds of commonality that run through this diversity. A diversity that embraces all facets of social existence � linguistic, religious, social, ethnic, caste, cultural and traditions. Any attempt to impose a uniformity upon this diversity in any of these facets, can only lead to a social implosion severely jeopardising our unity and integrity. Such an imposition of uniformity, in religious terms, is precisely what communalism seeks to achieve, defined by the RSS ideological project of establishing a rabidly intolerant fascistic �Hindu Rashtra� � the complete anti-thesis of the modern secular democratic republic.

Likewise, secularism in India is inseparable from democracy. The ultimate yardstick of the success of any democracy is the measure of protection, security and equality of opportunity that every single minority, in all the aspects noted above, receives. Therefore, without strengthening secular democracy, the future of modern India cannot be secure.

This means, a resolute and uncompromising struggle against communalism, separatism, indeed, all expressions of extreme divisiveness must be carried forward relentlessly. India cannot win if these forces are not defeated. As we greet our readers on our independence day, we call upon them to come forward to join and strengthen this battle for modern India�s victory.