People's Democracy

Editorial

Thwart the Efforts to Sharpen

Communal Polarisation

WHEN the RSS decided to project the Gujarat chief minister as the BJP’s prime ministerial aspirant, these columns had said that this signalled that the RSS/BJP has finally abandoned its need for a mukhota to mask its real intentions behind a democratic façade. It signalled that the RSS has gone beyond the need for people like a Vajpayee. Importantly, this signalled that the RSS is back to its bases – seeking the transformation of the secular democratic Indian Republic into its version of  a rabidly intolerant fascistic `Hindu Rashtra’.

While the RSS will use  all weapons  in its arsenal to achieve this objective, its mainstay, however, remains the sharpening of communal polarisation by creating antagonistic divisions between the religious majority and the minorities particularly against  the Muslims with all its  gory consequences of communal riots, bloodshed and mayhem. Amongst the other of its deadly weapons are the efforts at  rewriting Indian history; appropriating the icons of the freedom struggle, a struggle that the RSS deliberately, hence consciously stayed away from; brazen denial of personal liberty and naked violation of individual privacy; the usage of undemocratic language and anti-democratic methods of electoral campaign etc etc. In other words, the re-assertion of the law of the jungle – might is right.  This is the very antithesis of democracy and democratic practices. Thus, they are, once again, demonstrating  that  they are not only anti-secular but are anti-democratic  to the core.

This is, once again, being vindicated by the latest decision of the BJP to `honour’  two of its MLAs  accused in the recent Muzaffarnagar riots  at a political rally  in Agra on November 21 to be addressed by the BJP’s PM aspirant.  These BJP MLAs who would be sharing the dais with the Gujarat chief minister were arrested for giving inflammatory speeches on September 7 following which riots broke out  in Muzaffarnagar. One of these MLAs was also accused of uploading a fake video  on social media  that inflamed passions leading to the riots. The other  BJP MLA was booked in another case of rioting  which occurred  in June this year. In these September riots in Muzaffarnagar, at least 65 people were killed and more than 60,000 have  been displaced, as reported by the media. These two BJP MLAs, who  were arrested under the National Security Act (NSA), were recently released  on bail when the UP High Court’s State Advisory Board  did not confirm the applicability of the NSA in this case for want of sufficient evidence.

Recently, both these MLAs along with another BJP MLA and 34 other BJP workers, who were arrested  in connection with the Muzaffarnagar riots, were publicly felicitated by the UP state BJP. These MLAs and the workers  were given `appreciation letters’  as a recognition of their “struggle against the state government during the riots and the sacrifice (sic)  they made and got arrested  for the cause of safety of mata, behen and betian as well as Indian culture”.

Significantly, this function was held in Muzaffarnagar itself.  The UP Legislative Assembly BJP party leader,  who himself was named in this riots  case for delivering a provocative speech,  was the chief guest. It is clear that the BJP is getting wary that its attempts to communally polarise the voters in the region are not succeeding.  People of both the communities have been badly hit  financially in the region due to mass migration of labourers  that is hurting all households. Consequently, the community elders from both the communities  have begun reconciliation efforts which clearly does not  suit the RSS/BJP’s designs.  Hence the attempts to re-polarise and further divide  the people on communal lines hoping that this would help  the BJP electorally. A crass effort of practicing vote bank politics for consolidating the majority vote bank.

Such are the desperate efforts being made by the RSS/BJP in their frantic bid to form a government in the post-2014 general elections.  In order to achieve this, the RSS/BJP seems to be using all the weapons in their arsenal.  Their success will only herald the beginning of the efforts to completely negate and undermine the secular democratic Indian Republic as we know of it today. This cannot be permitted.

The RSS/BJP led combine of communal forces cannot be allowed  to exploit  the growing popular discontent arising out of the anti-people  policies of the current UPA-2 government to achieve their objective.  The growing  popular discontent amongst our people must be so mobilised that it finds an  expression in a non-Congress, anti-BJP  political alternative that shall pursue an alternative policy direction for the country which will  provide the much-needed relief to the people and steer the country on a sustainable path of economic development and progress. 

(November 20, 2013)