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Vajpayee’s shedding of his liberal mask, is the
BJP’s desperate gamble to win back the Hindu vote. With declining popularity it
has no alternative but to resort back to its overt venomous Hindutva propaganda,
even at the cost of alienating its allies. Its unprincipled politics; its
swadeshi hoax; its consistent attacks on people’s living standards; its open
servility to the imperialists, particularly the Americans; and its corrupt
Congress style dog-fights for power and pelf — have thoroughly exposed it before
the people. Besides, with no immediate possibility of a new round of anti-Pak
hysteria, to rally the masses, given the process of dialogue with a section of
the Kashmiris, it has but one formula for maintaining its power — whipping up a
Hindutva mania.
As a result of its policies it has seen its
fortunes slide, not only in most parts of the country, but even in its two key
states of Gujarat and UP. In the recent local elections in these states it lost
heavily in Gujarat and declined in UP. The BJP is caught in an irreconcilable
contradiction of its own making — dilution of its overt Hindutva propaganda in
order to sustain the NDA alliance and cling to power, or to take up the
propaganda and put strains on the alliance.
So desperate was the BJP to regain lost ground,
that the Sangh Parivar’s massive campaigns have not proved sufficient. Even the
Advani/Joshi rhetorics have proved inadequate. It required the Prime Minister
himself to give that added push to the Hindutva agenda. So, on December 6, the
eighth anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid, Vajpayee tore off his
liberal mask and declared that "the construction of the temple at Ayodhya was
an expression of national sentiment, which was yet to be realised." On the
following day his tone became even more shrill. In Hitlerian style he shrieked
that there were but two ways to settle the Ayodhya issue :
"First, the court could give a verdict in favour of
the Ram Temple at the disputed site. Two, Hindus and Muslims could talk and
arrive at a decision — Muslims could decide to allow Hindus to build the Ram
temple where it exists, and Hindus could offer the Muslims an alternative site
to the mosque."
Such statements differs little from that of the
fanatics of the Sangh Parivar. Besides, this was not said in isolation but was
part of a nation wide orchestrated campaign on the issue. The VHP have been
making aggressive, bellicose statements; RSS chief, Sudarshan, has been spouting
a newly concocted bomb theory for the demolition of the Masjid; and the entire
Sangh Parivar have been instigating the take over of Masjids and Churches all
over the country. And Vajpayee’s statement itself came after a meeting with the
top echelon of the RSS. Not surprisingly, at the BJP’s parliamentary party
meeting, MPs were told to go on the offensive.
In fact, the VHP have been making systematic
preparations for the construction of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. 5,000 cubic feet
of completed stone-work, to be used for the ‘Garbha Griha’ (Sanctum Sanctorum)
of the proposed Ram Mandir has already been dispatched to Ayodhya from
Rajasthan. Then, in October last year, the VHP announced a series of programmes
in the run-up to the construction of the Ram temple, including the constitution
of a construction committee. A mass campaign has been launched, where
organisation activists, in small groups, plan to fan out to over 3 lakh
villages. Here they will set up "Ram Sankertan Mandals" and collect signatures
on a resolve to build the temple. The VHP has said a ‘Dharam Sansad’ will be
held at the Kumbh Mela in mid-January, at which the date for initiating the
construction work will be announced.
Besides these preparations, the fascist
storm-troopers have been busy whipping up communal frenzy throughout the
country. December 6 was celebrated all over the country as "Shaurya Diwas"
(Bravery Day). Communal clashes broke out in many parts of UP, and the police
were put on a red alert. In Rae Bareilly it sought to take possession of a
masjid and convert it into a temple. In Gujarat it has sought to convert a
church into a temple at Surat; and in Vyara taluk of South Gujarat it has
already taken over a church. Churches are once again being attacked in the Dangs
and other parts of Gujarat. In Bihar, at Sasaram in Rohtas district, the VHP
hoodlums and police conspired together and constructed a small temple near the
historic site of the tomb of Sher Shah Suri. In Goa it has been actively trying
to convert an important church into a temple, focusing on the island of Diwar.
And even at Delhi, it has threatened a nationwide agitation if it is not allowed
to do puja at the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque near the Qutab Minar.
These are just some of the major instances of
communal venom being instigated. Many more exist throughout the country. But
while the fascist brigade have been going on an aggressive campaign, what has
been the reaction of the so-called secular parliamentary forces ? Most have been
either silent collaborators, while others have put up a pretense of mock
opposition in order to preserve their muslim vote-banks.
Most of the NDA partners of the BJP have acted as
willful collaborators; more interested in maintaining their power than seeking
principled opposition. Those with a sizable muslim vote-bank, like the Trinamool
Congress and TDP, have made more noise, while the George Fernandes types acted
as outright collaborators. Yet after making the necessary noise and demanding a
meeting of the NDA to discuss Vajpayee’s statement, nothing really happened. The
meeting issued a statement "expressing full solidarity with and support to
the leadership of Vajpayee." And in the Lok Sabha, inspite of the growing
tensions between the NDA partners, the allies voted enbloc with the BJP on this
controversy. As far as the TDP goes, their MPs were more pre-occupied in holding
factional meetings seeking ministerial posts in the central government. Yet, the
arbitrary and autocratic functioning of the BJP is bound to increase tensions
within the alliance.
As far as the Congress(I) goes, its vociferous
demand for the resignation of three ministers involved in the demolition sounds
increasingly shallow, when it is not accompanied by any concrete action for
rebuilding the demolished masjid. Besides, it has never once regretted is own
pro-active role in building up the Ram Janmabhoomi issue, and its inaction
during the demolition. All the opposition, including the revisionist CPI/CPM are
more keen on not alienating their Hindu votes, than standing up for principles.
All the opposition just make sufficient noise in order to sustain their sizable
muslim votes. Today, communalism has become the major political plank of the
parliamentary garbage — of both varieties, whether it is the hindu fascists or
the fake secularists.
Under the given circumstances the only secular
demand can be that of re-building the Babri Masjid with severe action being
taken on those responsible for its demolition. That a historical monument has
been illegally destroyed, quite naturally calls for its immediate restoration.
That even the Supreme Court backed the hindu fanatics by giving legitimacy to
the temple hurriedly constructed on the ruins of the masjid, does not in any way
detract from the just demand for the re-construction of the Babri-Masjid.
Some, meek liberals seek to appease the fascists by
calling for construction of a national monument or bargaining away the Babri
Masjid for peace at other mosques. Such appeasement only whets the appetite of
the fascists. The more weakness shown, the more they will grab. The fascists can
only be destroyed, not through policies of appeasement, but through direct
confrontation. They must be smashed at every step forward by mobilising the vast
democratic masses. Today the courts, the police, the entire state machinery
sides with the Hindu fascists as it is the most feasible polity for the present
ruling classes existence. Therefore, to fight the fascist hordes, it is
necessary to step beyond the framework of legality, which anyway the fascists
never recognise.
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