Gujarat-Lengthening
Shadows Of Trident
By Ram Puniyani
06 May, 2004
Issues In Secular Politics
While
the country is in the middle of the general elections (April-May 2004),
the news from Gujarat continues to be very disturbing. During the period
of
this month two events in particular shook the conscience of those committed
to democratic and secular values. The first one was the aftermath of
Supreme Court judgement in the Best Bakery case. To recapitulate the
apex court has ruled that the deliverance of justice in Gujarat has
been flawed from bottom to top. The state Govt. has not been able to
protect the witnesses in the case, the goons of Bajarang dal intimidated
them and VHP due to which they turned hostile and the lower court exonerated
all the culprits. In response Zahira Sheikh with the help of Citizens
committee for Justice and Peace filed a case in the Supreme Court to
shift the case away from Gujarat so that justice can be done to the
victims of riots. Immediately after this as the judgement came,
the local supporters of BJP-VHP came and intimidated Teesta Setalvad,
Secretary of Citizens Committee, and Fr. Cedric Prakash of Prashant,
an NGO deeply associated with the Human Rights issues of Gujarat victims.
The duo had to be given police protection.
The group of Youth
traveling the country, under the banner of Youth for Peace, (from Anhad),
under the program Meri Awaz Suno (Please here me out), was
attacked by the followers of same set of political formations. This
group has been touring all over the country appealing to uphold the
secular democratic
values in the forthcoming elections. It is in Gujarat that even the
appeal of such a nature is looked down at, as being Anti Hindu and the
Hindutva forces, the followers of Modi-Advani, cannot tolerate them.
These two incidents remind one of the state of civic society in this
state. This has been worsening since the genocide and the post genocide
polarization of the communities on religious lines. It is not only that
Human rights activists are being targeted, the
democratic space has also been constrained at social level. Recently
an appeal released by Sahmat and Communalism Combat points out that
"Terror continues to be unleashed systematically against the Muslim
minority in Gujarat through indiscriminate arrests and illegal detentions
by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch of at least 80 Muslim youth, the selective
application of POTA against 12 Muslims for alleged involvement in the
Haren Pandya murder and 123 accused in the Godhra mass arson. Muslim
women, relatives of allegedly absconding accused and even of detained
persons, have also been brutally abused during questioning by the Ahmedabad
police."
In addition as per
the same report the economic boycott of Muslim community started in
the wake of the Gujarat violence also continues in various cities. A
person no less than the status of Mallika Sarabhai, in one of her recent
interviews given to a newspaper, points out that a feeling of terror
prevails in the state due to which the democratic right of expression
has been curtailed to a great extent. As such also the opposition movement
is groping its way to find the way to ensure the preservation of human
rights but the odds are too many. There is also a fear in the air that
large sections of Muslims may not be permitted to vote in the forthcoming
elections by shear force andintimidation.
Is it difficult
to imagine as to how a group of youth with an appeal to National integration
and shunning of communalism be attacked? How can the civil society be
made to keep quiet and forced into submission by the fundamentalist
forces? It has become easy for the political activists of BJP-VHP to
intimidate the social workers that are trying to preserve the cause
of democracy and in turn are defending the rights of riot victims to
get justice.
Gujarat has been
having the uninterrupted rule of BJP from last decade or so. The consolidation
of section of Hindus in to a solid block backing the politics of RSS
and its progeny is by now reaching critical limits. Limits critical
enough to be understood as the end of the road for democratic and liberal
space. This process began from last two decades first as anti-Dalit
riots in sequence 1980, 1981 and 1986. Later through various Rath yatras,
which are a modern innovative tool of RSS-VHP, politics and upper caste-class
section started being consolidated into a camp, which stood to benefit
from the suppression of rights of Dalits and OBC. During late 80s a
conscious policy was undertaken to co-opt the Dalits and to unleash
them upon the 'external' enemy in the form of Muslims. Such politics
of hate always requires an external enemy. This process was supplemented
by an intense process of communalization of social space through anti-minority
propaganda, which was achieved by spreading myths about the minorities,
the myths based on history, medieval and present and through the myths
based on demographic lies and the international politics. This process
of consolidation was boosted by the anti-Christian violence, which was
done in mid nineties. This was also accompanied coopting sections of
adivasis through identity politics. Both dalits and adivasis were used
by RSS and its progeny in the Gujarat riots.
Meanwhile the state
apparatus also has been communalized. It was manifested in its bowing
to the butcher of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, during the riots. Converting
the communal violence into state sponsored genocide. The affluent professional
group has not remained far behind. During Gujarat violence even the
deliverance of Medical relief was communalized, something which goes
against the Hippocratic oath which the members of medical profession
are supposed to abide by. This oath affirms that medical professiona
will discharge their professional duties irrespective of patients' religion
or nationality or whatever that be. The legal community was taken in
by various means. Even as the riots were going on the VHP prepared a
team of Legal professionals to defend the perpetrators of riots. It
is not too much surprising that the legal community which sat quiet
during the hearing of Best Bakery and turning of all the witnesses hostile,
now wakes up to make noise against the supreme court's decision to shift
the cases away from Gujarat.
The attitude of
civil society during riots was also a big set back to the democratic
sensibilities. In a way it reflected the state of communalization of
society. A society which witnessed the butchering of two thousand innocents,
kept quiet, believing that all this is being done to take the revenge
of Godhra. As if revenge is an option in a democratic society, as if
by killing the innocents Muslims in different parts of Gujarat will
give justice to those killed in the Sabrmati train burning. All this
reflected the state of the mind of the dominant sections of society.
On the top of it Modi was clever enough to pass off any criticism of
his administration as an insult of 50 billion (5 Crore) Gujratis. The
human rights movements are also being put to all the possible obstacles
in their functioning.
The tragic affairs
of Gujarat are just a mirror to our democracy. How if unguarded, the
fascist tendencies can grow and engulf the democracy lock sock and barrel.
Gujarat is very close to 'Fascism in one state' as far as Indian nation
is concerned. With the latest victory of BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Rajsthan
and Chattisgargh, the process of fascisisation of these states has also
been put on the faster gears. Especially in MP and Rajasthan, the dangerous
signals are emerging. The NDA rule, nee the BJP rule during
last five years has opened the floodgates for this politics to grow
at a higher pace. State sponsored funding for RSS organizations has
gone up, various
secular institutions are being taken over by the RSS swayamsevaks. With
communalization of school textbooks, most of the job of RSS shakhas
(branches) of communalization is being parceled out to the schools in
a most official way.
Gradually the influence
of RSS project is growing in different states, Orrisa and Kerala, to
name the two. Are we doomed to witness the march of Fascism state by
state? Indian polity is at a very precarious crossroad. The return of
BJP with similar strength may mean the early arrival of doomsday as
now the leash on Togadias and Modis will totally absent and more of
their ilk will proliferate and discover the so called Hindutva issues
state by state.
If India is to remain
a democracy, secularism has to survive. They are twins, which cannot
survive in isolation. There is no single panacea for protection
of the society from the onslaught of Fascist trident. Apart from electoral
arena, the one at social level are equally crucial if we want our democracy
to survive. How will Human rights movement take up the dangers posed
by RSS agenda is a million life question!