Saffron
Tide is Rising...Govt Making
Inroads for Fascism
By Khushwant Singh and Humra Quraishi
17 April, 2003
Do you agree with the
Hindutva brigades definition of nationalism?
A nationalist is one who
is concerned about his country and also about equal treatment to all
citizens. The Hindutva Government is not treating all its nationals
as one, on the same footing I know for a fact that there is discrimination
against the Muslims and Christians. Discrimination against Muslims culminating
in the demolition of the Babri Masjid and then the massacres in Gujarat
by Hindu terrorists destroyed the notion that Hinduism is more tolerant
than Islam. The murder of Christian missionaries, attacks on them and
the burning of Bibles have done similar damage. In fact, let me also
mention here that much before Jinnah had come up with the two-nation
theory, it was people like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, V.D.
Savarkar, who had come up with the Hindu nation theory. In fact, Lajpat
Rai had even drawn a map of divided India along religious lines.
In your book, you have
written extensively on the Gujarat riots. Do you notice any similarity
between that and the 84 Sikh riots?
Yes, it was quite obvious
in both cases that the police was told not to control the rioting. I
am a witness to the Sikh riots in New Delhi and I saw police doing little
to control the rioters. And journalists and activists who recounted
the Gujarat carnage told me of similar happenings in the riots there.
In both the cases, it was said that the riots were provoked the
Sikh riots were said to be provoked by the assassination of Indira Gandhi
and the Godhra incident was blamed for the Gujarat riots. If that was
the case, why were the culprits not caught? It seems that the government
has almost abdicated its duty and power to control mobs and what I find
very disturbing and dangerous is that communal parties have launched
their own private armies. Any government which allows private armies
affiliated to political parties is doing nothing short of making inroads
for fascism.
Why do you say fascism
is here?
Whatever one is seeing around
are all signs of fascism appointments to important offices are
not done on merit, key posts are given to their men, even Governor-level
appointments. There could be some two or three showpieces from other
communities, otherwise its their men in all
key positions Hitler functioned in exactly the same manner. And
while Hitlers main target was the Jews, for this brigade its
the Muslim population in the country.
Do you think their tactics
will overpower the so-called liberals?
The saffron tide is rising
and I have written this book with a deep sense of concern for the country.
Unless we immediately react and reject the communal policies, there
is going to be disaster. Its time that right-thinking persons
or liberals rejected these communal moves.
In 1989, you proposed
the name of L.K. Advani as MP from New Delhi. Today you are his worst
critic.
Yes, I did propose his name
but that time I was totally disillusioned with the Congress. Ever since
his Rath Yatra, I have been severely critical of him, and, at public
fora, Ive told him that he is responsible for sowing the seeds
of hatred between the two communities.
Why do you think the Congress
has not been able to take on these communal parties?
The Congress has no clear
policy, it has not been able to take a firm stand on any issue and seems
to be compromising on even vital issues. If today, the party follows
the principle laid out by Jawaharlal Nehru, it could make some impact.
Why doesnt the Indian
middle class react to communal politics?
I think most Indians cannot
really visualise the magnitude of the communal problem, although the
signs are writ large all around besides communal rioting, the
way M.F. Husains paintings were burnt, or for that matter the
shooting of a film stopped, or changes brought about in school text
books. Theres a propaganda that the Christian population is rising
because of conversions but the reality is that the Christian population
in India has actually gone down. And the Sangh has capitalised on old
prejudices about Muslims that they are multiplying at an alarming
rate, when the census figures clearly show that the rate of growth of
the Hindu population has always been higher; and since Independence,
in almost every communal rioting, the Muslim loss of life and property
has been almost ten times that of the Hindus.
Do you think the situation
will improve anytime soon?
No, Im not optimistic
but one should fight, one should make every single effort to save the
country and openly challenge and take on these men who are destroying
the country. We have to battle with them at any cost, give it back to
them, abuse for abuse for if we love our country we have to save
it from these communal forces. And though the liberal class is shrinking,
I do hope that the present generation totally rejects the communal and
fascist polices.