Quit
India: Hindutva Goons
By Subhash Gatade
24 July, 2006
Countercurrents.org
(Mumbai, July 21: INTO
THE uneasy quiet after the serial blasts on July 11, the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP) on Friday launched what it says is a public awareness
campaign: ‘‘Chhodo Hindustan,’’ say a series
of banners bearing the name of its city unit, urging Muslims who are
‘‘supporters of terrorism’’ to leave the country.
.- Indian Express-Saturday , July 22, 2006, Mumbai )
B'bay,
the city that never sleeps, can be said to be a new barometer of the
mood of the broad masses of the Indian people.
Gone are the days of the
90s when the city had witnessed communal riots after the demolition
of the Babri Mosque.Gone are the days of the Maha-aratis and the 'Behrampadas'
- the many tragic spots in the sprawling city which are a living reminder
of the times when the spirit of B'bay was torn asunder by organised
forces owning allegiance to fanatic/sectarian ideologies.
It is true that all that
is passe. Perhaps it is marker of the changed mood of the city that
a man who calls himself commander of his loyal followers, a man who
had been indicted by the SriKrishna Commission for his role in the riots
in early nineties, is watching before his own eyes the crumbling of
his 'empire'.
The way people have turned
a new leaf was evident once again when the city recently witnessed bomb
blasts in local trains. Definitely the people who had planned the inhuman
act of putting bombs in trains and who had expected that they would
witness the days of the early nineties were in for a great shock.
It was for everyone to see
that, the people in the city, who otherwise are bracketed as the 'rude'
ones, saw to it that the spirit of the city lives. One could see long
queues of people outside hospitals ready to donate blood , one could
see every other guy becoming a good samaritan, helping the wounded,
joining the endless search of people for their near and dear ones. The
whole city stood still for a while led by the President of the Republic
to remember the dead and show to the outside world that it is united
in this hour of grief and would not feel provoked by anyone.
It is a different matter
that the chief minister of a neighbouring state, who has carved out
a different niche for himself in the genocide in his state, and who
is a persona non grata in Europe and USA , came calling and delivered
another of his trademark speech abusing 'Miyan' Musharraf. But the mood
of the city rather resonated with the front page editorial in the eveninger
there 'Go back Modi'.
And now when life is becoming
normal and people want to move ahead has come the news that Hindutva
people won't let the people do so. Interestingly the way people have
demonstrated new bonds of bonhomie and solidarity, has not gone down
well with the forces of Hindutva. Perhaps,like the perpetrators of the
heinous crime, they were expecting that the city would witness new cleavages,
old wounds may get reopened. It is just possible that like neighbouring
Gujarat they had made preparations to that effect, to duplicate their
'successful experiment' but found to their dismay their plans going
awry.
The news of their 'public
awareness' campaign targetting a particular community, which has appeared
in a section of the press is a proof of their mischievous designs. It
is worth noting that they have planned it under the direction of one
of their top leaders who recently visited the city and who is one of
the accused in the Babri Mosque demolition case. Under this 'public
awareness campaign: ‘‘Chhodo Hindustan,’’ a
series of banners urging Muslims who are ‘‘supporters of
terrorism’’ to leave the country. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad
which has put these banners all over the city has also decided to 'urge
our people to stop buying anything from Muslims.'
It is clear for everyone
that it is a provocative act and it should not be considered lightly.
The city administration should be pressurised to take action against
the miscreants. A public intellectual/ activist or some formation should
definitely approach the courts to help prosecute them under one of those
laws which prohibit acts of 'spreading ill-will between two communities'
.
To conclude, for secular
activists while rejoicing over the new mood of the people, exhibited
in the aftermath of the bomb blasts, the key thing to remember is that
they cannot slacken their vigil in any manner. It is true that the politics
of exclusion and programme of hate, practised by these people is doomed
strategically. But that does not mean it cannot play havoc in the immediate
term One need not recount the many bloody yatras taken out by their
Iron Men in our recent past.