Politicization of Terror by the BJP
The recent terror attack in a temple in the holy city of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh has resulted in a very different reaction from the Opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party. Instead of joining the voice of preserving communal harmony and tolerance that immediately spread throughout the country across political groupings and ideologies, the BJP attacked the government as being soft and indulged in the appeasement politics towards the Muslim community.
In its most defiant manner the BJP disrupted both the Houses in the Parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and along with other rightwing Hindu groups like the VHP and the Bajrang Dal, it called for the UP bandh (closure of all activities in the state of Uttar Pradesh) in the very next day after the attack.
If these reactions are not enough to show the immaturity and the opportunistic tendency of the leaderships in the party that only recently ruled India for 5 years, the BJP’s Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha and ex-Deputy PM L.K. Advani has announced a twin yatra (long march) as a mode of protest towards the attack. Advani and the current BJP president, Rajnath Singh, will lead these yatras.
If history is not easy to forget, in the early 1990s Indian politics was dominated by communal forces in which a yatra led by Advani had culminated in the destruction of an old mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Cashing in on the strong wave of communal sentiment, the BJP and its allies succeeded in grabbing the power in the Center and ruled the country from the late 1990s and until in the early years of 2000s. And ever since the Ayodhya incident took place, Indian politics changed forever.
It is in the backdrop of this history that the current leaderships in the BJP tried once again to meddle in the dark water. The attack on Varanasi was justified by the party as an attack against Hinduism and thus necessary for all Hindus to retaliate. This perception clearly shows the communal mindset of the party.
Changes in the Society
India in the 1990s and in 2000s is two different societies. If communal sentiment is very much easy to manipulate in the 1990s, India in 2000s is more mature and has different priorities. Hiccups of communal violence somehow occurred in 2000s but the most part of the new century has shown the maturity of a new community.
There is one very important factor that led to the dramatic change in the Indian society: the opening up of the Indian market. The different approach adopted by the Indian government towards the international market through liberalization of Indian market and economy in the later half of the 1990s contributed a lot to the change that occurred in the society.
The open market policy has created new chances and opportunities to India and Indian people to improve their economic condition as well as a chance to have a different view and understanding of its politics. The new policy has transformed the country into a new agenda of growth, development, globalization, and self-assurance. The new India does not want to be distracted by claims made in the name of medieval passions anymore. The exposure to the international reality has changed their perspectives. The Indian citizen — whatever his faith — no longer subscribes to the grammar of religious animosity as they once did in the previous period.
This is the reality that has probably escaped from the BJP leaders' attention. They seem to be ignorant to the changes that have occurred in the society. The new and the old BJP leaders seem to have learnt no lesson from the Gujarat riots in 2002. "India Shining" turned its back on the BJP and the NDA because the country disapproved of Narendra Modi's deliberate and calculated Muslim-bashing. The hard lesson of defeat in 2004’s general elections seemed to have passed through an empty head.
The current efforts by the BJP leaderships and its allies to re-ignite communal passion for their political gains will fail to materialize. The changed reality in the Indian society will not permit this kind of politicization of people’s suffering to occur. The immediate positive responses shown by the different communities in Varanasi are positive indications to the maturity of the population in response to the attack that aimed at disrupting the communal harmony between communities.
The politicization of the recent attack in Varanasi by the BJP in order to regain its diminishing influence is an ashamed act and seems to be heading towards failure. India is moving and it is different. The Indian civil society has got the measure of pretenders who seek to assume the mantle of savior of this or that "community." The men-made humanitarian calamities in Ayodhya, Mumbai or Gujarat have woken up the conscience of the people. If the different communities in Varanasi are capable of preserving the communal harmony in the city, the whole Indian community should be able to do the same to preserve the unity of India. The diversity should become an asset and not a liability of a failure. The politicians and political parties should also understand this value of diversity as an asset to keep the nation intact instead of disintegrating it into factions for sake of their lust of power.
In its most defiant manner the BJP disrupted both the Houses in the Parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and along with other rightwing Hindu groups like the VHP and the Bajrang Dal, it called for the UP bandh (closure of all activities in the state of Uttar Pradesh) in the very next day after the attack.
If these reactions are not enough to show the immaturity and the opportunistic tendency of the leaderships in the party that only recently ruled India for 5 years, the BJP’s Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha and ex-Deputy PM L.K. Advani has announced a twin yatra (long march) as a mode of protest towards the attack. Advani and the current BJP president, Rajnath Singh, will lead these yatras.
If history is not easy to forget, in the early 1990s Indian politics was dominated by communal forces in which a yatra led by Advani had culminated in the destruction of an old mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Cashing in on the strong wave of communal sentiment, the BJP and its allies succeeded in grabbing the power in the Center and ruled the country from the late 1990s and until in the early years of 2000s. And ever since the Ayodhya incident took place, Indian politics changed forever.
It is in the backdrop of this history that the current leaderships in the BJP tried once again to meddle in the dark water. The attack on Varanasi was justified by the party as an attack against Hinduism and thus necessary for all Hindus to retaliate. This perception clearly shows the communal mindset of the party.
Changes in the Society
India in the 1990s and in 2000s is two different societies. If communal sentiment is very much easy to manipulate in the 1990s, India in 2000s is more mature and has different priorities. Hiccups of communal violence somehow occurred in 2000s but the most part of the new century has shown the maturity of a new community.
There is one very important factor that led to the dramatic change in the Indian society: the opening up of the Indian market. The different approach adopted by the Indian government towards the international market through liberalization of Indian market and economy in the later half of the 1990s contributed a lot to the change that occurred in the society.
The open market policy has created new chances and opportunities to India and Indian people to improve their economic condition as well as a chance to have a different view and understanding of its politics. The new policy has transformed the country into a new agenda of growth, development, globalization, and self-assurance. The new India does not want to be distracted by claims made in the name of medieval passions anymore. The exposure to the international reality has changed their perspectives. The Indian citizen — whatever his faith — no longer subscribes to the grammar of religious animosity as they once did in the previous period.
This is the reality that has probably escaped from the BJP leaders' attention. They seem to be ignorant to the changes that have occurred in the society. The new and the old BJP leaders seem to have learnt no lesson from the Gujarat riots in 2002. "India Shining" turned its back on the BJP and the NDA because the country disapproved of Narendra Modi's deliberate and calculated Muslim-bashing. The hard lesson of defeat in 2004’s general elections seemed to have passed through an empty head.
The current efforts by the BJP leaderships and its allies to re-ignite communal passion for their political gains will fail to materialize. The changed reality in the Indian society will not permit this kind of politicization of people’s suffering to occur. The immediate positive responses shown by the different communities in Varanasi are positive indications to the maturity of the population in response to the attack that aimed at disrupting the communal harmony between communities.
The politicization of the recent attack in Varanasi by the BJP in order to regain its diminishing influence is an ashamed act and seems to be heading towards failure. India is moving and it is different. The Indian civil society has got the measure of pretenders who seek to assume the mantle of savior of this or that "community." The men-made humanitarian calamities in Ayodhya, Mumbai or Gujarat have woken up the conscience of the people. If the different communities in Varanasi are capable of preserving the communal harmony in the city, the whole Indian community should be able to do the same to preserve the unity of India. The diversity should become an asset and not a liability of a failure. The politicians and political parties should also understand this value of diversity as an asset to keep the nation intact instead of disintegrating it into factions for sake of their lust of power.
Labels: politik
blog by Mas Qisa'i at 12:53:00 AM
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