Editorial

Seeking A Solution?

Grand Indian Opera everyday opens and closes without much cheers from the audience. The so-called mainstream parties, the Left and pretty much everyone else in parliamentary politics, have only one issue to deal with—secularism. People are fed up with Modi-lobbying and Modi-bashing as if the fate of billion plus Indians depends on the Modi-factor. With 2014 General Election approaching all are in search of issues, both regionally and nationally. Most political parties are ruling parties and those who have not yet qualified for setting the rules of the game are just waiting on the sidelines to have their turn. As they cannot talk of serious issues that really affect millions, they simply indulge in inconsequential matters and play it safe with the gallery.

Narendra Modi, being touted as the best bait for corporate India, finds it tough going inside his own party—Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—and their coalition platform—National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as well. One of NDA’s major constituent Janata Dal (United) is talking in too many voices on Modi, the saffron face of BJP’s future Prime Minister. JD(U), otherwise an obnoxious casteist outfit, mainly based in Bihar, seems to have become wise enough not to support Modi as NDA’s Prime Ministerial aspirant because of his communal politics and its consequences in 2002 Gujarat riots. But during the Godhra incident that was used as an excuse to engineer communal riots, JD(U) Chief Minister of Bihar was then Union Railway Minister and he did precious little to expose the conspiratorial aspect of the Godhra railway tragedy. In a bid to create rift in BJP on the Prime Minister issue, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is now openly backing the old horse L K Advani. But this same Nitish Kumar was instrumental in arresting Advani during his notorious Ratha Yatra, when he was with his arch rival Lalu Yadav. In truth that was the turning point in swinging minority vote in Bihar and the Kumars want to keep that vote bank in their favour by raising noises against Modi. There is not much secularism, it is politics of convenience. After all Advani has not suddenly become a champion of secularism.

Parties in power and parties in Opposition are trying to polarise voters around the communal-secular divide. Time has not yet come for them to act on growing inequity in society, widening income gap and massive unemployment. What is more penetration of foreign powers through economic routes has reached alarming proportions. A lack of transparency and accountability seems to have destroyed the very democratic fabric of society otherwise fractured on multiple planes as no rational solution is emanating from any quarters. Even CPM is dancing to the tune of Modi as their central leadership the other day said Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi must resign because the apex court ordered investigation into the 2002 Gujarat carnage and Modi Government’s deliberate refusal to prevent mob violence against the minority community people. This is their style of fighting communalism and proving their secular credentials to the minority community voters.

It is some civil liberties bodies that have been fighting tooth and nail against the Gujarat mayhem since 2002. Even at the time of writing Mrs Zakia Jafri of the Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) filed her protest petition praying for the rejection in toto of the SIT final report dated 8-2-2002, making a cogent case for the charge-sheeting of all 59 accused listed in her complaint dated       8-6-2006, beginning with Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat. It is now widely believed that the gruesome burning of Sabarmati Express at Godhra came in handy to meticulously plan massacre of innocent muslims all over Gujarat. Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Supreme Court had adequate documents and evidences at its disposal to come to a prima facie finding against all the accused, numbering 59 in Mrs Jafri’s petition. SIT, however, failed to do justice to the victims as they gave clean chit to the accused. CJP and other Human Rights Organisations have been continually campaigning against Modi and his partners in crime since 2002. And the self-styled secularists including marxists periodically raise the Modi tale to keep their secular image alive. In a sense what Modi did amounted to the Muslim League sponsored direct action or Great Calcutta Killings in pre-partition days, in reverse.

In India no secular party is really secular. A little bit of communalism is everywhere—in polity, in society, in mass psyche. They cannot answer why communalism is on the rise despite proliferation of secular political parties.

Congress Party is still on the defensive about its role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Shriomoni Akali Dal, a regional outfit thriving on religious fanaticsim, is now agitating for justice and punishment of the guilty. It is again election time and they want to regain their lost ground in Punjab by fuelling passion as a Delhi Court would pronounce its judgement on April 30 in a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case in which Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and five others are accused. They could have expedited the judicial process when they were in coalition government at the centre. No, they didn’t. They are taking to the streets now because they are hard pressed to raise some popular slogans to win votes.

Secularists and communal fanatics in Indian politics have different demands on each other but in the end they are choosing to use each other to reach the same goal—parliament, while people’s material needs remain in jeopardy. ooo
22-04-2013

Frontier
Vol. 45, No. 42, Apr 28- -May 4, 2013

Your Comment if any