Two events compete compellingly for attention on the anniversary of the Republic: the lustrelessness of the political elite, and the sheer vibrancy of the millions celebrating the millennium’s first Kumbh with a dignity and fervour that invests the sannatan dharma with its eternal flavour and affirms the nation’s civilizational ethos. The tragic intensity of the earthquake in Gujarat cannot substantially alter this scenario.
The decision to extend the ceasefire in Jammu & Kashmir for the third consecutive month, despite continued violence in the Valley, shows complete political bankruptcy. As significant sections of the Government and ruling BJP had openly derided the ceasefire, Mr. Vajpayee owes the nation a credible explanation for its extension. Some points may be noted. Sixty soldiers (not to mention civilian casualties) died in fifty-five days of ceasefire – clear proof of its failure. Top echelons of the army have strong reservations at the move, as it facilitates militants in rearming and regrouping themselves.
Then, the Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister has warned against continuing the soft line vis-à-vis the terrorists. Dr. Farooq Abdullah has revealed that he has not been taken into confidence, despite meeting the Home Minister. It is truly shocking that even the state’s elected Chief Minister is being denied information about the parameters of the proposed talks with the terrorists. What adds to the disgrace is that while privileged areas of the capital enjoyed blanket security cover with anti-aircraft guns so that the elite could watch the Republic Day parade, soldiers and civilians in the embattled frontline state have been left to fend for themselves as militants merrily prowl the Valley confident of no retribution as they pick on soft targets.
The Centre appears to be acting to a secret, unpublicized script. Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh was recently in Saudi Arabia, and it is hardly accidental that he was directed to brief the media about the cabinet decision to extend the ceasefire on January 23, 2001. Given the extent to which Wahabi Islam is being propagated in Kashmir at the cost of the Valley’s traditionally pietist Islam, it seems obvious that the Saudis have inveigled themselves as a party in the so-called peace process. This would indicate Government preparedness to deal with third parties in matters affecting the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty without taking citizens into confidence.
Mr. Vajpayee must disregard advisers who tell him he is above public accountability, even if he is able to bully his cabinet into submission. It is a pity President K.R. Narayanan missed the opportunity provided by his Republic Day address to tackle the Government on Kashmir, when so much is at stake here. Lives are lost daily; there is no breakthrough with any militant-separatist group; foreign mercenaries remain firmly entrenched; yet New Delhi refuses to tell the people what objectives it is pursuing. Mr. Narayanan could have voiced the nation’s misgivings in this regard.
He has, however, done well to squash other ideas, such as the half-baked notion of indirect elections and Mr. Vajpayee’s preference for a fixed term for legislative bodies, which would make it impossible for the people to get rid of unpopular regimes – such as post-Mandal V.P. Singh – except through civil strife. The President has also disapproved of policies that accentuate marginalization of tribal communities and transgress their rights, and Government should accept his admonition with grace.
Although Congress has singularly failed to nail the Government on any issue, its leadership has of late acquired a healthy respect for the Hindu vote, as evidenced in Signora Sonia Gandhi’s much-publicized visit to the Kumbh. It goes without saying that the visit was not “personal,” that the lady cannot speak a word of Sanskrit (her Hindi is bad enough), and that she took even the token half-dip under extreme – political – duress. But the fact that the visit was political is precisely what redeems it, a point underlined by party men who distributed free copies of newspapers covering the event in city buses the next day.
Some points may be noted. Unlike at Tirupati where she brashly denied her non-Hindu status, Sonia Gandhi wisely refrained from calling herself a Hindu at Kumbh, even as she submitted to overtly Hindu religious ceremonies (prayers to the Ganges, participation in a yagna). In the process, she redeemed the Hindu vote by investing it with a significance it has been denied since the BJP tasted electoral triumph by riding the crest of the ‘Ram wave.’ At Kumbh, Sonia Gandhi’s religious credentials were not at stake, as BJP spokesman Mr. Jana Krishnamurthy unwisely believed. What was at stake was her political savvy, and here she may yet acquit herself.
Media reports have interpreted the visit as motivated by Congress’ desire to regain the party’s old Brahmin-Muslim-Dalit votebank. I think Congress leaders are intelligent enough to know that you do not step into the same river twice, and that if the party had the faintest hope of regaining the confidence of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh, they would not have risked sending the Signora to the Kumbh. A visit to a temple, howsoever famous, is cultural, political and regional tourism; it can be offset with a visit to a mosque or mazhar. But Kumbh is primordial Hinduism; those who go there (including foreigners) go to exult in a direct cosmic connection with the divine, a privilege monotheistic creeds do not grant their adherents. Kumbh is eternal, it is dharma itself.
Although Congress is itself complicit in the politics of Ayodhya, the BJP-Sangh Parivar have mishandled the issue so badly that not only has the site of the Ram Temple become open to debate, but there is again talk of reconstructing the Masjid-i-Janmasthan. This has naturally polarized the principal communities, and cannot but impact on the political process. The pressure of ISI-sponsored Islamization and the frightening proliferation of madrasas all over the country can only aggravate this situation.
Signora Gandhi’s political advisers would have realized that in the new situation it is impossible for Congress to regain its ‘umbrella organization’ status, and that it will have to choose which community to woo as the bedrock of its political base. Given the unreliability of the Muslim vote, they have veered towards the majority community. Hence the visit to Kumbh, the significance of which would not be lost on Muslims. If I have understood the Congress mind, the party will be broadly silent on the Muslim question while focusing upon the Hindu vote, specifically the upper caste (suvarna) and Dalit vote. Kumbh would cut ice equally with both sections and effectively challenge both the BJP and the Bahujan Samaj Party in UP, while leaving Mulayam Singh with his currently impregnable OBC-Muslim cake.
Of course, this formula could as easily be hijacked and adopted by the BSP. Ms. Mayawati has already made effective electoral overtures to the upper castes in UP while retaining her captive Dalit votebank; all she needs is a larger ideological framework. As I see it, the big prize will go to the leader/party that sheds its squeamishness about its ‘secular’ image and goes straight out for the Hindu vote. A promising beginning could be made by taking up the cause of the Kashmiri Pandits. BJP will rue the day it decided to ditch the Hindu plank for the Muslim grail; it should know Mecca is the only holy city in the world that does not admit non-believers.
The Pioneer, 30 January 2001