Election Commission Must Derecognize BJP
by Shamsul Islam
11 April, 2007
Immediately after taking over as the president of the BJP, Rajnath Singh made two significant statements. Firstly, he reaffirmed his commitment to the Hindutva ideology. According to a report (The Statesman, January 21, 2006) while admitting his total commitment to the pet project of the RSS, the Hindutva, he said: "Hindutva is not only an icon of Indian culture and traditions, but also the source of economic resourcefulness, surviving strength and intellectual faculty." He described it as a panacea for all the troubles India was facing. He also called upon the party cares to emulate the ideals of second sarsanghchalak of the RSS, M. S. Golwalkar. Secondly, in an interview to a senior columnist, Manini Chatterjee he admitted: "I am an RSS swayamsevak. I have no hesitation in consulting RSS, but decisions are taken by the BJP. The RSS does not interfere in the BJP's working. It is a socio-cultural organization with lakhs of committed volunteers. We stand to gain from their advice and experience." He was under the sway of RSS, was once again underlined by him while talking to Aaj Tak, a TV news channel when he said: "Whenever I feel I have to take some big decision, since I come from that family [the RSS], I will seek their direction."
Let us first understand what Hindutva is which Rajnath is talking about. The concept of Hindutva was developed by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in his book Hindutva, published in 1923. According to him only Hindus constituted the Indian nationality. Savarkar argued that only Hindus had the claim over India as it were their past, present and future that most closely bound with the soil of 'Hindusthan' as 'Fatherland' and 'Holyland'. They constituted the foundation, the bedrock and the reserved forces of the Indian state. According to his definition, a Hindu "is he who looks upon the land that extends from Sindu to Sindu-from the Indus to the Seas-as the land of his forefathers-his Fatherland (Pitribhu), who inherits the blood of that race whose first discernible source could be traced to the Vedic Saptasindhus and which.has come to be known as the Hindu people, who has inherited and claims as his own the culture of that race as expressed chiefly in their common classical language Sanskrit and represented by a common history, a common literature, art and architecture, law and jurisprudence, rites and rituals, ceremonies and sacraments, fairs and festivals; and who above all, addresses this land, this Sindhusthan as his Holyland (Punyabhu), as the land of his prophets and seers, of his godmen and gurus, the land of piety and pilgrimage. These are the essentials of Hindutva-a common nation (Rashtra) a common race (Jati) and a common civilisation (Sanskriti)."
According to Savarkar's logic Hinduism, Hindutva and Indian nationality were inseparable and worked as natural corollary to each other. "The actual essentials of Hindutva are.also the ideal essentials of nationality. If we would, we could build on this foundation of Hindutva a future greater than what any other people on earth can dream of, greater even than our own past; provided we are able to utilise our opportunities." Thus Hindus belonged to a common nation because they hailed from the same Aryan race, belonged to a common civilisation and treated Hindusthan as their Fatherland and Holyland. Savarkar had no qualms in holding the opinion that Muslims and Christians remained out of this nationhood because they did not assimilate into Hindu cultural heritage or Hindu religion. Savarkar argued that they "can not be recognised as Hindus; as since their adoption of the new cult they had ceased to own Hindu civilisation (Sanskriti) as a whole. They belong, or feel that they belong to, a cultural unit altogether different from the Hindu one. Their heroes and their hero-worship, their fairs and their festivals, their ideals and their outlook on-life, have now ceased to be common with ours." And since they were not Hindus, they could not be treated as part of 'Hindusthan' led by the spirit of Hindutva.
Savarkar took care that Hindutva should not be confused with geographical terms like Indian or Bhartiya (also meaning 'Indian') or Hindi (term used by Arabs and Persians for 'Indian'). He made it clear that though "the root-meaning of the word Hindu, like the sister epithet, Hindi may mean only an Indian, yet as it is, we would be straining the usage of words too much-we fear, to the point of breaking-if we call a Mohammedan a Hindu because of his being a resident of India."
Thus Savarkar's Hindutva had no space for Muslims or Christians in the Hindu Nation. M. S. Golwalkar, who headed the RSS between 1940-1973, further developed this kind of Hindu Separatism in his highly controversial booklet, We Or Our Nationhood Defined (1939) with a foreword by a prominent Congress leader and member of the Central Legislature, M. S. Aney. Golwalkar held that "indisputably Hindusthan was the land of the Hindus and was the terra firma for the Hindu nation alone to flourish upon." And if this was so "what was to be the fate of all those who happened to live upon the land, though not belonging to the Hindu race, religion and culture?" his reply was "all those who fell outside the limits of that idea could have no place in the national life. They could be considered part of the nation only if they abandoned their differences, adopted the religion, culture and language of the nation and completely merge themselves in the national race. As long as they maintained their racial, religious and cultural differences, they could be only foreigners."
Total cleansing was the mantra prescribed by Golwalkar to deal with the problem of minorities in India. According to him, old nations solved their minorities' problem by not recognising any separate elements in their polity. Muslims and Christians, who were 'emigrants', must get themselves naturally assimilated in the principal mass of population, the national race. They must adopt culture and language of the national race and lose all consciousness of their separate existence. And if they do not do so, "they live merely as outsiders.deserving of no special protection, far less any privilege or rights. There are only two courses open to the foreign elements, either to merge themselves in the national race and adopt its culture, or to live at its mercy so long as the national race may allow them to do so and to quit the country at the sweet will of the national race. That is the only sound view on the minorities' problem. That is the only logical and correct solution. That alone keeps the national life healthy and
undisturbed. That alone keeps the nation safe from the danger of a cancer developing into its body politic of the creation of a state within the state. From this standpoint, sanctioned by the experience of shrewd old nations, the foreign races in Hindusthan must either adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and hold in reverence Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but those of the glorification of the Hindu race and culture, i.e., of the Hindu nation and must lose their separate existence to merge in the Hindu race, or may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu Nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment not even citizen's rights. There is, at least should be, no other course for them to adopt. We are an old nation; let us deal, as old nations ought to and do deal, with the foreign races, which have chosen to live in our country."
So, if Rajnath Singh is a follower of Hindutva, he surely intends to exclude minorities like Muslims and Christians from the orbit of Indian nation. The BJP president has also reaffirmed his status of being a cardholder of the RSS. Let's find out what it means to be a swayamsevaks. The RSS admits only those who take the following oath: "Before the all powerful God and my ancestors, I most solemnly take this oath, that I become a member of the RSS in order to achieve all round greatness of Bharatvarsha by fostering the growth of my sacred Hindu religion, Hindu society, and Hindu culture. I shall perform the work of the Sangh honestly, disinterestedly, with my heart and soul, and I shall adhere to this goal all my life. Bharat Mata Ki Jai." Moreover, swayamsevaks have to recite the following prayer everyday: "Affectionate Motherland, I eternally bow to you/O Land of Hindus, you have reared me in comfort/O Sacred Land, the Great Creator of Good, may this body of mine be dedicated to you/I again and again bow before You/O God lmighty, we the integral part of the Hindu Rashtra salute you in reverence/For Your cause have we girded up our loins/Give us Your Blessings for its accomplishment." Both these RSS rituals make it abundantly clear that every member iis committed to the creation of a theocratic Hindu state in India. If it's a reality that Rajnath Singh as the president of BJP believes in Hindutva and is committed to the politics of RSS, then, doubtlessly, he has grossly violated the mandatory undertaking that his party must have submitted to the Election Commission of India at the time of seeking recognition. According to Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 a political party can be recognized only when it submits the following undertaking that it "shall bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of India as by law established, and to the principles of socialism, secularism and democracy and would uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India". The Election Commission of India has also made it obligatory that the above provision must be included in the text of party constitution. It is high time that the Election Commission of India should take serious note of the anti-national utterances of the BJP president and initiate proceedings for the de-recognition of the BJP. It is unfortunate that none of the organs of the Indian Democratic-Secular State has so far bothered to challenge BJP and its president on this account.
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