Himal, December 2007
Modi’s comeuppance, coming up
The reaction in India to Tehelka’s Gujarat exposé is intriguing, even as it shows how Hindutva has been coddled. Equally intriguing is the Congress’s hesitation in grabbing the opportunity to take advantage of Narendra Modi’s troubles.
By Prashant Gupta
Of all the fundamentalist forces emerging in Southasia, the emergence of Hindutva ideology is the least acknowledged. More significant is the fact that this fascist ideology is now a specific part of both the political apparatus and the education system, and also receives ample funds from nostalgic NRI Hindus overseas. This confederation of patriarchal-minded men and women, formally engaged in communal propaganda, are organised in structures such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal and other affiliates under the umbrella of the Sangh Parivar.
Gujarat in particular has seen tremendous communalisation of the state constitutional machinery, including the police services and judiciary. As early as 1969, when Gujarat witnessed a major communal conflagration, the government-mandated Reddy Commission of Inquiry pointed out that RSS and Jan Sangh members had been seen during the riots with voter lists that were used to target Muslim properties. According to the Commission, 6742 properties were attacked, over 6000 of which were Muslim-owned.
It was not until the late 1980s, however, that the BJP began to become politically significant in the state, with increasing electoral successes resulting in the BJP forming the government, albeit in coalition. In 1995, the party was finally able to come to power independently. But from 1990 onwards, Gujarat sped along the path of Hindutva, and the government machinery became a vehicle for Hindu nationalism. In the Gujarat assembly elections following the 2002 carnage, the BJP’s biggest gains were in areas where rioting had taken place. The party won 52 of 65 seats in riot-affected areas. In central Gujarat, where the killings were concentrated, it won 45 seats, 30 more than in 1998.
The saffron tide in Gujarat was similar to a trend taking place at the Centre. From just two parliamentary seats in 1984, by 1996 the BJP had become the single largest party in Parliament, though those fortunes have flagged someone in recent times (see October-November 2007, “Befuddled, jingoistic party”). Alongside, the Congress party has been unable to provide an alternative discourse. In its fear of alienating the Hindu vote, the Congress has almost entirely failed to challenge the onslaught of militant Hindutva.
Media assistance
During the course of this rise, the Indian media has allowed the Hindu right to gain significant political currency. It has also underestimated the spread of Hindutva sentiment, marked by the language of historical inevitability, and the retributive rising of the Hindus. The media, both national and regional, has failed to highlight the shifting of the political and cultural discourse, as well as the growing identification of Hindutva with Hinduism in general.
The recent exposé by the newsmagazine Tehelka, highlighting the involvement of senior bureaucrats, politicians and leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad openly talking about abetting and facilitating atrocities during the anti-Muslim carnage of 2002, was a strong indictment of Narendra Modi, under whose chief ministership the carnage took place. Media pronouncements following the airing of the sting suggest the demise of Modi’s aspirations for the post of prime minister. But this has also come at a time when many voices are resounding with queries along the lines of, What is so new about Tehelka’s story? Some would say that the exposé only gave testimonial evidence, straight from the perpetrators’ mouths, to something that was already widely known. That such evidence is needed, and that it is being seen as a shock, points to an even more dismal situation.
Collectively, the media can be criticised for promulgating the rhetoric of ‘riots’ in order to downplay the role of Hindutva forces. Although substantive, the media coverage of the anti-Muslim carnage in Gujarat in 2002 masked the true nature of the event, by defining it as a mere aberration. It is important to underscore that, in most of the ‘riots’, the death toll of the minority community drastically overshadowed that of the Hindu community. In addition, the word riot tends to dislocate the meaning of the communal carnage by suggesting spontaneity and equal blame. Communal carnage is perpetrated neither by the majority nor the minority community, but always by politically motivated fundamentalists.
Many scholars have rightly highlighted the relationship between the mass media and the construction of the discourse of the ‘soft state’, as well as the need for a stronger Centre. The recent voluminous media response to the breaking-up of the Indo-US nuclear talks is a case in point. The editorials and reportage have been overzealous in their criticism of the left, and have collectively painted a picture of the ‘emasculation’ of the Congress party for being unable to “deal firmly” with its dissenting coalition partner. This is the critical space wherein the BJP has been able to extend its influence over the neo-liberal middle class in India, which thrives on masculine representations of a resurgent India. The media is responsible for failing to provide a resounding critique of subtler forms of Hindutva, and has instead concentrated on highlighting the spectacle, all the while sitting atop a pyramid of forgotten atrocities.
The role of Gujarati newspapers such as Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar towards communalising Gujarat cannot be underestimated. In 2002, these newspapers spared no effort to distort the news with an eye to communalising, sensationalising and giving credence to the retributive theory, based solely on fabrication. Recently, most leading Gujarati newspapers have questioned the motivation behind the Tehelka exposé, citing the upcoming state assembly elections. The pro-Hindutva Gujarati press is denouncing the timing of the sting, precisely because they see Narendra Modi as having strayed from Hindutva. The Gujarati media has even gone so far as to suggest that the sting was planned by Modi himself. According to this view, the sting, publicising the anti-Muslim measures taken by Modi and his underlings, would ensure that he wins the elections by polarising the Hindu vote on the basis of a hard Hindutva line.
The interests of the Gujarati media in ousting Modi are in no way consonant with the interests of the national press. The national media sees Modi’s electoral troubles as emanating from dissent within the BJP, as well as the distress in rural Gujarat, reeling under a power crisis and farmers’ debts and suicides. In this case, the national press is also confident of the Tehelka story’s ability to pull dissidents back into a defensive unity. Instead of contesting the inability of the Congress to mount a secular opposition to the BJP, the media has entertained a discourse centred on the idea of ‘timing’. And in this, it seems to have aligned itself with the Congress in fearing the ‘Hindu vote’, which is precisely the electoral category that needs to be demolished.
The development agenda
Contrary to the expectations of many, the dissidence within the BJP has become even more vociferous in its attempt to dislodge Modi. Within the BJP’s support base, the Backward Class Kolis, who comprise the state’s agricultural labour, along with the Patels, who comprise the landed peasantry, are moving away – though for reasons unconnected to Modi’s militant vision. The Congress is convinced that to brand Modi as a mass murderer will throw him into ‘victim mode’, and thus help his chances. As such, it is playing safe, and concentrating instead on the development agenda.
Indeed, on the development front alone there is enough ammunition for the Congress. As on the national level, development in Gujarat has largely catered to the industrial conglomerates and urban middle classes, which could prove decisive in the upcoming elections. Yet the media has thus far failed to highlight the skewed development agenda. Now, the lie of ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ seems to be heading towards an electoral judgement in mid-December. Although it has secured victories in civic elections in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, and won state elections in Punjab and Uttarkhand, the all-important UP polls have already signalled a downslide for the BJP. And the Congress, it seems, sees this as the perfect opportunity to seize power in Gujarat, without antagonising the Hindu vote.
It is interesting to note that Tehelka chose to air its story in collaboration with Aaj Tak, a channel of the India Today Group, known for its soft Hindutva stance. After the 2002 Gujarat polls, the weekly ran a cover page screaming Moditva and Beyond! and it is surprising that the group would collaborate with Tehelka to expose Modi. Such an alliance can be only partly explained by advertising revenues. As for Tehelka’s choice of partnership, this could have interesting implications for the alternative press, as a way to penetrate the mainstream media with an opposing discourse.
The exposé will certainly not help Modi, as is being widely predicted. Even if some Hindu votes are mobilised in the wake of the Tehelka coverage, just as many are bound to deflect, given that the Congress government is pitching a strong, inclusive development line. Gujarat’s tribal tract, consisting of Deogadh Baria, Godhra, Panchmahals and rural Vadodara, will not be a secure belt for the BJP, if the recent titanic rally at Deogadh Baria, led by Sonia Gandhi, is any indication. There is a very real opportunity for the Congress to reclaim the Hindu vote, especially that of the moderate Hindu. However, that cannot happen until the Congress engages in some self-reflexivity, and purges itself of its own soft Hindutva. The idea of Hindutva cannot be fought only on the electoral front, but rather needs a sustained effort on the part of political parties and civil society to reclaim the space of discursive Hinduism – a space that has been thoroughly hijacked by militant Hindutva.
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