Editorial, Times of India, 16 September 2008
For God's Sake
The fire is spreading. First it was Orissa, then Madhya Pradesh. Now, Karnataka has emerged as the new battleground for the sangh parivar. Twelve Christian prayer halls in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Chikmagalur districts of Karnataka were targeted by mobs on Sunday.
These attacks could not have come at a worse time. The serial bomb blasts, first in Jaipur, then in Bangalore and Ahmedabad and now in Delhi, have created a climate of uncertainty and fear. We need to set aside our political differences and stand together to fight forces that threaten to weaken the secular fabric of this country.
A new arena of communal violence is the last thing this country needs now. State governments should realise the gravity of the situation and act accordingly.
The Orissa government was slow in reacting to the sangh parivar-led mobs that indulged in murder and arson after the murder of one of its senior leaders in the state. The minuscule Christian community in the tribal pockets of the state was blamed by the sangh parivar for the murder despite Maoists claiming responsibility for the killing.
Victims of the violence continue to live in a state of fear. As in Orissa, the sangh parivar has blamed religious conversion as the provocation for targeting the prayer halls. Religious conversion is legal in India. At the same time, legal measures are available to prevent forced conversion, or for that matter, forced reconversions. No religious group or political body can subvert the rights guaranteed under the Indian Constitution or the legal system and force its writ on the people.
It is time that the BJP reined in its affiliate outfits. Or, is it that these groups have now gathered a momentum of their own? The likes of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal operate outside parliamentary democracy, unlike the BJP that aspires to form the government at the Centre. The VHP and the Bajrang Dal have no faith in the liberal framework of the Indian Constitution. Does the BJP subscribe to the VHP-Bajrang Dal idea of India? Leaders like L K Advani, the BJP’s PM-in-waiting, ought to be worried about the actions of the party’s affiliate groups.
Communal violence is primarily a law and order problem. A strong response from the state government should bring the situation under control in Karnataka. Chauvinists could be under the impression that a BJP government in office is an opportunity to break the law. The state government should not allow such perceptions to linger and crack down immediately on troublemakers. The country can't afford any delay on that.
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