The Asian Age
February 18, 2009
RAM SENE NOT FRINGE, IT’S COLOURED SAFFRON
by Inder Malhotra
WHAT began at a Mangalore pub last month and manifested itself menacingly on Valentine’s Day in a number of states — from Karnataka to Haryana, from Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra — cannot be dismissed as a mere aberration by a small lunatic fringe. It is a dangerous trend which, if unchecked immediately, could talibanise a religion that has been most tolerant for millennia and a country whose legitimate pride lies in its secular traditions and respect for people’s Fundamental Rights.
In the first place, the number of goons and thugs who go on a rampage at will is not as small as it is made out to be. Secondly, the perpetrators of unacceptable barbarity get away easily. Either they are not arrested or, if taken into custody, are let off on bail. No wonder more and more goons are joining their ranks in a milieu in which violence on any pretext is routine. Thirdly, and most gravely, the likes of Pramod Muthalik, who are self-appointed custodians of Hindu culture as well as morals and morality, have the tacit support of the votaries of Hindutva who dominate the principal Opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). There can be no other explanation for the fact that L.K. Advani, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, hasn’t uttered a word of condemnation so far about Valentine’s Day incidents.
In fact, after the Mangalore outrage, BJP leaders did condemn it and declared emphatically that it was the handiwork of "anti-social elements" with whom their party had nothing whatsoever to do. This pretence could not hold water. The antecedents of Mr Muthalik and his associates showed how close their links were with the saffron party before personal differences drove them to organise a new outfit called Sri Ram Sene. In any case, whatever the names of various senas, all of them are members of the extended Sangh Parivar, presided over by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). Bajrang Dal members, who were hyperactive on Valentine’s Day, have been the Hindtuva camp’s storm-troopers since before Mr Advani’s rath yatra and the demolition of the Babri Masjid. In the circumstances, those who say that parcels of pink knickers should have been sent not to Mr Muthalik but to Mr Advani, Rajnath Singh and the chief minister of Karnataka, B.S. Yeddyurappa, have a point.
It would, of course, be wrong to condemn the BJP governments alone though it is hair-raising that the "saviours" of Hinduism should have attacked a brother and sister duo in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, where the saffron party has been returned to power in the recent Assembly elections. In the wake of Mangalore incidents, the newly-appointed Congress chief minister of Rajasthan spoke of "pub culture" in a language indistinguishable from that of the Karnataka chief minister, who pontificated that it was wrong for people to take the law into their hands, but he wouldn’t allow the "pub culture" to grow. The Rajasthan chief minister backtracked only after top Congress leaders frowned on him. On Valentine’s Day, in Maharashtra, ruled by a Congress-led coalition, vandalism by the Hindutva goons was as widespread as in Madhya Pradesh.
And to Congress-ruled Haryana goes the dubious and shameful distinction that one of its assistant sub-inspectors of police, instead of protecting victims of violence, dragged a girl by her hair and treated her in a beastly manner. His suspension means nothing. He’ll be back in his job soon, if past practice is any guide. The Karnataka government’s action in the case of the teenaged girl who committed suicide because she was humiliated and brutalised by the Hindutva hoodlums is nothing short of monstrous. The state police arrested the Muslim boy she was accompanying in a bus but not her assailants. The district superintendent of police’s explanation was that if he had arrested the "real culprits", there would have been a communal riot!
Let there be no mistake that the looming peril is great and the stakes in defeating it are high. The message of the "custodians" of Hindu religion and culture amounts to a wail that Hinduism would be destroyed if some girls drink beer at a pub or if a boy and girl walk hand-in-hand or if a young man presents roses or chocolates to his wife or girlfriend on February 14. What is the remedy prescribed by these paranoid backwoodsmen? To "semitise" the Hindu religion, in the words of historian Romila Thapar, by imposing a strict and uniform code on every Hindu, just as the Wahabbis did in Saudi Arabia in the past and the Taliban are doing in Afghanistan and Pakistan now.
Not only does the Hindu religion have no book and no Pope, but it also doesn’t impose any compulsion on its followers. It is not at all compulsory to go to a temple or to pray. Hundreds of millions worship at temples regularly, and an equal number don’t. Moreover, the notion of a monolithic Hindu culture is ridiculous in such a vast and hugely diverse country. Different patterns prevail in different regions. To give only one example, in Tamil Nadu, for a Hindu to marry his sister’s daughter is not just permitted but is considered the right thing to do. In north India this would be reprehensible incest.
The Indian state and civil society must learn from what has happened in Pakistan. President Asif Ali Zardari has candidly admitted that the Taliban could "take over" the country. Earlier, in an article in Newsline titled "The Saudi-isation of Pakistan", the highly respected Pakistani academic Pervez Hoodbhoy had warned: "It is a matter of time before the fighting (in the wild areas…) shifts to Peshawar and Islamabad (which has already been a witness to the Lal Masjid episode) and engulfs Lahore and Karachi as well". He also explained why. Instead of resisting the religious extremism, "the (Pakistani) state used religion as an instrument of policy". A stage has now been reached where "every incumbent government (is) fearful of taking on powerful religious forces". Let this country not say later that it wasn’t forewarned.
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