Beating Vajpayee To  Pulp

THIS is the hardline Hindutva heartland. The liberal, reasonable and relatively responsible Vajpayee campaign—having already been undermined by the BJP manifesto—is beaten to pulp here. By the BJP's Hindutva warriors. These are the party candidates who have little time for even the facade of inclusiveness. And the shrillness of their agenda is, at times, matched only by the intrinsic obscurantism that provides the impetus to their politics. The interference of mainstream politics with their world finds only a faint echo in their attitudes. Almost as an afterthought, if at all. For the record, so to speak, as if to provide those who have selected them as BJP candidates a face-saving device in Delhi.

If Ayodhya was the launchpad for the BJP's Hindutva campaign over the past decade, one of the main control towers was situated in the bustling town of Gorakhpur in northeast Uttar Pradesh. Because this is the Lok Sabha seat represented by the BJP's sitting MP Mahant Avaidyanath, head of the multi-crore Gorakhnath Temple Trust with its huge following, for a total of four terms (apart from the five terms he has served as an MLA). Before the birth of the BJP, he has been a Hindu Mahasabha candidate.

But for all that, it was as a leading light of the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation that the Mahant, revered locally, became a nationally-known figure for his uncompromising stand on all issues linked to the "Hindu samaj". In his words, "from 1980 till I contested the parliamentary elections again in 1989 because the Hindutva agitation was at a crucial stage and the BJP asked me to return to the fray, I was working with all my might for the Hindutvawaadi issues that are of concern to all of us. The impetus was a large-scale conversion of lower caste Hindus to Islam in south India in 1980 and I was worried that this trend may spread to the north."

This time around, recovering from a bypass surgery, the Mahant has decided to field his 26-year-old shishya and heir-apparent Yogi Aditya Nath for the forthcoming polls in his place as the BJP candidate. And master and pupil, not surprisingly, speak an identical language. "All this talk of dilution of the BJP's agenda is nonsense; this is what has brought the BJP from two seats to over 190 (with allies), though they may have some compulsions. Vajpayee may have his own approach and expresses views which are sometimes like those of old Congressmen... some differences we (in the Sangh parivar) have with him are known," says Avaidyanath. As for the projection of Vajpayee's "liberalism", the faithful pupil and BJP candidate for Gorakhpur replies: "It is this liberalism and generosity that is responsible for what is happening in Kashmir, Assam and the Northeast."

 According to Aditya Nath—who describes himself "only as my master's voice"—"though there are some local issues that we have raised during the campaign, Hindu-tva is the only real issue. In fact, the people do not want to hear too much about what I will do for the development of the area because they know that I will do my best with my guruji's blessings."

Avaidyanath and his pupil are clear about the issues that need to be tackled by a prospective BJP government: "The appeasement of Muslims must stop. Today's casteist leaders are playing the same role as that played by Muslim leaders in subjugating the Hindu samaj which led to us being under foreign rule for over a 1,000 years. Some of the ills of Hindu society such as child marriage are a direct result of the Muslim invaders and these must be rectified. Under Muslim rule, Hindu parents had to marry their daughters off before she became a woman, otherwise any girl who caught the fancy of a Muslim would be carried away and put into his harem. In fact, there is a deep-rooted conspiracy to make the Hindus a minority in their own land by increasing the Muslim population. That is why they are allowed four marriages and even some poor Hindus who want to take a second wife are being forced to convert to Islam or face arrest. That is why we want a common civil code."

 Aditya Nath is clear that the repeal of Article 370 that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir needs to be tackled on a priority basis to protect the unity of India. His guru adds: "If it weren't for this, the refugee problem after Partition would have been solved by settling all migrants in Kashmir." Both are also agreed on the need for a complete ban on cow slaughter: "There are other animals for the Muslims to eat."

THE status of Muslims is another aspect which troubles master and pupil alike. "Yes, I know of the three ways of handling Muslims—tiraskar (rejection), puraskar (appeasement), and parishkar (cleansing). The Congress and other so-called secular parties have followed a policy of puraskar. I believe that a blend of tiraskar and parishkar would be more appropriate," says Avaidyanath. His shishya agrees.

"The Ram temple will be built as soon as the BJP government takes power. The government will clear the path and the VHP will begin construction under the guidance of the religious heads. And a mosque can only be built outside the panchkosi parikrama (traditional five-mile-radius) of the Ram janmabhoomi. As for Kashi and Mathura, they are on the agenda too," says Avaidyanath. Aditya Nath too promises the electorate to work for the "liberation" of these two shrines. "The BJP may say today that these two are not on the agenda, but that is what they said about Ayodhya when the movement began. Whatever Vajpayee may say, politicians are not always accurate," adds the Mahant.

Promising to launch an agitation against "even the BJP" if at least a Ram temple is not built, Avaidyanath strikes a politically slightly more realistic note at the fag-end of the conversation: "Kashi and Mathura may not be possible till the BJP gets a   simple majority on its own, but the Ram temple we will insist on." As for the bill on reservation for women in Parliament the BJP manifesto highlights, Aditya Nath says the party must do a serious rethink on the issue for, "if all the mothers leave their homes, who will bring up the children?"

 The bewilderment is writ large on the face of Vinay Katiyar, the BJP candidate from the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat (under which Ayodhya falls) and former Bajrang Dal chief, one of the key players in the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. In 1991, he had won the seat riding on the Ram wave and in 1996, scrambled home with a margin of 20,000-odd votes, still going hammer and tongs on hardline Hindutva. But caste calculations, his own performance as MP and other such "peripheral issues" now seem to have an equal impact on the electorate, even though there is "no dilution" of his stand on any issue.

"I want to emphasise that Hindutva and the distinct identity of the BJP will be the definitive factor this time around as well. The issue remains that of constructing a grand Ram temple at Ayodhya and ushering in Ram rajya by voting BJP. Also, stability because the other parties are not capable of providing it and a stable government is the only way we can progress," he says. As for the soft-peddling of contentious issues by the Vajpayee campaign, Katiyar is dismissive: "Atalji has his own way of speaking. But let me tell you that not only will a Ram temple be built at Ayodhya—it is a matter of Hindu identity and pride and that of the nation—but even the Kashi and Mathura issues will be solved." He doesn't specify how, though it could be "through talks".

Furious with Sonia Gandhi for having raked up the Babri Masjid demolition issue and at Mulayam Singh Yadav for "pandering to the Muslims", he spews venom against "people like Sonia and Mulayam who run after the Muslim vote. There is no place in India for Muslims who have a Babri mentality. Of course, those who want to follow the path of Ras Khan are welcome. Mussalman ke liye puraskar kee neeti samapt honi chahiye (Muslim appeasement must end)." Katiyar's way of "joining Ali with Bajrangbali."

 According to him, Ram Manohar Lohia also considered "Babar to be a videshi (foreigner). So why do his followers object if we eradicate the structures he has left behind after demolishing temples? Our agenda is the same as always and our strength (shakti) is growing. Shakti ke aage sab jhukte hain. Muslim samaj bhi (Everyone, including Muslims, bows before might). This reality accepted, the basic problems of the country will be solved in tune with our ideology." He adds as a parting shot: "I want that Hindus should help in constructing a masjid once the Ram temple is built. Outside the panchkosi parikrama."

 Katiyar is adamant that the recent move by the Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh to withdraw cases against kar sevaks in the temple movement, despite the legal difficulties it has run into, is "only the beginning. All these cases will be withdrawn and we will hold public felicitation ceremonies for all kar sevaks. Those apologising for failing to protect the Babri structure should actually be apologising for ordering the police to open fire and kill scores of Ram bhakt kar sevaks." For him, politics is about "making the Hindu samaj united and strong and by doing so, ending casteism within it."

 Among the other issues that "worry" Katiyar are the "rampant conversions from Hinduism" which will be stopped if the BJP comes to power. "Religious conversion is not a matter of individual choice because the very identity of our nation will change if this is allowed to go on," he adds. But the priorities of the BJP candidate from Faizabad are perhaps best summed up by those who address election meetings on his behalf now that Advani has come and gone: VHP chief Ashok Singhal and "hopefully" Sadhvi Ritambhara. As for Vajpayee, "he is busy in other meetings so he may not be able to make it."

FOR the parliamentary seat of Gonda, former TADA detainee, local don and the man credited with bringing in the maximum number of kar sevaks to Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, Brij Bhushan Singh Saran is in the fray once again. His wife, Ketaki Devi, won the seat in 1996 when he was in jail. "My opponents will say that I run a mafia, but I am only a fighter for Hindutva and against rich landlords," is his defence. Representing a constituency adjoining Ayodhya, he brushes aside any need for "playing down any issue which gives us our distinct identity. Maybe it is needed elsewhere where we have allies, but here there is just the BJP and our opponents," he adds.

Saran insists that a Ram temple at Ayodhya is the demand from all sections of people: "Ram to Dalit se bhi juda hai or Muslim bhi iske khilaf nahin hain. (Neither Dalits nor Muslims are against Ram)." And crushes a Muslim voter in a bear hug as he campaigns in the main bazar, asking: "Kyon? Ram mandir se koi itraaz hai?" The man shakes his head vigorously and the chant is taken up by Saran's supporters: "Jai Shri Ram".

Earlier, over tea and mithai made from "fresh milk of my Jersey cows the likes of which cannot be found in UP", Saran had asserted: "The BJP is the same. Muslim jhuk raha hai. Hamari taraf." Not only the Ram temple but even the Vishnu and Krishna temples at Kashi and Mathura have to be built. Teeno Hindu samaj se juda hua hai. All of these issues will be resolved once the BJP comes to power." The missionaries on a "conversion spree have to be stopped," he declares. A ban on cow slaughter is one of the main talking points of his campaign. Of course, there are local issues. But none bigger than the Ram temple next door at Ayodhya. "I am more concerned about winning the Ayodhya seat for the BJP than my own seat," he declares.

These are the BJP candidates who have won over half-a-dozen Lok Sabha elections between them (including Avaidyanath). Whatever that may say about the preference of the Indian voter, the question is how much does the feedback from this sort of candidate influence those who plan the party's policies and tactics at the centre. Of course, the contentious issues that the BJP espouses—Ayodhya, a uniform civil code and repealing Article 370—had to be stated clearly in the manifesto, as BJP president L.K.

Advani has maintained through the campaign. But while the Sonia effect may have upset the calculations of the BJP thinktank's projection of a precariously balanced duality, and they seem to be veering towards projecting the more uncompromising and "distinct" face of the party, there does seem to be a miscalculation by the party leadership.

That of underestimating the effect on the electorate, especially in a large part of the country where the core Hindutva support is missing, of this upping the ante. Because the choice offered then would seem to be between the aggressive Hindutva brigade and the comparatively nonideological orientation, despite the potentially fatal counter-pressure from within the party, a prospective BJP government under Vajpayee.

Shorn of the "Ram wave" witnessed in the 1989 and 1991 campaigns on the edifice of which was built a larger, sophisticated Hindutva thesis by the BJP under Advani—"in response to the Shah Bano case" claimed the BJP president in a recent interview—the scaly underbelly of Hindutva is exposed. And it isn't a pretty sight.