Fishing For Votes In The Rivers of Blood ...

In the wake of the Gujarat genocide, many a mask has fallen one after theother. We are witnessing the 'naked glory' of those claiming to be secular,as ingrained in their 'glorious tradition' but new meanings are also beingadded to this word.

The litmus test of this in a way was the response of BJP, Vajapyee&Co., tothe most elementary demand for dismissal of the architect-in-chief of the Gujaratcarnage, Mr. Narendra Modi. While defending his fellow swayamsewak our 'poet-primeminister', dropped not only his mask but all pretense to even attempt to hide hiskhakhi-knickers and the trishul well placed in the pockets thereof.

Thundered the swayamsevak: "Wherever there are Muslims in the world there isstrife. Islam has come to mean forcing their opinion through terror andfear". Putting the blame of the Gujarat genocide on the victims themselves,he went on to assert, "Gujarat tragedy would not have occurred had the Godhra train massacre not taken place... Who sparked the fire?... How did it spread?". What was Mr. Narendra Modi's Newtonian formulation, again?

The RSS warrior role was complete by saying that what happened in Gujaratwas deplorable BUT that those who "lit the fire" were to be blamed. Ina nutshell, the venom, which the RSS-VHP-Bajrang Dal spread in society, wasneatly encapsulated and delivered by Mr. Vajpayee in his much-admired 'masterly' fashion.

While protecting the butcher of Gujarat, the BJP also called for electionsin Gujarat, a move, which Mr. Shanta Kumar dubbed as doing politics onthe corpses of the riot victims, a few days ago. Surely, Mr. Shanta Kumarwill have to pay in due course for not being able to keep some of his leftover humanism, despite being a swayamsevak, under wraps.

With this, the path is open for the BJP to chart the course for electoralsuccess by encashing the polarization brought in by the ghastly events of ableeding state. How come every time a riot occurs, the communal forcesbecome strong? Why was BJP showing electoral decline in the last manyelections it faced?

But then there was the pre-poll survey sponsored by Mr. Modi at the peak of the pogrom (denied, of coursebutdocumented proof exists)  which did show thechances of BJP winning the elections in the wake of the violence. While manyof us may simplistically believe that after seeing BJP hands bloodied inviolence, most people would shun the party like plague, the laboratoryresults (or survey predictions) are revealing gains for the party. Surely, BJP leadership is going by the proven formula -- riot-polarizationand thereby electoral success for communal forces.

Analysis of different riots during last 50 years has shown that while riotsmay invite disgust and repulsion amongst some people, a large section easilybuys the story that it is the communal forces, which have protected themfrom the aggression of the "enemy".

During Mumbai riots we witnessed the police-Shiv Sena complicity ravagingthe streets and unleashing violence; those in the spell of 'ManufacturedHatred' gleefully approving and following the saffron bandwagon; and ofcourse the lumpen taking advantage of the situation to fill their coffers orto control a piece of real estate.

I am told that many Mumbai residents wrote back to their families in the villagesapplauding the mercies of Lord Ram in providing Shiv Sena as a saviour fromthe 'organized conspiracy of the Islamic Fundamentalists'. Some,undiscriminating amongst us, might have been swayed, but Shrikrishna Commission's brilliant work confirmed thefindings of the public tribunal headed by Justice Daud and Justice Suresh that it was ShivSena which had organized the anti-Muslim pogrom.

The 'brilliance' of communal outfits lies precisely here. They weresuccessful in propagating that the murder of mathadi workers or burning ofthe Bane family by some miscreants was in fact a handiwork of the aggressiveMuslims. It is worth recalling that the Hindu Hriday Samrat (King of HinduHearts) Balasaheb Thackeray gave a call for violence after these two acts bywriting in his mouth piece Saamna: "Hindunni Ata Akramak Vhayal have"(Hindus should become aggressive now). Rest is too well known to berecounted.

A similar pattern seems to be under play in the wake of the Godhra tragedy.The coach is torched on 27th Feb. By the same evening, word is spread thatISI along with local complying Muslims has attacked the Hindus. Thesecularists as usual do not condemn the act so the Hindu souls are deeplypained. The next day, organized carnage stalks the streets of Gujarat andthe warriors of Sangh Parivar well equipped with swords, maps of Muslimhouse holds, business houses and holy places, has rivers of blood flowingthere. The survivors are forced into make-shift camps, unattended by thestate and humiliated by their plight of living in Hindu Rajya, the stateof Chote Sardar, Mr. Modi.

One knows that the aggressive communal forces need a pretext for theirsurvival. The eclipsing electoral fortunes were too obvious to the wilystrategists of Sangh Parivar, who were 'needing' a Godhra to happen fortheir own very existence. Bereft of such situations they see their owndecline too visible.

What in fact was needed was proper investigation of the tragedy, as to whoprovoked, why it happened, and its logical next step to punish the guilty.Surely the state is well equipped to do this elementary business? But ifthat is done, the whole 'benefits' of Godhra are lost! 

So, within a singleday even when all those who matter amongst the Muslim community -- yes, eventhe secularists and the Human rights activists -- are protesting theirheart's anguish out in the streets, or condemning this barbaric Godhra, Thelathis (the origional RSS weapon), the trishuls (the symbol of mostaggressive RSS wing VHP and Bajarang Dal, currently in use) and moreinnovative gas cylinders (any resemblance with Hitlers gas chambers is purelyincidental) come in to action.

The hurt of Hindus is coordinated through mobile phones and the footsoldiers brave it out sharing the loot of businessestablishments owned by the 'enemies' of Hindu Rashtra, the Muslims.

Many an inquiry commission report has shown that many a time, preceding the riots, fear-pyschosis is raisedto such a
high pitch by the militant Hinduttva outfits that the minorities, feeling cornered, with their backs againstthe walls and out-numbered, have been forced into 'throwing the first stone' or 'starting the fire' (WhoCastes The First Stone?, Teesta Setalvad, Communalism Combat, March 1998).

 These inquiry commissions (Jagmohan; Ahmadabad 1969, Madan; Bhiwandi 1970,Vithayathil;Tellicherry 1971, Venugopal; Kanyakumari 1982), the reports ofBhagalpur , Jamshedpur and lastly Mumbai riots have demonstrated beyond anyshadow of doubt that the propaganda -- 'Muslims have started the riot' --is the triggering point for unleashing the 'much needed' riots to strengthenthe base for communal politics.

When Mr. Vajpayee says that Muslims stared the fire, he is following themould and mindset, which has built the BJP. Be it the ghastly riots or theRam Temple movement, the role of Majoritarain communal force is absolutelyclear, and made clearer after the cool headed study of the riot reports. Butby the time reports are dug up from the archives and cited, the 'job' isalready done, and the foundation for a new electoral success already laiddown.

Now, one hopes the election Commission will wake up and see the dangers ofholding elections in a state, which has suffered such an intense trauma, astate where the whole minority community today is petrified and a statewhere lakhs are staying in the refugee camps.

What one wonders about is the many faces of a man called Atal BihariVajpayee (surely his heart-rending query in Gujarat about which face to show thethe world was genuine -- after all he's got so many, he has to wonder). At one time hewrote, (Frontline August,1997) "We dont fish for votes in the rivers of blood".

This was probably before his many masks were ripped off by hispolitics for Hindu Rashtra. Now while eagerly preparing his boats andfishing nets to catch the electoral fish in Gujarat he must be busy composing another poem and another suitable formulation, which can act asa brand new mask for the new occasion.

(The author, teaches at IIT and works for EKTA, Committee forCommunal Amity, Mumbai)