India is no stranger to communal strife. Ever since the British decided to follow the policy of divide and rule on the basis of religion, the country has been a witness to communal violence, even leading to its partition 75 years ago. Pakistan became a separate country on the basis of religion and, naturally, became an Islamic republic. But despite all the violence that preceded and accompanied Partition, India opted for a liberal, democratic and secular Constitution. And despite a large number of Muslims preferring to go to Pakistan (where they are still referred to as Muhajirs, a derogatory term), a larger number decided to stay on in India, hoping they would be safer and better off here. Yet the tension between the two communities continues to simmer and results in violence from time to time. But is what we are witnessing today part of the same pattern or is it different? In my view, it is vastly different. And it is so because of the role played by the government at the Center and in the states ruled by the BJP. It is vastly different because the pursuit of political power has never been as devoid of values as today.
If the country today is drowning in an ocean of hate and being pushed deeper into it by these governments, it is not for the love of Hinduism, it is merely to obtain and retain power. The Sangh/ Sant Parivar is enjoying the situation like never before as they feel that their dream of a Hindu Rashtra is about to be realised. It has, therefore, weaponised religion to achieve its political goals. This is how the present rash of communal violence in the country is different from the earlier ones. Governments in the past may have failed to control communal riots, but today they are complicit in promoting them. What else can explain the brazen manner in which mobs of a certain community are allowed to chant the most objectionable slogans and hurl the filthiest abuses, especially while passing in front of the places of worship of the other communities, and the procession is still described as peaceful by complicit police? What else can explain the manner in which the provisions of the Constitution are being diluted and its spirit violated with impunity? The police and the bureaucracy are ever willing and ready to play the role of accomplices and the judiciary is happy being a bystander. The institutions that are supposed to protect our democracy are themselves in need of protection as the people are left without recourse. Some take to violence in these circumstances. Others suffer in silence.
Years ago, we talked of the Gujarat model of governance. Everyone thought it was a model of development that would be replicated nationwide once a certain individual assumed the top executive post in the country. It now transpires that the Gujarat model of governance is not really a model for development and people’s welfare; it is only a model of obtaining and retaining power by questionable means. It is a model of hate.
And when hatred comes, can violence be far behind? This is what is happening in our country today. The state is sponsoring hate and enjoying the violence that follows because it begets further hate and violence, divides society down the middle and further secures the vote bank of the ruling party. What people are failing to realize is that this commitment to Hindutva has nothing to do with the Hindu religion; it is the political use of religion to achieve short-term political goals and keep the powers-that-be in power. The ‘Godi media’ is a full partner of the government in this enterprise. Communal divide has become the order of the day. Is this the India our forebears had imagined?
My mind goes back to the pre-Partition days. India was in the throes of unprecedented communal violence, a civil war that ultimately led to the partition of the country and a massive transfer of population from one newly independent country to another. India faced an economic and social crisis of gargantuan proportions. World War II, the communal riots and Partition had left it devastated and in ruins. Yet the leadership of the time stood its ground, gave the country a liberal, progressive and secular Constitution, which stood the test of time until very recently. Now, those who swore by the Constitution while taking office are precisely the people who are out to destroy it. It is not merely a new Parliament building that is being constructed in place of the old; it is a new Constitution that is being thrust upon us by misinterpreting, misreading, twisting and turning the old.
India is facing an unprecedented economic challenge. The growth rate is tepid. The scars of the pandemic are still visible. The global situation is alarming. Unemployment has touched painfully high levels. Price rise is making even the lowly lemon out of reach of the ordinary people. The future is grim. People, therefore, need a diversion. In ancient Rome, the gladiators in the Colosseum provided it, where they killed each other. Today, it is being provided through violence in the streets. Unemployed youth get a kick when they join a mob that breaks the law. Have you ever wondered who is churning out those pro-Hindutva and anti-minority hate messages on social media? Who is spreading all those lies that the gullible believe easily? Obviously, there is a whole factory, or perhaps many of them constantly at work to prepare and send out these messages. Who is employing these people? Who is paying for this? What you are receiving on your smartphones is far from innocent. It is a sinister attempt to change the way India thinks, to destroy our syncretic culture for good.
The BJP’s love for Hindutva is simply the political use of religion to achieve short-term goals
The question before us is stark. It is no more about who will win the next election. It is about India—will it survive in the shape and form we have known throughout or will it perish for good?
The author is National Vice-President, Trinamool Congress, and former minister of finance and external affairs
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