Opinion
Attacking Northerners,
Breaking Babri Mosque Both Signal Fascism
by Amulya Ganguli
In his book,
"The Anatomy of Fascism", Robert O. Paxton referred to the
fascistic tactic of "mobilizing passions" to garner support. The
Hindutva brigade in India has been assiduously using this prescription
to advance its divisive cause. Muslims have been the primary target, but
Christians and even Hindus haven't been spared.
The targeting of north Indians, mainly migrants from Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh, in Mumbai by a small outfit headed by Raj Thackeray is only the
latest example of such sectarian violence. But whether it is the
demolition of the Babri mosque in 1992 or the attacks on Christians in
Orissa, and earlier in Gujarat, it is always the saffron brotherhood
that carries out these outrages directed against the minorities.
Its cynical objective is patent enough. The destruction of the Babri
Masjid was carried out in the presence of L.K. Advani and other senior
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in the hope of winning political
support by demonizing Muslims. This hope was fulfilled, as was evident
from the BJP's rapid ascent from the margins of politics to its centre
stage.
Similarly, Raj Thackeray is expecting to whip up parochial sentiments in
his favor among the Maharashtrians by blaming north Indians on two
counts - depriving the locals of jobs and housing and not identifying
themselves fully with the state.
The second accusation is routinely leveled by the saffron camp against
Muslims at the national level, charging them with not being patriotic
enough.
It is a familiar trick of the ultra-nationalists, dating back to Nazi
Germany's Jew-baiting before World War II. But it apparently never fails
to work, judging from the persistence with which parties like the BJP
and the Shiv Sena use it - the BJP mainly against Muslims and the Sena
against both Muslims and non-Maharashtrians even if they are Hindus.
In Maharashtra, the ball of sub-nationalism was first set rolling by Raj
Thackeray's better known uncle, Bal Thackeray, when he formed the Shiv
Sena in the mid-1960s to champion the cause of the sons of the soil. His
targets then were south Indians with their ubiquitous idli-dosa shops
famous for their fast food items, and their presence in the middle and
lower rungs of commercial establishments.
Since nothing is simple in Indian politics, there is a story behind Bal
Thackeray's rise, for he was initially propped up by the Congress to
counter the leftist trade unions in Mumbai. Then, he cut his moorings
and turned on his former benefactor. The similarity of this tale in
Maharashtra with the encouragement given to the Sikh militant, Jarnail
Singh Bhindranwale, by the Congress in Punjab in the 1980s is obvious.
Bhindranwale too became a dangerous loose cannon.
One reason why the insular, chauvinistic organizations floated by Bal
Thackeray and now by his nephew have flourished is the reluctance of the
ostensibly broad-minded, secular parties like the Congress and the
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to act against them for fear of
offending the locals.
Just as the Congress has bowed to the dictates of Muslim bigots by
virtually placing controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen under
house arrest and refusing to allow her to receive the Simone de Beauvoir
prize in India from the visiting French president, similarly it has
evaded taking any stern action against the Sena despite its indictment
by the Srikrishna Commission, which investigated the post-Babri masjid
demolition Mumbai riots.
In the present instance, the Congress may have allowed the sporadic
violence to simmer in the hope that, first, it will set uncle and nephew
against one another. And, second, the sectarian outbreak will embarrass
the BJP by focusing renewed attention to the nature of its divisive
politics. Besides, as an essentially north Indian party, the BJP will be
deeply unhappy about the activities of its saffron ally in Maharashtra,
thereby benefiting the Congress.
As it is, rifts between the BJP and the Shiv Sena have grown ever since
the latter supported Pratibha Patil, a Maharashtrian, for the
president's post against the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance's
candidate, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who is from Rajasthan.
Then, Bal Thackeray said that NCP leader Sharad Pawar would make a fine
prime minister when Advani is being projected by the BJP as its prime
ministerial candidate. In the case of both Patil and Pawar, the fact
that they are Maharashtrians have obviously influenced Bal Thackeray's
choice, underlining yet again the provincial nature of his politics.
It is hardly surprising, therefore, that his nephew will play the same
game, especially since he was a member of his uncle's party until not
long ago and only broke away when Bal Thackeray chose his son, Uddhav,
as the next generation leader of the Sena in preference to Raj
Thackeray.
Ever since the decline of the Congress, regionalism has been the bane of
Indian politics, with the growth of state-based parties with their
narrow outlook. It isn't Maharashtra alone that has seen sectarian
violence. Biharis have also been targeted in Assam and Tamils in
Karnataka.
One reason why people from the so-called Hindi belt are singled out is
that the economic decline of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh makes many of them
migrate to other states in search of jobs.
The saffron lobby's contribution to this phenomenon of targeting the
"outsiders" has been the legitimization of violence as a political
tactic, as the tacit endorsement of the Gujarat riots by the
administration and sections of the Hindu middle class showed.
(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. He can be reached at aganguli@mail.com)
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