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Journalism of Courage
Until the other day it was easy to understand the Bharatiya Janata Party. It projected itself through the discourse of Hindutva and all that the word connoted. One did not like it. But one knew where the party stood and what it represented. L K Advani and Atal Behari Vajpayee, the party8217;s top leaders, staged a hawk-and-dove drama. Thus they were able to create confusion at times. Yet it was evident that they were the two sides of the same coin and articulated Hindu nationalism, each in his own style.
Ever since the party hijacked the UP government through the 93 defectors-turned-ministers, it has become difficult to comprehend it. Its move was explained away by the statement that quot;since no party is maintaining any standard or principle, why should the BJP?quot; After it had entered into agreements of a sort with 12-odd parties, it argued that alliances have become necessary in the states where the BJP does not have its own strength. This, no doubt, negates Advani8217;s earlier statements that the party would go it alone. But this also indicates that the BJP is ready to dilute its stand if it can rope in other parties for the purpose of coming to power.
RSS ideologue K N Govindacharya provides a tentative answer when he says that the new policy is that of quot;practical idealismquot;. There is a contradiction here because when idealism becomes practical it ceases to be idealism. What Govindacharya probably wants to convey is that the BJP has been guided by pragmatism when reaching agreements with different parties. In other words, alliances which can win elections are important, not the BJP8217;s own programme. By using the word quot;practicalquot;, he has limited the agreement to a specific timeframe 8212; that is, as long as the present climate of shifting loyalties prevails in the country.
This tactical change is understandable when the obsession to capture power is predominant. But the party seems to take its traditional support for granted. Fundamentalist Hindus, its natural supporters, have a certain image about the party because it makes no bones about its chauvinism, if not its fundamentalism. The party has agitated for the adoption of a Uniform Civil Code and the deletion of the constitutional amendment which gives special status to J amp; K. But the BJP8217;s most important plank is the concept of Hindu rashtriya, which feeds the illusion of glory that the Islamic and Christian countries in the world enjoy. Were the BJP to abandon such stances it stands to alienate the support it gathered by pursuing them.
It8217;s also true that the parties that have aligned themselves with the BJP, have also changed their stand. Some even defend the BJP8217;s viewpoint. They see no harm in adopting a uniform civil code UCC on the plea that it is one of the Directive Principles in the Constitution. But how does this change help the BJP when it is itself inclined to search for a consensus on this and other points? There is the additional point that the UCC has come to mean an attack on Muslim Personal Law. Since its passage may bring about a serious deterioration in Hindu-Muslim relations, most of the BJP8217;s allies will not have the stomach to adopt the code when push comes to shove.
They will also have to reckon with the RSS, which will seek to influence the party from the outside. This is incompatible with democratic norms since its power is not subject to electoral verdicts. RSS Chief Rajendra Singh has already announced his organisation8217;s quot;now or never supportquot; for the BJP at a rally of 30,000 swayamsewaks recently. How this will affect the party8217;s allies is yet to be seen.
Maybe the BJP8217;s stance and that of its electoral partners is reserved just for the run-up to the polls. After the results, their true colours will be revealed. There is no reason to believe that an ally of the BJP will stick to the party if it wins a sizable number of seats. It can join a new front or return to the earlier arrangement. However, one positive fall-out of these alliances could be the resolution of issues which are tearing the nation apart. The proposal made by Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray to build a national monument at the site where the BJP wants to raise a Ram mandir is worth implementing. Coming from a staunch Hindu as the proposal does, it should find support from the BJP. It is heartening to find Vajpayee endorsing it. But his leeway in the party, as is well-known, is limited.
The overlapping of the aspirations of various political parties, as the alliances entered into by the BJP, Congress and the United Front indicate, should give the nation an opportunity to redeem its ethos. A society with a variety of religions, regions, castes and languages, has necessarily to stay pluralistic. Jawaharlal Nehru8217;s distinctive contribution to the country was to link the discourse of democracy with that of secularism so that the two are not only seen as inseparable but also mutually reinforcing.
By introducing communalism into the polity and mixing religion with politics, the BJP has in effect redefined democracy as quot;majorityismquot; and secularism as antithetical to minority rights. In the process, the party has changed the tone and tenor of political debate. The pity is that secular forces, which should have been on one side to fight unitedly against communalism, are at each other8217;s throat, trying to divide the non-BJP vote.If democracy is ever endangered the fault will be theirs, not that of the BJP.
