Opinion Before he undermines his office, Himanta Biswa Sarma should read this Premchand short story
His politics since he joined the BJP, and especially since he became CM, are marked by anti-minority statements
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said an "extensive" SIR will take place in Assam after the Assembly elections (ANI Photo) In retrospect, and certainly in the context of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s most recent statements, ‘Panch Parmeshwar’ (‘The Holy Panchayat’) seems to fall somewhere between a parable and a fairytale. The short story by Premchand was (and perhaps still is) a part of middle school Hindi textbooks. Best friends Jumman Shaikh and Algu Chaudhary fall out when the latter, as a member of the panchayat, rules against his friend in a property dispute with an elderly aunt. When the tables are turned, and he is the panch, Jumman decides to rule against Algu in retribution. When he has to make a decision, though, he cannot carry out his revenge, realising that the office is a sacred trust, that he cannot but live up to it.
The story conveys a simple yet powerful message for teenagers who will soon become citizens and perhaps leaders. The metaphorical kursi carries a weight that shatters prejudice, pettiness and even personal loyalties for a larger end. Even less morally demanding, and many would say less naive, political analysis by and for grown-ups carries a similar hope. When more extreme leaders — whether in America or England, India or Bangladesh — are elected to high office, the initial refrain of the statist is often that the position carries its own limits and imposes an almost ex officio dignity.
That hope is now, more often than not, a fantasy. Nowhere more so than in Assam. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has in the past spoken of bogeys such as “love jihad”, “land jihad” and “flood jihad” and consistently conflated Bengali Indians with Bangladeshis and advocated state-sponsored targeting of the community – arguably against the grain of both the Constitution and rule of law – has one-upped his own record.
Sarma has been questioned by the Opposition and civil society groups over the large number of “objections”, many allegedly false and in bad faith, against the inclusion of members of a community in the electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision exercise. The CM, though, openly asserted that he was asking BJP workers to subvert a process being carried out by the Election Commission: “Whichever complaints have happened have been on my orders. I myself have told the BJP people that they should keep giving complaints against Miyas. There is nothing to hide about this… I have told people that, wherever possible, they should fill Form 7s. So that they have to run around a little, are troubled, so that they understand that the Assamese people are still living.” His instructions, he clarified, are part of a larger worldview. “Whoever can give trouble in any way should give, including you. In a rickshaw, if the fare is Rs 5, give them Rs 4. Only if they face troubles will they leave Assam… These are not issues. Himanta Biswa Sarma and the BJP are directly against Miyas…Assam is a polarised society, for the next 30 years, we have to practice politics of polarisation if we want to live.” The Chief Minister’s fig leaf for admitting that he is targeting one group of voters and citizens? That they are “Bangladeshi” and “infiltrators”.
There are at least three major problems with Sarma’s statements.
The first is the way he uses the epithet “miyan”. The word has, in Assam’s context, referred to Bengali-speaking Muslims – some may have come from Bangladesh and other parts of the Subcontinent, including India, post-Independence, others have a history going back long before 1947. Increasingly, the layers of this identity have been flattened to make “miyan” a synonym for Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh. It is in the context of this layered meaning that Sarma’s equivocation that his attacks are on Bangladeshis and not Assamese Muslims must be read.
Second, Sarma has openly erased the distinction between an elected, constitutional post and what he sees as his party’s ideological-political task. The SIR is not – or at least should not be – a political role. Making false objections in the EC’s Form 7 is an offence with a punishment of imprisonment for up to a year or a fine or both. How can a CM ask party workers to break the law in such a fashion? More importantly, he is the CM of Assam, not of BJP voters.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, Sarma’s words are harmful beyond how they target vulnerable citizens. The SIR is meant to include voters left out and exclude others who are no longer eligible. If the CM burdens the system for political ends, he is, in essence, undermining the Election Commission, the Supreme Court and the Representation of the People Act. The EC, so quick to hold press conferences when it is attacked by non-BJP parties, has been silent on the CM’s comments so far.
There is, of course, a realpolitik explanation for Sarma’s words. His politics since he joined the BJP, and especially since he became CM, are marked by anti-minority statements. And he has arguably reaped political dividends from this strategy, like so many others in his party. By stating that “there is nothing to hide about this”, has Sarma merely removed the mukhauta?
Perhaps, Govindacharya’s (one of the architects of the BJP’s rise) description of A B Vajpayee was right. Maybe what is right has changed, and there is no responsibility beyond their own party’s ideology that elected leaders need to fulfil. The hope might be that the next generation of leaders remembers a story by Premchand they read in middle school.
The writer is a deputy associate editor, The Indian Express. aakash.joshi@expressindia.com
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