India is diverse,massively diverse. No party can aspire to govern India without being equally sensitive to the genuine concerns and expectations of all sections of our society. No government can govern smoothly without reaching out even to those organisations and socio-political leaders that the ruling party may disagree with. Parties have limited electoral constituencies. A democratic governments constituency covers the entire nation. Our democracy will lose its vitality if our main political parties and their governments show no respect for diversity,dissent and dialoguealso for the rule of law.
The BJPs growth,as we all know,is severely stunted by its failure to achieve a pan-India mass base,particularly in the Muslim community. But the current conduct of the Congress party makes me wonder if it has come to a strategic conclusion that it can govern India by being insensitive to the Hindu community. As argued in my last column,the draft Communal Violence Bill,prepared by NAC and approved by Sonia Gandhi,is blatantly anti-Hindu. If a non-Congress government tomorrow were to follow NACs toxic logic and moot a new anti-terror bill that holds only a minority community responsible for terrorist violence,there would be large-scale,and legitimate,uproar in the country.
The UPA governments brutal midnight crackdown on Baba Ramdevs peaceful protest action at Ramlila Maidan last week raises similar troubling thoughts: Would the Congress leadership have ordered analogous police action on a Muslim or Christian congregation of peaceful protesters? Would it have badmouthed the leader of such a congregation? Would it have dared to falsely dub their nonviolent protest as the product of a diabolical conspiracy to destabilise the government? Would the prime minister have said sorry or justified such naked police violence as unavoidable?
A senior Congress general secretary,of Osamaji fame,has called Baba Ramdev a conman. Other Congressmen are maligning him as a communal man. This is shocking. Baba is not a great spiritual guru,but none can deny that he has rendered sterling service to the nation by taking Yoga,Ayurveda and nature cure to crores of common people in India. The governments own AYUSH department in the health ministry has not done even a tiny fraction of what he has achieved through years of tireless travels across the length and breadth of India. A distinctive and inspiring hallmark of his Yoga discourses was his emphasis on patriotic values,without an iota of communal propaganda. As a votary of Hindu-Muslim unity,I was elated when my good friend Maulana Mahmood Madani invited Baba to address the annual session of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind at Deoband in November 2009. My respect for Baba grew manifold when,in front of over 10,000 Muslim clerics,he said,We cannot forget the contribution of Muslims to Indias independence movement. Hindu-Muslim unity can transform India into one of the most powerful nations of the world.
It was reassuring to see multi-faith representation at the start of Babas indefinite fast on June 4. Yes,also present on the dais was Sadhvi Ritambhara. But those who saw in her presence proof of Babas communal agenda should point out a single objectionable or provocative phrase in her speech. There was none. Indeed,there was much that was positive in her spellbinding oration. Surely,the agenda of communal harmony is furthered less by name-calling and more by dialogue among religious leaders on issues that divide their communities,and also on broader national issues like corruption and iniquitous development that can unite all sections of society.
Cornered by all-round criticism,the government has sought to justify the police crackdown by inventing the lie that Baba Ramdev is a mukhota (front man) of the RSS. Baba is a self-made phenomenon. In any case,since the RSS is not a banned organisation,can the Home Minister tell us which law stood violated when the Sangh extended its support to Babas anti-corruption campaign and when Baba accepted such support? On what constitutional grounds did P Chidambaram fault Baba for seeking the advice of K N Govindacharya,one of the most socially committed,non-communal and incorruptible public figures in the country? Why was the government hell-bent on denying Baba and his followers their basic democratic right to peacefully demand bringing back Indian wealth stashed away abroad? True,Babas campaign had some glaring flaws (death sentence to the corrupt), just as Anna Hazares campaign is flawed in its insistence on bringing the Prime Minister and the Supreme Court within the purview of the proposed Lokpal legislation. But does the flimsy pretext that Baba allegedly didnt adhere to a behind-the-scenes agreement with two UPA ministers provide legitimacy to the government to enact Ravanlila at Ramlila? If those in power think that they have an untrammelled mandate to violently crush a nonviolent protest action,their insolence inevitably invites a reaction.
Deplorably,Baba reacted by threatening to train his volunteers in the use of arms in self-defense. If some Congressmen have fallen prey to arrogance,Baba has been momentarily enslaved by anger and dangerous myopia. He forgot that a true yogi and satyagrahi remains calm even when wronged and provoked,and lets the strength of his calm firmness transform the wrongdoer. Hindu Naxalism is not the answer to the Congress partys authoritarianism. Although Baba has subsequently withdrawn his threat,he has already damaged his own reputation and his cause.
Last weeks alarming developments have a clear message: our democracy cannot work if we forget that all of us belong to one nation. Let us stop mutual demonisation and learn the virtues of tolerance,dialogue and cooperation. Huge tasks and opportunities in nation-building await our collective attention.
