Opinion Hate Politics

The speech by a senior RSS leader at a public rally in Ujjain on Wednesday is a reflection of the extreme political polarisation that has taken place in the country. The target of RSS sah prachar pramukh (joint publicity chief) of Ujjain, Kundan Chandrawat, was Kerala chief minister and senior CPM leader, Pinarayi Vijayan. Chandrawat alleged that Vijayan was responsible for the murder of 300 RSS pracharaks and activists in Kerala and announced a bounty of Rs one crore on his head. The Sangh Parivar disassociated with Chandrawat’s remarks made in the presence of the local BJP MP, Chintamani Malviya, who, however, explained that the speech was an expression of his “pent-up feelings”. The Madhya Pradesh home minister, Bhupendra Singh, brushed aside the remarks as “emotional” and attempted to put them in context: “Thousands of Hindus have been killed and their bodies have not been found. All this is happening under the (Kerala) government’s patronage.”

The blood feud in Kerala, involving the CPM and the RSS, has a long and complex history. Its causes and culpabilities must be addressed. But calling for further violence is hardly the way forward. No less worrying is the anti-Muslim turn Chandrawat’s speech took as he promised a bloody war on political opponents. He raked up the Godhra train burning incident and the Gujarat riots after targeting Vijayan: “Have you forgotten Godhra? Fifty-six were killed, 2,000 were sent to the graveyard. They were pushed beneath the ground by the same Hindu community.” This is, perhaps, the first instance of an RSS leader openly claiming a role for his organisation in the massacre of Muslims. The BJP-RSS leadership was far too mild in terming Chandrawat’s vitriol as emotion-driven initially. Such hate-speech in the background of an already polarised election in Uttar Pradesh and tensions in university campuses can’t be dismissed lightly. The speech had to be condemned unequivocally so that tempers didn’t flare up. Incendiary political speeches that call for murder and mayhem can’t be defended or excused. The expulsion of Chandrawat from the RSS had become necessary as he had crossed the limits of decency and decorum.

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Politics has to be a civil activity and its purveyors must know the consequences of their utterances. In the campaign heat, politicians have been pushing the envelop with speeches bordering on the inflammatory. It may yield electoral dividends in the short run, but the dark emotions these unleash cause immense damage to communal relations in an already fraught society.