The shapes of things, spawning under Modi government of over
a year, are in many ways exactly that any individual with slight political
perception and knowledge of communalism would have forecast. Notwithstanding
his grandstanding about development and economic progress, the basic verity
that Modi originates from the cauldron of rabid communal politics steeped in
intolerance and with a flawed sense of history remains unchanged. Any attempted efforts to offer Modi a veneer
of statesman and manipulated exonerations by different agencies and courts of
the land for his role in instigating and fanning the riot of 2002 in Gujarat
come unstuck when matched with the facts and his own utterances and doings from
those times. What he did or did not do in Gujarat in 2002 would in any
civilized nation of the world constitute crimes against humanity. As a matter
of fact, many countries deemed those nefarious actions of his as such and had denied
him entry until he became the Prime Minister. And he came to power not despite
rather because of his role in those riots. Any misconception about him
providing a good governance with focus on economic development has by now been completely
laid to rest, the country is instead almost under a siege by the hardcore Hindu
communalists; they constitute the core constituency of Modi that facilitated
him into the office. Marauders could brazen into homes of an ordinary citizen
and bludgeon members of the family mere on suspicion of beef consumption is not
much different from merciless killing of Ashan Jafri and hundreds of others in
one single incidence of lynching in 2002 in Gujarat. Then as the Chief Minister
and now as the Prime Minister, Modi has remained steadfast in his refusal to
act or speak on the issue. He refuses to be bothered by spate of killings of
secular and rationalist writers in the country and instead his henchmen are
busy in shifting the blame on to the victims.
Nothing better could portray the current state affairs than
Sudheendra Kulkari appearing in newspapers with a blackened face at the launch
of a book by Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, a former Pakistani foreign minister. That face
was blackened by rabid right wing supporters of Shiv Sena in Mumbai who
followed the act by taunting Modi for his instigation of Gujarat riots in 2002.
Who else could know the truth better than the close allies? Thuggish
organization has been in cahoots with Modi in turning a progressive country
into a den of communal intolerance and rabidity. The victim, Sudheendra
Kulkari, himself had been a member Modi’s ruling party. That incident even had
veteran BJP leader, Lal Krishna Advani speak out against prevailing
intolerance. Curiously, Advani’s utterances were suggestive of him as a progressive
political sage. The crude and cold reality tells that for many, if not all,
communal conundrums facing India, the responsibility can be directly placed on
Advani. Advani for that matter is the real culprit and responsible for many
mayhems and consequent communal riots. When there was a clamor for dismissal of
Modi in the aftermath of 2002 massacres in Gujarat, he was saved by none other
than Advani.
To keep Modi in office despite his crimes would constitute one
of the many indiscretions that Advani committed during the span of his
political career. His conduct stands out by two distinct yet interrelated
characteristics, cynical use of communalism for petty political gains and his
utter incompetence despite a sagely veneer. Keeping in with tradition of that
vile organization, Lal Advani came into politics via RSS, a rabid organization
famous for celebrating murder of Gandhi. Advani remained part of Jan Sangh, a
forerunner of current BJP in various capacities. When that organization joined
Janata Party and won the elections in 1977 in the aftermath of internal emergency,
Advani became minister for information and broadcasting. While that Janata
experiment lasted two years, the Jan Sangh constituent of Advani did lasting
damage through facilitation of infiltration by communal elements into every
strata of government. Following its reincarnation as BJP after break up of
Janata Party, Advani assumed mantle of leadership following its rout in the
first election after assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. Advani as a leader
of BJP turned out to be a vintage communalist and unleashed hitherto unseen
bigotry. He cynically turned a dormant issue of disputed Babri Masjid into a
communal frenzy that left thousands dead in its trail. For the sake of
historical accuracy, that structure was never a temple; an idol was placed in
the mosque through surreptitious machinations involving Hindu Mahasabha, local
bureaucrats and state government of Uttar Pradesh. None of that mattered to
Advani, who in a single quest of narrow political gains vitiated the entire
country. Even the congress government of Rajiv Gandhi did not lack behind in
utilizing the communal polarization. Serial broadcast of Hindu epics on
national television in 1980s played no less part in communalization of the
country from one end to another.
When Advani’s march of rabid communalism in 1989 was interrupted
in Bihar, BJP brought down the national government. In the meanwhile, electorally,
the communal antics of Advani had started paying dividend. It would be still be
some time before BJP would come power at the center; in the interim he presided
over one of the most shameful episode that befell India. In December 1991, Lal
Advani over saw the total demolition of Babri Masjid. It was not just
destruction of that national monument rather the entire communal fabric of the
country came apart on that day of national disgrace in which Advani played the
foremost part. The irony remains that every single vile act brought BJP
ever-increasing share of votes; Advani’s politics of cynicism had turned entire
country into rabid and cynical. That was ground created by Advani that bred the
rise of ultra-communalists and opportunists like Modi. Once BJP came to power,
Advani assumed portfolio of home minister charged with internal security. His
tenure as minister would always be remembered for the hijacking fiasco in which
that government shamelessly handed over three terrorists in exchange for the hostages.
Advani shamelessly feigned ignorance about the transpirations of hijacking saga
in his memoirs despite being the minister in-charge of the internal security at
the time. Everything else, however, pales in comparison to his reckless defense
of Modi, which makes Advani equally accomplice in the mayhem that was carried
out in Gujarat. And in many ways the current state of hyper communalism can be
traced back to the cynical politics authored by Lal Advani. All Modi has done is to prove himself to be the true protege of Advani.
-Rajiv Kumar
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