NATIONAL POLITICS

Amulya Ganguli on Saffron Wave's Ebb Tide

The first sign that the BJP was no longer as happily placed as before was discernible in the Lok Sabha poll in which the party's share of the vote did not move up from what it was five years ago - 20 per cent. But, delighted by its emergence as the largest group in Parliament and by the impact of Atal Behari Vajpayee's oratory in the House, the BJP chose to ignore this tell-tale evidence. The party was convinced that it had won the semi-final and that victory in the final was just one election away to be held as soon as the fractious UF fell apart.

The Uttar Pradesh contest was to be the preparation for the final. Success in this crucial State, of which the BJP was certain because of the division among its opponents, would hasten the UF's demise, paving the way for the saffron flag to reach the portals of power in the national Capital. But its fond hopes have been belied by the dramatic drop in the BJP's number of seats which may affect its voting percentage as well. Between 1991 and 1996, it rose from 32.8 per cent to 33.5 in UP, but it may not be too far off the mark to suggest that the Hindutva tide is beginning to turn even in the State of Ram Janmabhoomi, the BJP's trump card at one time.

The setback in UP has been compounded by the BJP's unsatisfactory performance in the Madhya Pradesh by-elections. Nor have these reverses been adequately compensated by the party's ability to hold its ground in Rajasthan and Gujarat and secure a toehold in Orissa What is more, the gains made by its ally, the Samata Party, in Bihar and the setbacks suffered by the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra are likely to introduce new equations in these partnerships which may not be to the Sangh Parivar’s liking.

Whether the retreat is taking place at the all-India level cannot be said for certain but, in addition to the fact of the BJP having marked time at 20 per cent for five years, what has also to be considered is the change in the circumstances which had helped its earlier growth. It has to be remembered that till 1989, the BJP generally fought the elections in the company of other non-Congress parties and its growth was fairly consistent. The first election it fought alone was in 1991 and since then it has stopped growing.

The primary reason for its earlier accretion of strength is not far to seek. Apart from utilizing the widely prevalent anti-Congress sentiments, the BJP was also hailed as a disciplined organization. Then, the temple plank helped it to surge ahead. Now, all these factors have lost their earlier appeal. The Congress is not only less untouchable at present, the faint stirrings within it under Sitaram Kesri denote an awareness of the need to cleanse its corrupt image. If it manages to make a beginning in accomplishing this admittedly superhuman task, the Congress can hope to start building on its nationwide 28 per cent vote bank, still higher than that of all other parties.

The BJP's reputation for discipline has suffered as its proximity to power made more and more time-servers. jumps on to its band-wagon. But it is the party's temple. campaign which seems to have caused the most political problems for it. If the 13-day Vajpayee Government failed to secure any support in Parliament, it is because this particular plank was recognized as the focal point of a revivalist programme which runs counter to the country's multicultural heritage to which all parties outside the Hindutva brigade subscribe.

If it was simply a question of building a temple in place of the demolished mosque, the BJP may have been able to gather much wider support. But those who do not accept the majoritarian saffron formula have little difficulty in seeing the temple programme as a thin cover for the Sangh Parivar’s anti-minority philosophy. The cruder version of this world-view is propagated by the two virulent Parivar outfits the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal but essentially there is little difference between the provocative acts and utterances of these two and the BJP's theory of "cultural nationalism". This phrase is shorthand for the primacy of Hindu culture at the expense of the others and implies that only Hindus are nationalists while the patriotism of the others is suspect.

It is possible that the dangers of its xenophobic approach are gradually beginning to be appreciated.

What is more, the party's sudden upsurge of devotion for Ram may have also started fueling the suspicion that its purpose is less spiritual than political. In all the manifestos of the Jan Sangh-BJP from the time of independence to 1989, the great urgency of the need to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya never found a mention. Even when the two foremost leaders of the Jan Sangh - L.K. Advani and Vajpayee were important ministers at the Centre between 1977 and 1979, they uttered not a word about building the temple.

If the Babari Masjid was such a symbol of slavery and if a Ram temple at that very spot was the only way the national spirit could be revived, then these two stalwarts would have been expected to make this point time and again both when they were in the Opposition and in the government. But it was only after the crushing 1984 defeat that the BJP seemed to have woken up to the need for an emotional issue. The party did find one in the Ayodhya temple and made good use of it. But now the principle of diminishing returns has begun to operate.

First, its insincerity has become apparent and, secondly, the aggressive anti-minority outlook has come up against the age-old tolerance of Hinduism. When the BJP says that India is secular because of the Hindus, it is absolutely right. But, for that very reason, it should realize that its own distorted version of the great religion has no future in this country. Hindus are perhaps the only people who pray with total devotion in all places of worship, whether a temple or church or mosque or gurudwara or synagogue. For a Hindu, God resides everywhere and so the demolition of a house of prayer is a sacrilegious act.

In targeting mosques to make a political point, the BJP has made a serious mistake, which will become more evident as the other factors which propelled it forward, including the Congress's decline, lose their validity. As its fair-weather friends drift away, the party will be reduced to its original core group of supporters and return to the periphery of Indian politics which is its natural place. The only way out for the BJP is to return to the non-Congress camp or form a camp of its own, of which it has made a beginning by aligning with Shiv Sena, Samata Party and the Haryana Vikas Party. But they are too peripheral to be of much solace. The party has gone. too far along the revivalist road to be able to find worthwhile allies. And if it changes direction too abruptly, opting for moderation, it will lose the support of its core group which will look for another ultra-rightist party.

(Source: The Indian Express, 17 October, 1996)

South Africa: Commission favors Polygamy

The South African Legal Commission has ruled in favor of polygamy, stating that the practice maintains traditions and is not necessarily demeaning for the several wives of one man.

"In a patriarchal world, where there is no economic, social or political equality between men and women, it is the institution of marriage itself, whether monogamous or Commission declared in a Report submitted on polygamous, which disadvantages women," the September 25 to Deputy Minister of Justice Manto Tshabalala. While Christian communities practice other hand Muslims and many South African black men monogamy but many illegally have mistresses, on the common for black men in rural areas to live with his legally and traditionally take more than one wife. It is wives in a kraal, consisting of a central hut and separate huts for each of the women. Men who work in the towns also tend to take a second wife there.

(Courtesy: The Muslim World, Karachi)