The Communal Threat

The build up of the communal threat since the BJP-  RSS-VHP offensive on the Ayodhya issue a decade ago  has now acquired a new dimension with the BJP-led  government at the Centre. What was being sought to be achieved through injecting communal poison and arousing communal feelings among the masses will be supplemented by the use of State power and the penetration of the State apparatus by the RSS outfits. The agenda of the BJP-RSS will now be sought to be advanced through the government in both an overt and covert manner. The "National Agenda" of the BJP and its allies does not contain some of the key aims of the Hindutva forces. The building of the temple at Ayodhya, the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 30 which gives protection to minorities and the imposition of a uniform civil code are some of the measures which have been kept outside the official agenda but which will be pursued by other means.

The RSS fronts like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal are going ahead with their communal agenda utilising the advantage of having the BJP in power at the Centre. For the Ram temple at Ayodhya, building materials and stone work is being carried out in various places in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh by the VHP. The Bajrang Dal has announced that it will train Hindu youth in every block of the country to combat "the activities of Christian missionaries and cultural invaders". The BJP has taken control of three key ministers - home, information and broadcasting and human resource development. These will be utilised apart from the Prime Minister's office which in the present dispensation decides appointments to key posts, to penetrate the administration and the educational system and the media. Secular principles will be subverted by the introduction of the communal ideology in the educational system and cultural institutions. The proposed National Reconstruction Corps will facilitate RSS penetration among the youth.

Even in the "national agenda" the BJP is pushing for those measures which will advance the aims of the RSS. The nuclear tests and weaponisation is one such step. The other is the review of the Constitution which was been promised both in the BJP election manifesto and in the "national agenda". Under the cover of making a comprehensive review of the Constitution, the BJP wants to legitimise the change of the present parliamentary system and replace it with the presidential form of government. Such a move will facilitate an authoritarian system, undermining the spirit of federalism and trampling upon the rights of the States, which will suit the RSS in its pursuit of a Hindu rashtra. Despite the facade of a coalition and alliance with many state-based parties, the BJP's talk of devolving more powers to the states is deceptive. Its conception of more powers to the state is confined only to the financial sphere while in the political sphere it seeks to reduce the role of state governments and force them to kowtow to the Centre. The arbitrary use of Central teams despatched to opposition ruled states to enquire into the law and order situation illustrates this anti-federal approach. The moment the BJP feels confident to go it alone it will ride roughshod ever the rights of states especially those which have ruling parties politically opposed to it. The promise to form smaller states beginning with three new states is designed to break the linguistic basis of states so that a strong Centre can dominate the smaller states. The reactionary character of the BJP has also been clearly brought out by the record of the state governments it has been running. The Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra has been openly anti-dalit exemplified by the massacre of 10 dalits in police firing in Mumbai. In Rajasthan, the BJP government refuses to act against atrocities on women and openly, sides with feudal elements and big business. The Kalyan Singh government was formed in Uttar Pradesh after the BJP shamelessly organised defections of the Congress and the BSP MLAs by using money power and other corrupt methods. Some  notorious criminals were sworn in as ministers and a 94- member ministry, the largest ever in the country, was formed. The UP episode showed to what depths of sordid intrigue the BJP can descend to in order to capture power. In all these states, the BJP shamelessly woos MNCs while talking about Swadeshi. The BJP-ruled states are marked by hostility to working class struggles and the use of repressive measures such as ESMA.

Minority Rights

The CPI(M) is committed to protect the legitimate rights of the minorities and defend them from the attacks of majority communalism. Contrary to the false propaganda of the Hindu communalists, the Muslims are a deprived community. Most of them are poverty-stricken and they are discriminated in education and jobs. The CPI(M) will work for equal opportunities in all spheres of society for the Muslim minority. It will strive for this by drawing the Muslim masses into the common struggles and democratic movement.

At the same time, the CPI(M) will counter minority communalism. Fundamentalist forces like the Jamaat-e -. Islamic and other organisations which are finding sustenance from abroad are seeking to exploit the alienation of the minorities. The fundamentalist forces seek to isolate the minorities from the rest of the people and prevent social reforms which will help the community to progress. They adopt a reactionary attitude to women's rights. The CPI(M) will not compromise on the issue of equal rights for Muslim women and will seek to break down the barriers which isolate the minorities from their class brethren in other communities.

The disruptive role of the Muslim fundamentalist groups was highlighted by the bomb explosions in Coimbatore on the eve of the general elections which killed around 60 people. These blasts were in retaliation for the communal violence unleashed by the Hindu Munnani, an RSS outfit, against the Muslims earlier on in the city. Such tactics are counterproductive for the minorities themselves and play into the hands of the Hindu communalists. The minorities become the worst sufferers when the State takes repressive measures and in the counter-offensive of the Hindu communalists. It is essential that the party along with other Left democratic forces intervene well in advance before such a situation develops to see that the minorities are rallied alongwith other secular forces to defend their rights and do not fall prey to fundamentalist influence. The democratic consciousness in the minorities must be raised to enable them to see how the fundamentalist tactics are self- defeating.

The minority Christian community is also coming under increasing attacks by the majority communal forces. The RSS-BJP such as the VHP. are threatening  and intimidating these sections. Some churches in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have been destroyed or damaged. It is imperative in the interest of national unity and social harmony that such attacks by majority communalism are resisted and defeated.  (Source: Special Supplement to People's Democracy , 2 August, 1998)

Samata Party Revolt Against Kurmi Dominance

.. The ongoing ... controversy centering round the change in the party's socio-economic leanings ... had its echo at the two-day State Council meeting held recently but snow-balled immediately after the reconstitution of the state executive, frontal organisations, and the all important political affairs committee. All these bodies had remained dormant for well over a year when ...

Nitish Kumar held the reins in his hand .. The Central leadership had been at a disadvantage over the persistent pressure of the State leaders to deliver the electoral promise to dismiss the Rabri Devi Government ...

The Central leadership had first dropped the most vocal of these leaders Shivanand Tiwari, MLA, as the secretary general of the State unit ...

... Mr. Kumar's detractors accuse him of wavering from the Mandal-oriented politics and openly favouring the forward castes at the cost of other intermediary castes and extremely backward castes.

In the State unit, there are as many as 86 office bearers, besides 69 executive members and yet tongues are wagging. The prime allegation was that a good 25 per cent of the office bearers happened to be Kurmis, Kumar's caste ...

Kumar's detractors have alleged that the party was today being dominated by former Congressmen and those having affinity with the banned private army feudal landlords, the Ranbir Sena.

This criticism became more virulent in the aftermath of the constitution of the political affairs committee of the State comprising 19 members. Of which five belong to the Kurmi community ... The Bhumihar three, Rajput and Brahmins two each and one Kayastha.

On the other hand only one Koeri happens to be on the all important committee, along with two Harijans and one each from the extremely backward caste and Adivasis. ... Obviously Samata Party leadership had sought to give space to those community which had voted for the party during the recent elections. But his critics point out that it was at the cost of the other intermediary backward castes, extremely backward castes and the scheduled castes.

None in the Samata grudge the neglect of the Yadavs though all do not agree that it was wise on the part of the leadership to sideline the Muslims, both of which form the main base of the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal, the dissidents however feel that the objective of the leadership to accommodate the forward castes would not yield the desired results fearing further alienation of the other backward castes from them.