Advani, has ... compared BJP-RSS ties to Nehru's inspiration from Gandhi. The RSS represents ... Hindu chauvinism. Gandhi and Nehru symbolise Indianness. How can fanaticism, the darkest side of man, take the place of pluralism or tolerance? And it becomes a matter of concern when toadies. are equated with freedom fighters.
There is yet another point of concern. Advani has sung the RSS' praises and stood in salute side by side with its leaders at a time when he is India's Home Minister. He should realise that he is no more an RSS pracharak (preacher) or 'sanchalak' (functionary). His actions – and words - purvey the Government's thinking. The authorities, whether in the police or administration, may take the cue from the anti-minority crescendo of the RSS.
What happens to law and order or, for that matter, the country? Already, there are numerous examples of the creeping pro-Hindu bias in governance. Communal riots have turned into running battles between Muslims and the police ... Yet it is not understandable why Advani has chosen this time to affirm the BJP's loyalty to the RSS. It suggests some inner contradictions or infighting ...
Many regional parties joined the NDA on the understanding that the BJP would not allow the RSS to dictate to the Government in matters of state. Now that Advani has made it clear that the BJP would rather break up the government than break with the RSS, leaders such as Chandrababu Naidu of the TD, Mamata Banerjee of the TC and Nitish Kumar of the Samata Party should be able to see the BJP in its true colours. They would like to stick to office because power means a lot to them. But they should not be under any illusion:
In fact, Jayaprakash Narain, who gave credibility to the Jan Sangh by allowing it to join the Janata. Party, regretted that the Jan Sangh never fulfilled its part of the obligation. It promised to snap its ties with the RSS. At one gathering when he asked Jan Sangh members to take off the black cap, RSS symbol, they readily did so, letting him believe that they had effaced their past loyalties ...
For the RSS, which constituted first the Jan Sangh and then the BJP to serve as its political arm, it is a matter of strategy. It does what suits it when. The destination is Hindu Rashtriya and any way is good enough as long as it goes in that direction. It talks of one culture. Those who believe in a composite culture are being described as 'traitors'. The RSS is determined to overturn Indian traditions.
The tragedy is that many Hindu intellectuals have been taken in by the propaganda that nationalism is based on religious identity: The RSS has been clever enough to promote (Hindu) interests in the garb of universalistic values which are pillars of liberal democracy.
The tainted intellectuals have failed to see through the systematic campaign to link hatred against the minorities with the compulsions of security. The result is that the minorities are feeling increasingly marginalized. They stay away from the mainstream because it does not give them a sense of participation, much less equality. This can lead to desperation, with disastrous consequences.
(This) serves the purpose of the RSS which may say that only Hindus are loyal to the country. But then which country are we talking about, that of. Gandhi or Golwalkar's? India's ethos is secularism and Muslim leaders, Azad, Abdul Ghaffar Khanand Asif Ali, sacrificed as much as Gandhi, Nehru and Patel.
Without pluralism, the country can sustain neither democracy nor unity. Hindu intellectuals in the country and abroad are not seeing beyond the wrong notion of entily ... The entity is that of India, not of any particular community.
Advani's reiteration of the BJP-RSS ties may also have to do with the coming Assembly elections in six States ... Maybe, Advani is preparing the NDA partners for the Hindu card ... After the BJP debacle in the local elections in Gujarat, the thinking at Nagpur is to win back the Hindu electorate at any cost.
... Where do the NDA partners stand? What happens to the nation's ideal of secularism, the approach of tolerance ... Gandhi said some 75 years ago: "When we are welded together by ardent feelings, we will embrace one another and cling so close that we should appear to be one " The same mantra holds good today. (Source: The Hindu, 20 October, 2000)
Khushwant Singh On Laxman Rekha
It was heartening to hear Bangaru Laxman, the new president of the BJP, extend a hand of friendship towards religious minorities, notably the Muslims. He wants to change the anti-Muslim image of his party to one of a minority-friendly setup. If his aim is only to harvest Muslim votes in the elections to come, he will not get very far.
To convince Muslims of BJP's sincerity he will have to do the following: tender an apology for the destruction of Babari Masjid and ask for punishment of those who connived at perpetrating this most un-Hindu act of vandalism; assure everyone that the Ram temple will not be built on the site of the demolished mosque but elsewhere; he must issue a clear statement that no places of worship, particularly mosques on the hit-list of vandals (Varanasi and Mathura) will be touched.
The BJP must also distance itself from the Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, the VHP and people like Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Uma Bharati, Sadhvi Rithambara and others who continue to make inflammatory anti-Muslim statements. I do not regard them as Hindus ... If Bangaru. Laxman really wants to allay the fears of Indian Muslims (and Christians), he has to do a lot more than make pious pronouncements of goodwill towards them. I wish him success. (Source: The Hindustan Times, 9 September, 2000)
