Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May/June 1998, Pages 59, 91

The Subcontinent

India’s New BJP Government Postpones Its Hard-Line Agenda

By M.M. Ali

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is an honest organization in that it makes no bones about its Hindu fundamentalist extremism. Its ultimate goal, as enunciated in the party manifesto and articulated from time to time by its leadership, is the establishment of Hindutva—a socio-political arrangement that is derived from the legends of the Mahabharathand Ramayanaand in the ancient holy scriptures, the Vedas. Hindutva is a system wherein besides Hindus there is no provision for any other community to exist.

That being the long-range vision, BJP, in view of the present impediments, has chalked out some short-term incremental objectives to facilitate the coming of Hindutva. These include: a total ban on cow slaughter, an end to Muslim personal law, demolition of over 2,000 mosques around the country (a beginning was made with destruction of the Babri masjid in Ayodhya in l992), abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that provides special status to the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and closing of Christian missionary schools.

Other, more subtle, measures also are underway to bring about a gradual transformation of India in line with a fascist process of intellectual indoctrination. In this, the BJP is joined by other groupings that profess secularism and nationalism. All are in the process of rewriting history.

The heavily funded Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, a think-tank and giant publishing house established during Nehru’s time, is churning out volumes of history books with a Hindu slant. Christians and Muslims are portrayed as the villains. The revisionism has even included a claim that the “Taj Mahal was built by a Hindu maharaja.” Most BJP supporters are Brahmins, from the top of the Hindu caste system. Major partners of the BJP include such militant communal organizations as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Rashtriya Sewak Sangh (RSS) and its notorious extension, the Shiv Sena, which was linked to the violent destruction of the Ayodhya mosque, a provocation apparently planned to instigate communal massacres reminiscent of those a half-century ago in which millions died.

Yet another powerful tool that is being used is by whipping up a national frenzy on the issue of language. Hindi is being promoted at the cost of every other language. Hindi Prachar Sabha (house for the promotion of Hindi) and several related organizations have received official sponsorship. In fact, young people growing up in India today have little option but to study Hindi in order to complete their education and to obtain marketable skills.

A direct corollary to this socio-economic and cultural onslaught is the devastating impact it is having on the religious beliefs of the non-Hindu communities. The Qur’an and the Bible both are being translated into Hindi (along with other local languages) with no readily available reference to the original text. The authenticity of the numerous translations is a serious issue that is not being adequately addressed.

If the trend continues, as it is likely to with BJP at the helm, cultural identities of the minorities will systematically be diluted and eventually lost. Proponents of this objective cite the case for the homogenous society of Japan. Protagonists of Hindi forget, however, that what applies to the monolithic Japanese society does not necessarily hold for pluralist India, where a schism between the Hindi north and the non-Hindi south already is visible. Only time will tell how it will be resolved, but indicators are not in favor of the south.

As evidenced from demands already made by Tamilnadu regional leader Jayalalita that BJP party leader and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee drop some of the ministers from his cabinet, Vajpayee will face many difficulties in coming months. In fact, the BJP had been waiting for scheduled elections in the year 2000 to make its move to power. But thanks to Sita Ram Kesri of the Congress Party, who forced the mid-term elections, the BJP has been able to win a plurality and form a coalition government. When this happened previously in 1996, the BJP was unable to win a vote of confidence for its coalition cabinet and had to leave office within l5 days.

In a bid to prevent a repetition of this scenario, Prime Minister Vajpayee is keeping his non-BJP coalition partners in good humor by giving them some plum ministerial portfolios. He also has announced that his party will hold back on its short-term agenda. Specifically, mosques will not be demolished, Muslim Personal Law will not be abolished and the cow slaughter issue will not be pushed. This is only an interim accommodation, however, and should not be confused with BJP’s long-term policy.

In fact, the appointment of Kushabhau Thakre, a known right-winger, as the new president of the BJP is proof enough that the party has not abandoned its long-term designs.

This change of leadership will allow the extremist Rashtriya Sewak Sangh (RSS) members to have a freer hand in policy formulation and will enable former BJP President Lal Krishna Advani, the architect of the demolition of the mosque in l992, who is now the home minister, to consolidate BJP’s power in the north and also gain entry into the south.

An interesting incident gives a peek into the mindset of the BJP components. The in-laws of Priyanka, daughter of Sonia and the late Rajiv Gandhi, rent a property to the extremist RSS to run a quasi-military school in Muradabad, Uttar Pradesh. According to India Today (March 30, 1998), when asked why only Hindus are admitted to the school, its principal, Subodh Kumar Sharma, replied: “Muslim students are welcome to join but they must forget they are Muslims.”

If the Congress Party and the United Front hope to wrest power back from the BJP, they need to put their own houses in order, work toward a rapprochement, expose the real agenda of the BJP and concentrate on winning back Jayalalita of AIDMK and Chandrababu Naidu of TDP who have provided the much needed majority to the BJP to form the government. With time and effort, all four propositions are attainable.

Pakistan’s Endemic Problems

Pakistan’s problems are mostly man-made. Whenever it did not suit an individual, group or party, the Constitution was altered severely or suspended altogether. This process started soon after the death of Pakistan’s founder, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, and the assassination of its first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan.

It became a notorious pattern following every military coup, starting with the first one brought about by Gen. Mohammed Ayub Khan in l958. Socio-political institutions were demolished or changed at will. Ironically, each succeeding regime undid whatever was done by its predecessor. In both the actions and reactions, individuals made momentary gains, but the loser was always the nation.

The bullet overcame the ballot. Civil administrations worked with the ever-present fear of military intervention. Military leaders who took over initially promised to set things right within “90 days,” but in two cases (Ayub Khan and Zia ul-Haq) they stayed on for more than l0 years each, badly eroding Pakistan’s democratic institutions.

The elected governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif should have put the nation back on the democratic track and toward good government. But although the two leaders have been elected alternatingly since l988, neither economic viability nor government credibility has returned.

Instead, the drug and arms culture that followed the Afghan war ushered in an era of lawlessness and widespread corruption.

On the economic front, the country has been on a perilous downward slide with no relief in sight. Most of the international monetary aid and loans are being used to pay off the accumulating debt-servicing charges. More recently, the International Monetary Fund delivered a second installment of $l80 million promised under the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility and Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif brought $150 million from China to help cover external debt costs. Now even the friendliest economists and financial analysts express alarm. “There is no linkage between the fiscal and the financial policies. It is ostrich-like behavior,” someone close to the government in Islamabad observed. “They are just borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.”

Ambassador Richardson’s Visit

When U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson took a high-powered team to meet South Asian leaders, his visit was preceded by India’s new government announcing that it is increasing its defense budget and Pakistan’s test firing of its Ghauri missile. The Ghauri now can reach Delhi, just as India’s previously tested Prithvi missile can easily reach Islamabad.

Interestingly, Richardson’s visit came on the heels of the signing of the American-brokered peace agreement in Northern Ireland. Washington described South Asia as “a new frontier” and the visit was interpreted by many in the region as an “increased U.S. interest” in the subcontinent, especially since President Bill Clinton is scheduled to visit the area in the fall. Subjects reportedly discussed by the U.S. delegation included prospects of increased American investments, regional cooperation, nuclear concerns and the Kashmir issue.

In Afghanistan, Richardson helped negotiate a peace agreement between the Taliban, which dominates about three-quarters of the country, and the groups opposing it. Details remain to be worked out in coming weeks.

Kashmiris, of course, welcomed Washington’s moves and hoped the U.S. would finally intervene to help bring peace to them as well. Speaking in Islamabad, Richardson observed: “Perhaps in the past we have not paid enough attention to this area...of growing political, strategic and economic importance to the United States.” Who could disagree?