Home
Back to sabrang.com

Archives
See what's in?

Subscriptions
Subscribe to CC

Advertising
Want to Advertise in CC

Hot Topics
Cast your vote,
Make a difference.

Campaign
Raise your Voice,
Let others hear you!

Testimonials
What others say about us

Sabrang Team
Meet those talented people 
of Sabrang

Our Activities
Activities carried out by Sabrang

Letters to Editor
Send your letters to 
the Editors

Contact Us 
Umh!, Whats this?

Get FREE E-mail.

The writing  on the wall
 Drawing a rather gruesome analogy to the Indian political scene at the moment,  a friend used the image of a frog being boiled. If you were to throw the frog  straight in boiling water, the poor creature would react strongly, if only for a  moment before it is scalded to death. If, instead, you were to drop the frog in  water at ‘normal’ temperature and raise the heat ever so slowly, degree by degree, the poor frog would come to its sad end without even being aware of it.

The Indian social and political scene at the moment is somewhat similar. The temperature is being raised day by day, the writing is on the wall; yet it takes us more than a while to react to the implications of the developments. Every day, in different parts of the country, the rules of law and civilised conduct are being violated, we are under sway of the rule of mobs and the perpetrators of crimes under the BJP–led NDA government are allowed to enjoy protection and impunity.

In the Saffronwatch section of the last issue of Communalism Combat, we took note  of the liberal mukhota for the sangh parivar — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s assurance on December 15 to the Lok Sabha that there was no question of persons with any RSS background joining the Indian army or the government.

In the same section, was also carried the report of the Gujarat government lifting the ban on the RSS and permitting civil servants to join that outfit. Uttar Pradesh has since followed Gujarat’s example. And only a few days ago, Vajpayee declared that he saw nothing wrong in sarkari babus donning khaki shorts. The RSS, after all, said the Prime Minister, was only a cultural organisation, not a political one! The man who often charms the pants off the most demanding of his ideological opponents has finally committed the error of a grave misrepresentation to Parliament. But what of these niceties in the wake of consistent constitutional violations and undermining of the rule of law? 

Given this blatant and shameless misrepresentation of facts, it becomes our job to galvanise material and facts for a national campaign to expose not just the political character of the RSS but it’s blatantly anti–democratic and Machiavellian dimensions. But then, friends, that is what the onset of fascism is all about. It is there in our midst, it is choking more and more areas of democratic space, within the state and civil society. Sadly, the resistance to it is far from coherent or organised. 

As we go to press, we see once more how ten goondas can hold the rule of law to ransom in Uttar Pradesh, a state under BJP rule, a state that, incidentally, has also seen a shocking rise in police brutality and encounter deaths. And the state’s police chief says there  is precious little he can do given the gross politicisation of the force at his disposal! The shooting of Deepa Mehta’s latest film, Water, is banned in UP and the Union I&B minister, Arun Jaitley defends the decision saying that the ‘people of Varanasi had been offended.’ Indian civil society has been the victim of a small and violent few holding it to ransom even before this. Whether it was theatres showing Fire or cricket pitches being vandalised or the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya being destroyed in full public view, we have been mute witness to these tactics for some time now. Are we immune or numbed into inaction?

The result of unchecked exhortations to violence have been unspeakable acts of bestiality (Mumbai Dec 1992–January 1993) as a helpless or biased police force and administration watches. The face of a teacher in Goa who has been encouraging students not to demonise all Pakistanis was blackened by the ‘kar sevaks’ of Hindutva last week. Muslims who dare to buy a home in a cosmopolitan locality like Paldi in Ahmedabad are beaten out of their home and hearth. This also happened last week.

 It could happen to anyone, anywhere. And the more we allow it to happen, the more likelihood there is of it becoming the norm rather than the exception. The chips are well and truly down. The only question that remains now is about the quality and consistency of the resistance.