Like the mullahs in Pakistan, the Hindutva-vaadis are trying to stifle all dissent. So, like a freedom–loving group in Pakistan, NGOs in India, too, must launch a non–violent civil disobedience movement

The present BJP government in India, in the midst of the general election in the country, has acquired "profound wisdom" from Pakistan; it has done something much more obnoxious. It has issued a show cause notice (dated September 27, 1999) to a large number of well–known NGOs, including a large number of women’s organisations and research institutes devoted to the work of eradication of communalism and caste. It states, inter alia: "It has come to the notice of the Central Government that, in the run up to the ongoing general election, your association has been associated with the release of certain advertisements in the press and with certain documents the contents of which are in the nature of comments of a political nature." This is reminiscent of what Mrs. Indira Gandhi, specially her sycophants, did during the infamous emergency in 1975–76.

A couple of points. The letter, to put mildly, is vague, indecent, and insulting. The universal understanding with regard to people’s movement is that NGOs must be free of government interference and that they must be left free to decide how best they can serve the cause of the people and their welfare.

Second, can there be any social issue related to social justice, democratic aspirations, and human rights which is not of a "political nature"? For example, when four nuns in Madhya Pradesh were raped, a section of Hindutvavaadi leaders maintained that Christian missionaries represent "anti–national forces working against Hindu interest in the country", and that the gang–rape was "a reaction to these anti–national activities". Which means, plain and simple, that those who are not "patriotic" according to Hindutvavaadis can be raped. Can a civilised nation permit criminal acts in the name of "patriotism"?

Many NGOs expected the de facto ruler of the country and the most important Hindutvavaadi ideologue, L. K. Advani (whose ministry has issued the show cause notice referred to above) to condemn this justification in a forthright manner. Instead, he tried to wriggle out of this justification by saying that the BJP sections of the Hindutvavaadis are not involved in this.

This is quibbling, to put it mildly. As is well known, the VHP, Bajrang Dal, RSS, Shiv Sainiks are all integral parts of the family, the sangh parivar, and Advani presides over its political wing. Advani did the same with regard to the Shiv Sena–BJP government’s rejection of the Srikrishna Commission Report on the 1992–93 communal riots in Bombay. All these reflect the fact that a dominant section of our people is intolerant of minorities and supporters of political reaction, and social and religious barbarism.

If NGOs and people’s movements are not outraged by such a culture of intolerance and practices of tyranny and oppression – it does not matter which party/formation promotes such a culture – will they be worth their salt? This outrage is against a particular political culture. Does this entitle the government to notify such NGOs "as an organisation of political nature"?

In this context, civil liberties groups and NGOs should take note of what the HRCP did in more or less a similar situation in Pakistan. A few months ago, the West Punjab government banned the publication of HRCP’s quarterly magazine on some flimsy and totally unlawful ground. The HRCP asked the government to withdraw its notification. It did not receive any reply from the government. It continued to publish the magazine.