April  2003 
Year 9    No.86

Cover Story

Putting hate–mongers on notice

There are at long last some indications that a few states at least are awakening to their constitutional duty to control the insidious saffron agenda of systematically spreading hatred against religious minorities as a prelude to violence. A countrywide action in this regard by concerned citizens and groups could go a long way in checking the burgeoning hate industry

In the last 10 years of Communalism Combat, we have painstakingly documented and analysed with regret the utter failure of the Indian secular state – be it the executive, administration, police or the judiciary — in acting, and acting swiftly and firmly, against the perpetrators of hate speech and writing intended to spread venom and create a climate for the violence that is then unleashed against certain sections. The systematic arming of groups within society through Bajrang Dal/Shiv Sena/VHP training camps and distribution of weapons disguised as trishuls has also gone mostly unchecked.

The genocide in Gujarat provided grim testimony to the use of hate speech and writing to demonise Muslims who were subsequently attacked. Systematic preparation of armed squads through trishul and sword distribution with utter impunity throughout the state for months prior to the carnage were also part of the build–up.

It is indeed welcome that one or two states in the country have started taken strong steps to check these disturbing trends. Others, though more hesitant, have started curbing the entry of leaders who spout venom like the VHP’s international general secretary, Praveen Togadia, president Ashok Singhal and vice–president, Acharya Giriraj Kishore.

Madhya Pradesh has banned the distribution of the trishul in the state as also the carrying of arms in religious processions. As we go to press, the chief minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot has directed a similar ban in Rajasthan. Given the sustained spewing of filth and venom in the districts of Rajasthan, bordering Gujarat by the VHP’s local and national leaders, as also the recently elected Godhra MLA, Harish Bhatt (formerly with the Bajrang Dal), this step has been long overdue. Equally welcome was the arrest of SA Sankla, chief of the Shiv Sena Commando force in Bhim, Rajasthan three weeks earlier.

The government’s a notification issued by the state’s home secretary, Dharam Singh Sagar, on April 8 clearly states: "having regard to the prevailing conditions in the state of Rajasthan, it is expedient in public interest that distribution, acquisition, possession or carrying of double or multi–bladed sharp or pointed weapon be regulated… Therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 4 of the Arms Act 1959 (No. 54 of 1959), read with government of India, ministry of home affairs Notification No. GSR 1309 dated October 1, 1962…," the notification will apply to all areas of Rajasthan with respect to, "distribution, acquisition, possession or carrying of double or multi–bladed sharp or pointed weapon except in religious institution as defined in section 1 of the Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988 (Act No. 41 of 1988), and in traditional religious functions and religious procession where such weapon is customarily used." Since mid–2001, Rajasthan has been the specific focus for ‘Trishul diksha samarohs’ accompanied by aggressive communal mobilisation targeting shrines representing India’s syncretic tradition. (see CC cover story, November 2001, Rajasthan). Following the Gujarat genocide, Sirohi, Bhilwara and other regions of the state have been made special targets as they have a cultural link with Gujarat.

On February 8, 2003, Harish Bhatt, the former national joint secretary of the Bajrang Dal and now the Godhra MLA, addressed several public meetings and conducted Trishul diksha samarohs in Bhilwara, Sawai Bhoj and Mandal. The thin crowds at these gatherings did nothing to check his rabble–rousing. Vividha Features, a news service run by a seasoned journalist in Rajasthan reported that at one meeting in Mandal, Bhatt categorically stated that his party is not concerned with development; security from terrorists was the only issue. Deploying a chilling metaphor, he stated that the "Safai Abhiyan" ("Operation Clean–up") that was started in Gujarat would be continued in Rajasthan too.

He chided the large Hindu population in Mandal for voting a Muslim MLA to power. He added that for any true Hindu Rambhakt, Rajbhakt and opponent of terrorism, the BJP was the only choice.

Bhatt also said that though his childhood was spent in Gandhiji’s Sabarmati Ashram, he had no faith in non–violence. "If anyone slaps us, we will cut his hand off," he declared. Daring the Gehlot government to ban the trishul, he announced that BJP youth would defy the ban. Openly targeting Mandal’s Muslim minority, he said, "You shout in your masjids from 5 am to 11 pm, take an hours break for Friday prayers and a Haj subsidy of Rs 45,000 each is given to every Muslim by the government. How can we tolerate this?"

Elaborating on his election campaign in Godhra, Bhatt said, "I had told Godhra’s Muslims that we did not want their vote. Don’t touch our election boxes. Then, when I won, a man in a cap came to congratulate me but I drove him away." Finally, the Godhra MLA prophesied that India would be converted into a Hindu rashtra within two years.

Bhatt’s venom spewing went unchallenged by the police and the district administration. But strong action against Sankla, the Shiv Sena Commando Force chief from Bhim, for a highly inflammatory speech he made on February 26 this year, has become an example of joint citizen and state intervention.

On that day, the leader of the SS commando force – an organization that was born in the Jetarna area of Pali district — openly told Muslims to leave Bhim or else be prepared to face another Gujarat–like situation! (Reported by Vividha Features). Not only that, he gave a call to Hindu youth to "rape Muslim women and thereafter severe the their body below the waist so that proof of the rape is destroyed." A Jain businessman of Bhim was presented with a sword on the podium. When the police threatened to act, Sankla defied the police and threatened to distribute ‘prasad’(implying sword) among the Hindus.

Bhim, as it happens, is the heart and soul of the Right to Information campaign that was spearheaded by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghatan (MKSS). Activists of this organisation taped Sankla’s speech and presenting proof of the poison before the administration, forced it to act. Act it did. And the self–styled commando chief found himself trapped in an arrest, release on bail, re–arrest (on a another charge) cycle several times over.

In nearby Madhya Pradesh, VHP spokesman Acharya Dharmendra was nabbed at the Ujjain railway station and booked on charges of making an inflammatory speech at Dewas on March 16. He was charged by the Dewas police for hate speech under Sections 153 (a) and 295 (a) of the IPC and remanded to judicial custody till March 28. This is not the first time that a senior VHP or Bajrang Dal leader has been arrested in MP. Five years ago, Sadhvi Ritambhara was charged and arrested in Indore on similar grounds and the hearings in the case are still in progress.

The action has had the effect of considerably curbing Ritambhara’s activities in the state, and chief minister Digvijay Singh’s subsequent no-nonsense approach has ensured that Togadia exercises restraint while speaking in MP. Acharya Dharmendra languished in jail until March 28, since he initially refused bail demanding an honourable acquittal. When that was not forthcoming, he felt compelled to apply for bail twelve days later.

In keeping with his uncompromising stand against communal provocations, the MP chief minister had announced two months ago that every speech made by the hate preachers would be recorded and action taken, immediately, if the law was breached. It is not insignificant that after this tough stance, the state has seen very little of the kind of ‘samarohs’ that have been reported from Rajasthan and UP, where trishuls have been distributed by the VHP and Bajrang Dal. Reacting to Dharmendra’s arrest, Togadia threatened at a press conference in Bhopal on March 21, "If Digvijay continues on this track, we would be forced to enter the political arena and repeat Gujarat politically in Madhya Pradesh." What Togadia actually does remains to be seen.

Togadia had found himself in a similar situation around the same time in Anantpur, when Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandra-babu Naidu had him arrested for a similar reason. Unfortunately, he was released a couple of hours later after being warned. The warning does not seem to have affected Togadia who continues to make vitriolic anti–minority speeches. The VHP hothead may find it easy to get away with his incendiary antics in a friendly state like Gujarat, but he is slowly discovering that not even all the BJP allies are as friendly. In UP, Mayawati has banned Togadia’s entry into Gorakhpur for a trishul distribution ceremony to arm Bajrang Dal activists, fearing a law and order problem. The eastern UP city is under curfew thanks to communal clashes and the ‘Trishul Diksha’ ceremony was the last thing it needed.

In February, weeks after the electoral victory in Gujarat, the district magistrate in South Kanara (Karnataka) banned Togadia’s entry into the district. When the VHP went in appeal, the High Court lifted the ban on an assurance that his speech would be tempered. While Togadia observed the assurance made to the court when he addressed meetings in the district, his speech made in Bangalore city, during the same trip was threatening and full of venom.

It is clear that the likes of Togadia are trying to manipulate our democratic structures and systems as well as they can. The question is: have our institutions of state seen through this manipulative game? The steps taken by a few state executives in recent weeks and months offer some hope. It is to be hoped that the judiciary, too, will rise to the occasion.