December 2003 
Year 10    No.94

Editorial

Charting a radical path

Our year-end cover story for Communalism Combat may come as a surprise to some readers. It has seemed to us both critical and overdue, however, that all rungs of Indian society, especially the powerful stakeholders who define our choices and therefore some aspects of our present and future, ponder deeply over their responsibility to a more humane and just social order. If politicians and the political class have come in for heavy public censure, there is a section that has escaped equally stringent public scrutiny. This section, which determines the lifestyles and choices of millions, is the Indian corporate sector. It too, owes India and Indians accountability and transparency. This month’s cover, written by a woman corporate leader who stands out, above all, for her high moral commitment, does just that.

The year also ends with the shock waves generated by the results of the recently concluded state assembly elections to the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi assemblies, which brought the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) resoundingly to victory in three of the four states that went to the polls. As the experts churn out their views, some stark issues stand before each of us concerned by the implications of these results, especially given the fact that year 2004 is also the year for the next general election.

Is the BJP’s claim to push hard for and win, a similar sweep at the centre, mere hype or is it likely to work given the sloth and arrogance that prevails within the Indian political opposition?

In MP, the BJP winning 172 seats bettered its performance by 89, in Rajasthan, where it got 120 seats, by 87 (the party has never won an absolute majority in this state), and in Chhattisgarh where it got 50, it improved its position by 14 seats. The grit, determination, efficiency and money power used by the party delivered results, as did a solid organisational base that is sustained by its Hindutva ideology. Though Hindutva may not have been the projected election plank, it is Hindutva that draws and builds the sangh’s cadres that come in good use during polls. Election time is taken seriously by this party and what was amply visible was a wide spectrum of younger leaders pitching in to ensure its success. Train loads of sanghis brought in from neighbouring Gujarat and Maharashtra, engaging in stringent (and strident) door-to-door campaigns conducted out of the media’s eye, and creative if vicious media and television campaigns made possible by a generous use of funds, all added to a win-win scenario.

The growing success of the VHP-RSS-BJP combine in the central Indian tribal belt has now been resoundingly established. The BJP’s real victory in Rajasthan came in the 57 reserved constituencies — of the 33 constituencies reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the BJP won in 26, the Congress(I) in five and other parties in the remaining two. (In 1998, the Congress(I) had bagged 31 seats.) Similarly, in the 24 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, BJP candidates won 15, the Congress(I), five, and other parties, two. (In 1998, the Congress(I) won 19 of these seats.) In MP, though the BJP benefitted overall by a huge 10 per cent swing in votes, the shift in adivasi support from the Congress(I) to parties such as the Gondwana Ganatantra Parishad (GGP) in the Mahakoshal and Malwa regions helped the BJP in traditional Congress(I) strongholds. The Congress(I)’s vote share among adivasis fell from 60 to 40 per cent. In Chhattisgarh too, the Congress has been virtually wiped out of its traditional adivasi belt. Of the total 34 tribal seats, it won only eight as against the 20 it held. The BJP has won 24 seats, a gain of 13 seats. This time the Congress(I) and the BJP have each won 36 per cent of the adivasi vote, indicating huge gains in this sector for the BJP.

In the absence of any substantive work being undertaken by Indian ‘secular’ parties among tribals, the VHP’s Vanvasi Kalyan Ashrams and Ekal Vidyalayas indicate engagement even if a suspect one. In Chhattisgarh, especially, the RSS openly pitched in to make it into a battle between "Christianity" and tribal identity and projected it as a dharmayudha against conversion. For the losing Congress(I) and other ‘secular’ parties (there was a substantive loss due to the split in votes caused by the NCP, Samajwadi and BSP contesting on separate planks), what the results showed is that empty slogans of secularism do not deliver, cynicism and arrogance can and will backfire and hard work and planning even with vicious design, delivers results.

For us, and our wider constituency, who struggle for a saner tomorrow, serious questions of priority and strategy arise. In a variety of social sectors in India, individuals, groups and organisations have been seriously involved with a variety of issues, rights-driven and development-oriented, that have resulted in a redefinition of priorities and an altering of societal discourse. Historically, however, for the past two decades at least, these groups and movements have steered clear of direct involvement in the political process. As a result, the serious issues of substance and ideology that have been thrown up due to the valuable work of these groups and movements have not seen a clear transformation into the political arena and have hence constrained their reach and influence. Can we afford to let this state of affairs continue?

As we wish our readers a more peaceful 2004, we hope that the shock waves generated by the recent elections opens up a debate among us as to what our roles should be in the parliamentary electoral process if the work we are engaged in is not to be rendered completely irrelevant.

— EDITORS.