Time for soul-searching for BJP

S Nihal Singh

There is a dissonance in the Indian political dialogue that is troubling for many reasons. At the centre of this dissonance is the sharp division between those who think that tremendous trifles are given pride of place and others, in leadership roles in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), believing that these so-called trifles, the protection of the cow, the Bharat Mata ki Jai chant and other nativist shibboleths are the very essence of the India they seek to build.

Mercifully, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has now come out with the admonition that people should not be forced publicly to repeat the chant after the Maharashtra Assembly speaker suspended a member for refusing to do so and a madrasa student had his hand broken for the same offence. But once the official word goes out — most recently through the political resolution of the BJP national executive — that Bharat Mata is part of the new definition of nationalism, there are enough muscle men in the Sangh Parivar led by the Bajrang Dal to take law into their own hands in the cause of Hindu ideological purity.

The pertinent question that must be asked is where this will lead the country? Are the BJP and the RSS willing to sacrifice the economic development and welfare of all the people at the altar of their ideology? Is the development mantra of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the set of slogans he has given in each phase then remain vestiges of what-might-have-been in a political atmosphere conducive to dividing society along religious lines? In short, where does the BJP train stop?

I might have posed too many questions. But this is the feeling of a growing number of thinking citizens who, tired of the Congress drift in later years of their rule, had welcomed Mr. Modi's advent. Ten years of continuous rule are sufficient for a ruling party to prove its credentials. It is a healthy aspect of democracy that a new party and government can start fresh and clear the cobwebs.

The short point is that after nearly two years of rule, the Modi dispensation has spread panic in terms of what its real aims are and whether the RSS devotes more weight to implementing its idea of India to the economic development and prosperity of the people. It must be clear to the dimmest mind that in a country as diverse as India, every act that emphasises communal or ethnic divisions is like drilling a hole in the composite Indian fabric.

India is not fully aware of the precise nature of the BJP-RSS relationship. Many in the Government, starting with Mr Modi, are RSS men nurtured in its myth-making nursery. In ideological matters, the RSS is supreme although the Government has some freedom in articulating policies such as caste reservations for electoral politics. Sometimes, as in the case of the Bharat Mata chant, the RSS has to pull back politicians in case they are going downhill. But no one in the Government dare counter the RSS on ideology, one reason the ministries of Human Resources Development and Culture don't have heads with even a nodding acquaintance with their charge.

But after Mr Modi’s latest foreign jaunt, it is high time the combined leaderships of the BJP and the RSS took time to put their heads together to review the consequences of the Government's trajectory. And in its hurry to better its numbers in the Rajya Sabha, the Government must not be led to take hasty steps, as events in Uttarakhand have shown.

Indeed, the longevity of the National Democratic Alliance will depend upon its ability to do some soul-searching on where it has gone wrong. Surely the Government must discipline its supporters and followers to refrain from creating an atmosphere in which cattle herders are lynched and hanged from trees, churches are vandalised, dissenters are branded traitors and beef-eaters are consigned to Pakistan.

It is true that Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot condemn each specific act of vandalism or murder, but if he routinely ignores such incidents to talk about the virtues of tolerance at conferences, what conclusion will the public draw? There can be only two interpretations: either he believes in the essence of what his party men, including ministers, say or he is powerless to act in the face of the RSS’s diktat. Neither of these possible answers shows the Government in good light.

The Prime Minister can wait for a major reshuffle of his cabinet that is being speculated about but he cannot wait to sort out matters of policy and ideology that can do great harm to the country's future. After a time, the citizenry is tired of the clichés of development, Make in India, Swatch Bharat, etc. As cries of development are rolled out at one end, at the other end are glimpses of reality - an anti-minority tirade that lends itself to vandalism and killings in the name of spreading the Hindutva creed.

In a sense, the RSS bears greater responsibility than the BJP because Mr. Bhagwat cracks the whip even while advocating sane policies on caste, reservations and other problems the BJP-led Government cannot pursue. Perhaps the RSS should learn the merits of patience, instead of being swept by Mr Modi's great victory for the first time in the country's history.

Instead of bringing about its concept of Ram Rajya during the five years of Mr Modi's term, Mr Bhagwat should think of a longer time frame. An encouraging signal is his suggestion that the Bharat Mata chant should not be forced on people. But in this instance, the BJP has been charging ahead, equating Bharat Mata with patriotism and wrapping itself in the Tricolour in aid of the forthcoming state elections. Obviously, there is conflict of interest between the BJP and RSS.

We should know in months, if not weeks, whether the BJP and its mentor will heed the voice of reason.