Sat, May 25, 2002 page9

• Decisive action needed to end India's misrule

  The religious violence in Gujarat calls for swift action and the tackling of illiteracy, ill-health and deprivation

  • By Srijit Mishra
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  An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. So said Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of non-violence. Today communal violence ravages his home state Gujarat.

  Were Gandhi alive to witness today's communal violence between Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat, he would sink into despair. Despair not only for the victims of violence, but for the cynicism of those politicians, such as Gujarat's Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who seek to justify lawlessness, violence and even murder of minority members by the majority Hindus.

  The current spate of violence began on Feb. 27, when a train carrying many Hindu devotees was set ablaze by some Muslims at Godhra, Gujarat. Retaliation against Muslims came swiftly and has smouldered since, leaving hundreds dead, orphaned and homeless. The tension boils on thanks, in part, to the refusal of Gujarat's government to pursue and prosecute the perpetrators of the crime.

  That such bloodshed occurred in today's Gujarat is surprising, for the state is no economic backwater but is, instead, one of India's most dynamic states. Moreover, it has been noted for tolerance: not only Muslims, but of Parsees (a minority community from Persia who practice Zorastrianism). So why did such a state suddenly explode?

  The politics of division that bedevils Indian national politics is in ugly display in Gujarat. True, raj dharma, or good governance, creates the conditions for social trust and tolerance to flourish. But instead of seeking to encourage these civic (and economic) virtues, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) uses threats of communal violence to boost its electoral ends.

  But playing with fire brought only momentary advantages. After the Gujarat violence the national BJP government faced a censure motion vote in parliament. It survived, but was none the less discomforted by it. Voters, indeed, increasingly see through such cynical toying with ethnic and religious divisions, for it is clear that prompt arrest and prosecution of those who instigated the Godhra incident would have brought independent voters flocking to the BJP. The party has squandered that opportunity.

  Of course, the BJP is not alone in seeking to exploit India's religious and caste divisions. Even the Congress party -- which led India's struggle for independence -- manipulates religious, communal and caste rivalries so as to boost its chances of forming government.

  Thankfully, many small parties, who are the key to coalition politics, are pressing the big parties to behave more responsibly. Some of the 15 or so centrist parties who support the BJP-led coalition national government are demanding real action in Gujarat, including removal of its chief minister. They support Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, but their demands for accountability have laid down boundaries beyond which the BJP and Congress will now stray only at the risk of paying a high political cost.

  The BJP can't take such risks because it fears holding early elections. Although BJP mem-bers trumpet the party's fundamentalist Hindu agenda, it won power nationally on its promise to deliver good government after the seeming corruption and chaos of the Congress party's previous term in power. "Good government" remains the public's biggest concern and the BJP knows that murderous riots will undermine its claim to be delivering such.

  The Congress, however, is keen to push for elections because it smells blood. Its performance in local and state elections has improved markedly since its popularity collapsed in the early 1990s and it now rules 14 of the 29 states. Should an election take place, Congress is likely to increase its strength in parliament.

  But until Congress forges an attractive political program, and acquires charisma beyond that inherited from the Nehru family, it seems condemned to opposition. Of course, the Nehru family name still commands loyalty among India's masses, but that is a shallow political foundation in a democracy. Moreover, reliance on the name prevents the party from addressing its malaise because many party leaders still think that they can rely on the old magic to win.

  Good governments must emphasize real development, which means removing what Nobel laureate Amartya Sen calls the unfreedoms of illiteracy, ill-health and social deprivation. The smouldering fires of Gujarat provide India's politicians with a moment to do as Sen suggests. It calls for speedy and impartial rehabilitation to the victims and bringing to trial in a transparent manner the perpetrators of these crimes. Only such decisive actions can break India's cycle of divide and misrule.

  "Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake," wrote Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore in 1912. His sentiments remain relevant today. Wake up Gujarat! Wake up India!

  Srijit Mishra teaches at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics.

  copyright: Project Syndicate
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