jab and Assam are being conducted with guns and met by state repression. In case all this isn't enough, the bitter feelings
aroused over job reservations for "lower" castes and others led to riots by students, in which several poured petrol over themselves and struck matches. Much of this hatred and slaughter can be laid directly at the door of politicians cynical- ly secking an excuse to widen their base of support during a period of severe political crisis. In reality, there is a wide measure of similarity to be found between the political manifestos of the national par ties, even including the BJP on the right and the Communist Parties on the left. They all have a rhetoric which is in favour of the poor and the rural but alliances have masses, sometimes had as much to do with personalities and power brokerage as with policies. Since elections of the November 1989, there has been a full circle on the politi- cal roundabout. Rajiv Gandhi's Congress Party - despite losing the vote - is now the main prop of the current minority Govern- ment, led by Chandra Shekar. Rather than see another election, Gandhi has made a deal with Shekar's splinter of the Janata Dal party Bet- ween them they hold a parliamentary majority. So the present Govemment of India (present, that is, at time of writing) consists of a tiny unelected party held in place by the monster Congress. Indeed, insofar as the last elections were seen by many as a referendum on Gandhi and Congress, its results have been Page 29
versus fundamentalism
reversed. Thus Gandhi has now partially reaped the benefit of his cynical policy of drumming up religious antagonisms.
Before the elections, Congress deliberately stirred up Hindu communalism, notably by helping to revive the old Hindu-Muslim dispute over the Babri Mosque. But not only were the BJP better at championing Hindu fundamentalism, Congress also lost the sup port of millions of Muslims. As a result, Gandhi's Government was replaced by an anti-Congress alliance headed by V.P.Singh and supported by both the BJP and the left.
To stay in office, V.P.Singh had to do a balancing act and in particular, keep in hand the troublesome BJP. With this in mind he decided to implement a report calling for an expansion of the number of jobs in the public service reserved for 'lower' caste Hindus - a policy he hoped would have the advantage of switching the divisions from religion to caste and thus dividing the base of the BJP.
The ensuing riots across North India by "upper" caste students led to the fall of the V.P.Singh' Govemment after it lost a vote of no confidence moved by the BJP. The fact that it was the BJP that walked out of Singh's Government illustrates the growing confidence of Hindu communalism in India. It is the BJP, and the communalist organisations who want to be seen to go one step further, who have to insist on demolition of the Mosque to make way for their temple.
They posture at one and the same time as radicals with clear solutions and a fresh appeal, but also as the defenders of traditional Hindu life. Yet they have also shown themselves to be cynical pragmatic politicians. They are non-fundamentalist fundamentalists.
As for the Congress Party, whenever it decides the time is ripe, it has only to remove support from Chandra Shekar and another election will be precipitated which is not otherwise due for four years. The other parties have already started electioneering. The BJP continue to agitate around the Mosque/Temple issue, while V.P.Singh has made an alliance with the two Communist Parties and has been touring Bihar holding rallies at which according to India Today "he has given a clarion call for class war"
What is needed is not for politicians like Singh to spout leftism when it suits them, but the establishment of working class anticommunal organisations across India. Such a movement would have to be against the main political parties. A serious fight against communalism would have to challenge not only those who stir it up, which includes religious fundamentalists, but also national and local parties, business interests, and landlords. Page 30
FEATURES
Punjab: State repression By Oliver New The Sikh fundamentalists have quite a narrow base of support in Punjab, but they continue to benefit from a crisis in which state repression and terrorism feed off each other.
In some areas they have set up their own courts and they have attempted to intimidate and murder not only their political opponents, but those of whom they disapprove. Women have been told they must wear traditional dress, traders have been told to stop selling tobacco and alcohol; teachers, journalists and broadcasters have been told to stop using Hindi.
Criminals have been taking advantage of the instability, one estimate is that 90% of so-called terrorist crime is carried out by criminals for gain. There is no dividing line between youth genuinely attracted by the radical appeal of the Khalistani movement and those who use the gun for personal gain.
Furthermore, the prolonged period of crisis in Punjab has led to the growth of close links not merely between the militant fundamentalists and criminals, but also between both and the police. Some landlords have a strong vested interest in the situation.
The army has been brought in to try to restore confidence in the ability of the state to keep control, but it has no political legitimacy.
Direct rule from Delhi will end only when elections are held, and most of India's national parties are reluctant to see an election in which they expect to perform badly. They have eamed themselves nothing but hatred through their policy of naked repression and their failure to search for a solution.
Only the Communists have campaigned sincerely against communalism, many paying the price of assassination. The deadly-dull TV soaps with predictably happy endings for communal harmony are certainly not the stuff to win hearts and minds.
The national parties know it would be hard to pick up a sizeable Hindu vote: it is not there to be won. The 1981 census showed 52% Sikhs in the Punjab to 46% Hindus. Today the figures are estimated to be 68% to 30%. Many Hindus have migrated out of Punjab and many more Sikhs and Hindus have moved into the towns for safety, often not registering themselves.
The rise of the Hindu fundamentalism has correspondingly strengthened the hand of the Khalistanis. The successive governments in Delhi are more interested in placating them than developing a democratic anti-communalist policy. There is therefore a crying need for a grass roots movement of the left to break the circle of state repression and com munalism. SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 30. February 1991
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