Whither secular politics? By Meghnad Desai 16 Dec 07 (http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1139761)
Who knows what the Gujarat results will be? But I know one thing. Far too many of my 'right-minded' friends are making their wishes father to their thoughts.
Because they do not like Modi they think he will lose. They pour over the exit polls and discuss caste divisions earnestly and hope that some combination of patidar/kshatriya/adivasis, among others, will topple Modi. Of course, what will replace him is beautiful, secular Gujarat.
The very premise of the argument shows how false it is. One caste combination is supposed to be secular (though Muslims are kept firmly out of the story), and another is said to be Hindutva-based.
The truth is that there is no secular politics left in India. There are caste vote banks and Muslims are just another caste.
The only issue is that except where they have a large enough concentration (as in Hyderabad), they dare not form their caste party. They must live forever on Congress's uncertain charity.
Thus, while Modi is to be blamed and never to be forgiven unless he comes clean about his role in the post-Godhra riots, there is no hope that what may come instead of him will be any different from what he has to offer.
I hate to be cynical but if for four and three-quarter years since 2002 the Congress did not stir itself to define an alternative to Modi, why do we think it will do so now? If all it hopes is that divisions within the BJP — Patels and others revolting — will get Modi out, it has a purely negative strategy.
That said, the maut ke suadagar line was very effective and really got under Modi's skin. His retaliation was equally effective. What followed, however, was the usual bankrupt shenanigans of Indian politics. Someone said Modi should be hauled before the Election Commission.
The fact that the Commission's Manual of Good Conduct says no one shall use caste or religion to obtain votes shows what a laughable thing the Manual is. If anyone took it seriously, India would have few political parties left.
But of course, no one takes the Manual seriously. It is only a ploy to embarrass the Opposition, often the non-secular one. But this time for once the BJP was ready and turned the tables by referring Sonia as well.
The Congress responded by giving a yes/no answer one day after another as total confusion reigned, since it does not think that such laws were made to restrict its own behaviour. So the entire episode was just a waste of time for a body which is struggling to stay neutral.
India's problem is not one of secularism though it would be nice to have at least one political party which genuinely subscribed to it. Even the CPM buckled under pressure.
Not only did it surrender to the mullahs over Tasleema Nasreen but even worse, Buddhadev put a gingerly toe in the Ram Setu debate and argued that Rama may not exist, and then quickly withdrew his statement, saying he was only quoting Tagore. Good on Tagore and shame on Buddhadev. If a Communist cannot be a decent atheist what hope is there for the rest of the country?
The day the first phase of the Gujarat elections took place was also the 85th birthday of Dilip Kumar. It was worth reflecting that Dilip Kumar and his hero, Nehru, are aliens in this India.
Their values of robust disregard for religion in the public domain have been totally forgotten. Indeed, Hindu-Muslim riots recommenced after a break of 17 years when Nehru died.
Since then bad has gone to worse and the 1984 Hindu pogrom against Delhi Sikhs remains unanswered for. Rajiv Gandhi should have been prosecuted for justifying extrajudicial killing but alas such charges cannot be levelled against any Congress leader.
Thus while many screamed at Modi for mentioning Shahabuddin in his reply to Sonia Gandhi, the truth is that extra-judicial killing is routine in India. It is only that there is also a fine legal structure which is available to prosecute people for it.
This structure is routinely abused and finally two Supreme Court judges have said in their obiter dicta that enough is enough.The judiciary is routinely called upon arbitrarily and asymmetrically to do the dirty job of those in power and ignored or bullied when it turns to admonish the powerful.
It is not enough to have an independent judiciary. What India lacks is a legal infrastructure that would treat everyone in and out of power whether secular or communal as equal in the eyes of the law.
What we have instead is legal noise which clogs up the system and protects the powerful. After all, Buddhadev also justified the extra-judicial killing in Nandigram and even weeks later, no one has filed a PIL against him.
Wake up Indians. This is your country. Don't let the politicians ruin it.
The writer is an economist.
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