GUJARAT A TEST CASE OF INDIA'S SECULARISM
By O. P. Modi
For the last three months India's Armed Forces are on high alert and the Army is
amassed all along the Indo-Pak border. The massive deployment is for the defence
of India's secular polity and integrity. The forces have been there to prevent
Pakistan from spreading the poison of the two nations theory inside the Indian
territory. Ever since its inception, in 1947, that has been our real problem
with Pakistan. Unfortunately what is happening at home, in Gujarat, is not in
parity with our alertness on the borders.
The burning alive of fifty-eight Kar Sevaks near the Godhra railway station,
followed by massacre of hundreds of innocent men, women and children, belonging
to the minority community, has shown that there is something very seriously
wrong. The rulers in Gujarat and at the Centre seem to have forgotten that it is
a continuing war between the two ideologies; the one that stands for oneness of
mankind, irrespective of caste, creed and colour and the other that spreads
hatred and dissension among the people of different faiths. The integrity of our
faith in secular culture is in no way less important than the territorial
integrity of our country. If we are so concerned for the latter, we need to be
equally concerned for the former.
Pakistan's successive rulers have believed that as Jammu and Kashmir is a Muslim
majority state it should belong to them. Under this misconceived notion they
have tried to snatch away the state from India and attacked this country four
times (Kargil included). In the process Pakistan not only suffered humiliating
defeat after defeat; but also lost the eastern part (Bangladesh). Having been
defeated repeatedly not only on the battlefield, but also in their belief that
Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations, Pakistanis have attempted to break
our resolve to adhere to the ideals of secularism and national unity, by waging
a proxy war and committing innumerable terrorist crimes against our people.
Godhra tragedy shows how Pakistan's ISI was able to poison the minds of the
Muslims who attacked the train and set it on fire.
Our forces were deployed on the borders after the abortive terrorist attack on
13th December on the Indian Parliament, which is the citadel of our secular
principles and democracy. Although Pakistan's repeated design to destroy the
secular foundation of India's existence as one nation has been frustrated every
time, the recent communal carnage in Gujarat needs to be treated as the grimmest
warning ever. Such happenings are a threat to our nation's foundations of
communal harmony and unity in diversity. Once again, though belatedly, the army
had to be called out to restore peace in Gujarat. How long can we depend upon
our army, or for that matter our judiciary, to restore and imbibe the brotherly
feelings among the citizens of India belonging to so many religious,
sub-religious groups, sects and creeds?
It is no use blaming Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the tragic
happenings in his state. He is a person who had the impudence to explain away
the violent disturbances by citing Newton's Law of action and reaction for the
massacre of hundreds of people. However, the most shocking part of the Gujarat
bloodbath was the stupor the NDA Government had fallen into for almost two days
after the Godhra carnage. The worst is that instead of straightaway being
dismissed by New Delhi, Narendra Modi's Government is still in office, while
Gujarat continues to smoulder.
The National Human Rights Commission chairman, former Chief Justice of India J S
Verma, said after visiting Gujarat: "It will take me two more days to overcome
what I have seen and heard in various violence - hit areas in the state. Shocked
by the tales of atrocities committed by rioters, Justice Verma says, "I cannot
even narrate what I have been told by women victims. I am really very disturbed
over it". He did not think that people "who have perpetrated violence have
anything to do with religion, whether it was Godhra or the carnage after that.
They should be treated as criminals and punished uniformly". Justice Verma
regretted that such ugly incidents had taken place in India, a country with a
rich cultural heritage and a composite ethos.
The print and electronic media in the country played their role in the most
befitting manner regarding happenings in Gujarat. Placing the facts truthfully
before the people, the media exposed the government's inefficiency and the
half-measured approach to restore peace in the State.
Gandhiji once said that fear is the worst enemy of mankind. The Muslims in
Gujarat and minorities elsewhere in the country are uneasy and are gravely
disturbed. If the minorities in India are to live in an atmosphere of fear, how
can there ever be real peace, which is a precondition for prosperity in any
country.
The Bush Administration's strong and prompt steps to protect the lives and
properties of seven lakh Muslim population of USA, after the 11th September
terrorist attack on WTC and the Pentagon, highlight the absolute necessity of
protecting all sections of the society for peace and progress. There can never
be true progress in a country where a section of the society is left behind; may
it be the result of fear, illiteracy or anything else.
The events in Gujarat have shown that presently there is no national level party
that would jealously guard the unity of the people from various faiths based on
the principle of secularism as enshrined in our Constitution. The Indian
National Congress of the foregone days is now a fractured lot. The old guards
belonging to it should join hands to revive the spirit of Hindu-Muslim unity
with full vigour and force. All non-communal political parties must come
together to face the challenge of divisive forces in the country.
Majority of one billion Indians trust the democratic secular system in the
country. Democracy essentially means non-religious approach to the problem of
the country. Secularism is the bedrock of a democracy. In a true democracy no
citizen can be denied the right to live a life of dignity and to have a say by
way of franchise and through the media. A political party that looks the other
way when a section of the population is in trouble has no future in this
country. The results of the next general elections will amply prove this fact. -CNF