The Gujarat elections will obviously reflect a feeling. Will there be an effect on the country at large? Will it be correct to presume a Gujarati-Hindu as a representative of the Indian Hindu community? Who in fact is a Hindu and can his political identity be limited?
Several leading historians suggest that Hinduism has never had a precise definition. In K.N. Panikkar’s view, “Hinduism cannot be described historically as a religion with a founder and an ecclesiastical organization. The term Hindu dharma itself is of relatively recent origin.”
Even a rudimentary glance at India’s political spectrum indicates several dozen political identities which Indian “Hindus” belong to. It is difficult to find even one to represent of the Hindus all over the country. This is primarily because their political affiliation largely rests on their ethnic and regional affiliations. The explanation is simple — each Hindu has reason enough to be more concerned about his regional, political and economic needs than what concerns Hindus in other states.
Ethnic differences within the Hindu community are, however, not confined to varying regional linkages. In fact, against the backdrop of regional variation, there are groups with differing socio-political identities. What this suggests is the limited political appeal held by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s right-winged agenda for Hindu community at large.
Against this backdrop, the anti-BJP politicians have not ceased to exploit this factor in the Gujarat race. Laloo Prasad Yadav, while campaigning for Congress in Gujarat, even mocked the “Hindu” agenda propagated by BJP-candidates, including Chief Minister Narendra Modi. “I am a better Hindu than they (BJP leaders),” he said.
In fact, this has been the strategy adopted by Congress workers. During their interaction with Gujarati-Hindus, Congress workers have gone around questioning rival-groups’ religious identities and asserting their own. Their common note has been, “We are better Hindus. There has been nothing religious about communal extremism extending to riots promoted by BJP and its right-winged associates. Religion is our personal affair. Why should we overload politics with religion and ignore the economic problems afflicting us all?”
Intra-party differences within the BJP cannot be delinked from the caste factor. Not wishing to alienate any group, the BJP high command made Keshubhai Patel prominently responsible for the party’s state campaign and Modi the likely chief ministerial candidate. In fact, the unusually great importance accorded to anti-Pakistan and anti-terrorism rhetoric during BJP’s campaign by Modi may also have been deliberate to divert attention from other problems. The same also applies to the attempt made by BJP and its associates to focus on anti-Muslim propaganda. It may be viewed as a move aimed at earning the support of the entire Hindu community by “uniting” it against the Muslims. Communal polarization along religious lines falls in this bracket.
However, the BJP, from its inception, has erred in assuming that the anti-Pakistan, anti-Muslim and/or the pro-Hindutva factor would help it succeed in securing the vote of the entire Hindu community. Such success would imply the collapse of the various regional parties in favor of BJP. With the opinion polls suggesting a close race between BJP and Congress, whatever the actual verdict, the entire Hindu community of Gujarat cannot be bracketed as one political group. Socio-economic aspirations of the average Gujarati, Hindu or Muslim, would be far different from those of a Tamil or a Kashmiri. The same is true for their political affiliations.
Arab News Opinion 12 December 2002
