Christians from all over India recently gathered in the Capital to protest against the Hindutva assault on their faiths in different parts of the country. On May 29, 2007, when they all assembled at Jantar Mantar seeking the government’s intervention to protect their institutions and people, it was a reminder to all of us that in a plural society, every one needs to appreciate the contribution of linguistic and religious minorities in its development. The gathering of Christians was, therefore, not seen in isolation and had support from all those who believe that the best bet for India’s survival is cohesiveness of different ethnic, religious, secular groups. In the past few months, the goons of the Hindutva forces have targeted the community and their faith leaders in various North Indian States, particularly Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat. States like Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, where the Christian population is abysmally low, are introducing special laws to prohibit conversion. Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand have already enacted laws prohibiting conversion. It is these States where extra-constitutional groups of the Hindutva brigade have taken it on themselves to do not only moral policing over people’s behaviour but also convert the tribals and Dalits back to the brahmanical fold. With Hindutva devotees at the seats of power, the goons are having a free day to kill anyone at their will. The assaults on Christian institutions have wider implications. The freedom of the gangs of Hindutva has become agony for all peace loving people including the minorities. We must also understand that minorities suffer from certain dilemmas and such assaults isolate them further and strengthen the theocratic leadership in the community. Moreover, the assault on Muslims and Christians is deliberate to suppress the internal contradictions within the Varna system. With UP gone out of their hand, the Sangh Parivar would re-launch its assault on the Muslims and Christians so that the assertion of Dalits, adivasis and backward classes is diverted against the ‘enemies’ and Brahmins and brahmindom have an unchallenged supremacy in the broader Hindu Samaj.
In many of these States the Bharatiya Janata Party, the political wing of Hindutva’s discriminating and destructive ideology, is in power. Much before they slaughtered Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, it was the Christians, their churches and their educational institutions, which were targeted by the lumpen Hindutva organisations. The unaccountability of the Hindutva forces and their various offshoots emerges from the open encouragement and support from the ruling parties in these States. It is not only outrageous but also unconstitutional that the State governments run by the Bharatiya Janata Party behave conspicuously and indulge in double-speak justifying these assaults in the name of intrusion of foreign culture and threat to India’s unity.
Look, what happened in Gujarat recently where the Kolis were on the street seeking justice. Narendra Modi never loses sight of targeting the Muslims and Christians who, he fears, are proselytising the tribals by throwing money at them. Absolutely farcical Mr Modi, Gujarati Banias and Brahmins have enough money to buy up as much as the evangelical groups, so please ask them to go into the villages, sit with the Dalits and tribals, share their agonies and pains. But we know it well that that is impossible in brahmanical Gujarat; citizens of the State use multiculturalism in the West to reap its benefits but the same people become Hindu chauvinists when the issue of multiculturalism crops up in their own State. In another way, Gujarat’s psyche has become totally brahmanised and a mere change of Narendra Modi would not work. An assertion of Dalits, Adivasis and backward communities (Gujarat’s backwards are Hinduised), for their political rights, in coalition with Muslims and Christians, would pave the way for throwing up a challenge against the current Hindutva culture prevailing in the State.
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