India’s familiarity with secularism, the BJP and its affiliates have met (and will meet) very strong resistance from India’s press and the civil society.
Unlike Zia, the BJP and RSS rely on the electorate to keep supporting them and keep them in power in different states (police is a state subject in India). Now that the Trojan horse is revealed, they will find it difficult to use stealth as a weapon.
There are, however, several problems that need to be addressed first. The secular political parties are still reeling from the spectacular implosion of the Congress Party and its inability to recover from it.
Another problem is that public memory of the loot by the ‘secular’ political parties is still fresh in public memory. The Congress, RJD, DMK, SP and other regional political parties are still stained by charges of corruption and pseudo-secular politics.
The ‘secular’ political parties are themselves guilty of using vote bank politics and supporting the regressive leaders among minorities. To compound their follies, they have also peddled soft ‘Hindutva’ where it suited them.
Durga Puja celebrations have been banned for the last three years by the local administration in the Hindu majority Nalhati village in the Birbhum district of West Bengal owing to pressure from the Muslim community. Tensions had flared up over an earlier cow slaughter ban imposed by the local administration to appease the Hindus.
Another problem, as pointed out by noted journalist Ravish Kumar recently, is that the liberals in India are lazily denouncing ‘Hindutva’ from their cosy living rooms while the ‘Hindutva’ organisations are spreading their message at the grassroots level.
The fragmented secular organisations and the media need to regroup and counter this assault by hate peddlers, and they need to do it fast. There will be conflicts of interest but they need to rise above their narrow outlooks.
A window of opportunity has risen as the government reels from spectacular protests and return of prestigious national awards by more than a hundred scientists and intellectuals, several filmmakers, artists and writers. They need to grab the opportunity and consolidate their efforts to reclaim India from the dark forces.
The writer is an IT professional, anddevelopment and peace activist based in Ghaziabad, India.
Email: samirguptacklear@yahoo.com
There are over 11 million Pakistanis settled abroad, out of which around six million work in Gulf and Middle East
This year alone, US Treasury would have to roll-over $10 to $14 trillion in maturing short-term debt
Tear gas no longer marks just protest sites; it paints entire cities as battlegrounds but then again, PTI did it first
Political structures and governance systems have been central to economic and social development
It is confirmed now 40 Pakistanis had died after boat of migrants had capsized in sea near Greece
Many people believe that in future, AI will play an even more significant role in their lives
