By
Sanjay Kumar
The
Hindu right-wing government in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh
finally withdrew the order that aimed to introduce lessons from the religious
text, Bhagavad Gita, into school curriculums.
The
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — the ruling party of Madhya Pradesh — came under
heavy criticism from Muslim organisations and secular political parties, for
its attempt to alter the secular character of the Constitution. Members of the
All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) blamed the government for the
communalisation of the school textbooks, attempting to indoctrinate young minds
and sowing the seeds of prejudice among communities. The Congress Party also
attacked the BJP for tampering with the secular spirit of the country.
Previously,
the BJP-led government in Delhi that ruled from 1998 to 2004, made serious
attempts to change school textbooks and rewrite history. The whole idea was to
teach younger Indians a history which did not reflect the diversity of India
and portrayed it as a purely Hindu nation.
Let
us not forget that in the Gujarat riots of 2002 — where thousands of innocent
Muslims were killed by Hindu fanatics — the indoctrinated tribal people played
a prominent role. Moreover, the BJP’s presence in Gujarat, for 15 years or
more, has communalised the state to such an extent that any debate about the
country’s plurality receives derision from middle and upper classes of society.
The western Indian state has become a laboratory of radical Hindus.
Infiltration
into education is part of the larger game plan of undermining the religious
diversity of India and the fountainhead of this project is Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — the ideological godfather of the BJP.
Narendra
Modi, a radical Hindu leader and the chief minister of Gujarat — who was the
architect of the Muslim massacre in 2002 — is the product of this school of
thought. He is the presumptive prime ministerial candidate of the BJP and poses
a very serious danger to the pluralistic tradition of the nation. His rise in
Indian politics forces Indians to make a choice: do they want to see India as a
modern, plural country or as a nation intolerant of other cultures and faiths?
Even
during the freedom struggle, the RSS and its cohorts were busy propagating its
communal agenda and after independence, in 1947, the organisation continued
with its divisive agenda, which led to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi at
the hands of a Hindu zealot. Much before Islamic terror became a buzzword, the
RSS laid the foundation of Hindu terror in modern India. The violence in
Gujarat, in 2002, against a minority population was the extension of that
terror.
The
overwhelming secular and liberal forces in the country need deep introspection.
Can they allow their nation to be a playground for rabid communal forces that
are out to radicalise society?
Sixty-six
years ago, Indians made a pledge to establish a modern, pluralistic and secular
democracy; the time has come to redeem that pledge again and reassert the people’s
faith in the basic principles governing the nation.
The
radicalisation of the main opposition party, the BJP, is a matter of concern.
It is making a serious bid to capture power, in Delhi, next year. If that
happens, then what the Madhya Pradesh government is attempting to do today, the
BJP will try to replicate tomorrow in other parts of the country.
Should
Indians allow forces inimical to the idea of India to succeed?
[The
writer is a New Delhi-based broadcast journalist, contributor to the magazine,
The Diplomat and he tweets @destinydefier]