Advani's Pak visit a challenge to Hindu fanaticism

By Ghulam Muhammed
Al-Jazeerah, June 10, 2005

For Indian Muslims, the brouhaha over L.K. Advani’s pep talk during his Pakistan visit does not induce any change of assessment of what Sangh Parivar and its fundamental ideology stand for.
Advani had been Sangh Parivar’s ideologue and strategician. Given his past 'successes' over Babri Masjid demolition and the current stalemate in BJP’s prospects to increase its vote catchments area, to include the fertile Muslim lands, he had completely lost touch with the stark fact, that is not a leader of RSS, but only a follower.
The die-hards will support him, only if he sticks to their basic premises. He cannot chalk out new initiatives that can impinge on the sanctity of Sangh Parivar’s eternal enemies, the Muslims, Pakistan and Jinnah.
On the other hand, if Advani thought he can win over some Muslim votes by making friendly noises from across the border, he has not yet grasped the depth of Muslim enmity towards him in particular. They will not like anything better than for him to be tried as the conspirator in chief of the conspiracy to demolish Babri Masjid, to achieve his political goal of breaking Congress monopoly of power, which was supposed to be solidly based on loyal support of Muslim vote bank. Both Vajpayee and Advani had been making cosmetic changes over BJP’s exclusivist policies against Muslims. However, Gujarat had put paid to all their past and future efforts to lure Muslims into their parlors.
Not that Congress has any special deal for Muslims as far as the overall Brahmanical order stipulates. As Pratap Bhanu Mehta writes in his Indian Express article: The Jinnah Touchstone: ‘Surprise, surprise, Congress scratched, turns out to be closer to RSS, stuck in the past.’
Still Congress has been more successful in manipulating Muslim psyche, with any number of bridges across the long river of history shared by its own homegrown and homebred hard-line Hindu protagonists and the spineless Muslim masses, terrorized by the combined forces of Congress and RSS cadre, through staging communal riots all over the country.
Where does Pakistan and Jinnah come into this seemingly eternal tragedy of communal divide that could not be healed even by a life-wrenching partition of the country itself and passing of over half a century?
Without harboring any lofty and noble pretences, Pakistan’s pragmatic leadership has gone out its way to play a very fine game of brinkmanship by successfully inspiring confidence in Indian leadership of a genuine Pakistani desire to call it a day, as far as the corrosive enmity is concerned that the hard-liners of both neighbors had nourished in search of security from each others real or imagine designs on each other.
Inviting the same extremist Hindutva leader that conspired and worked hard to organize a mass movement to demolish Babri Masjid, and offering him to lay down foundation stone of temples, dear to their Hindu mythology, was an act sharply in contrast to the one single-most source of deep Hindu hurt of Mahmood Gazni’s destruction of Somnath Mandir.
If Musharraf of the ‘naya dil’ was not the kind of zealot that the Hindus hated and demonized, he had gone on to give a solid proof of Muslim toleration that does not contradict with the best traditions of early Islam.
Though it came easier for Musharraf rather than for the hard-line Pakistani religious leaders to show a sign of great magnanimity; the fact that hardly a single voice was raised on Advani’s visit to lay the foundation stone of the temples, does go to prove that Muslim masses, even in Pakistan are not as fanatic as the Sangh Parivar’s Togadias and Singhals have come out to prove.
To brand Advani, the very brand leader of their anti-Muslim political existence, as a traitor, alluding possibly to his Karachi birth and his non-Brahmin status, shows how deeply poisoned their psyche had become, following their losses in election after elections, and nary a sign of any future recovery to hold them together.
The shock of Advani resignation from the Presidency of BJP, that attracted huge media focus on the negative role of RSS Parivar, may get majority of moderate Hindus to further move away from the politics of Muslim-baiting and thus further reduce the chances of BJP ever coming out with any success with their negative politics. It is to be seen, if Advani can ever regain his confidence to be an effective leader of his rowdy flock after having suffered the worst humiliation of his long political career at their hands. And what mask he will be forced to wear, if he chooses to continue to hang on to his political aspiration to lead his party and through them the country.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai, India. <Ghulam_muhammed2@yahoo.co.in>

BJP Hopes to Come Out With Face - Saving to End Crisis

Nilofar Suhrawardy, Arab News
NEW DELHI, 10 June 2005 — The rumblings in the Bharatiya Janata Party, caught in a crisis over L.K. Advani’s refusal to reconsider his resignation, continued with senior party leaders engaged yesterday in trying to find a way to pacify him and bring an end to the crisis.
Advani apparently was not pleased with the one-line resolution passed by BJP on Wednesday evening, asking him to reconsider his resignation. The resolution did not mention his Pakistan visit.
The BJP leaders said they would be meeting today in the evening. They were earlier scheduled to meet yesterday evening. While announcing postponement of yesterday’s meeting, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj did not give any reason.
Party sources, however, revealed that the meeting was postponed to gain more time for working out a compromise formula. According to BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Jaswant Singh had also expressed his desire to attend BJP’s crucial meeting. Jaswant will be returning from Israel today.
BJP leaders worked yesterday on a face-saving formula that would please Advani and also the hard-liners who had taken offense to his comments on Muhammed Ali Jinnah and Babri Masjid made during his Pakistan-trip.
The fresh resolution seeks to strike a balance between “Advani’s hurt feelings and popular sentiments,” party sources said. The new resolution focuses on Advani’s visit to Pakistan without defending Jinnah’s secular credentials. Hailing Advani’s Pakistan visit as a political and diplomatic success, the revised resolution also asks people to see his remarks on Jinnah in its entire context.
Meanwhile, interested in blocking Advani’s return as the party chief, the Rashtriya Sewak Sangh (RSS) has rejected BJP’s revised resolution. The RSS wants Advani to retract his controversial statement, which he is not willing to even consider.
The two strongly divergent views circulating in Delhi’s political circles are on whether Advani would withdraw his resignation or not.
One group claims that prospects of Advani reconsidering his resignation are nonexistent. According to this group, the revised resolution praising his Pakistan-visit is aimed at setting the stage for Advani’s “face-saving” exit from the party’s presidentship. This section views that the BJP cannot afford to alienate the Sangh Parivar by pacifying Advani and ignoring his comments on Jinnah.
Several senior party leaders are however confident that the revised resolution would move Advani to withdraw his resignation. “He is an emotional person and he will not orphan us,” a close associate said. “The redrafted resolution at best is aimed at soothing his hurt sentiments so that he continues to guide the party,” party sources said.
There is also an opinion that sooner or later, Advani is bound to reconsider his decision, as the resignation-drama is nothing but a well-calculated strategy to keep BJP in the limelight.
This stand is supported by Advani having handed in his resignation on Tuesday only to Sanjay Joshi, RSS pointman in BJP. He has not resigned from the party and has not relinquished his position as leader of the opposition in the Parliament.
He has deliberately not taken these steps, for he has only been playing for time observing the degree that this strategy helps in changing his image from a hard-liner to that of a secular person.
With an eye on Bihar assembly elections, apparently, Advani regarded this “change” as essential.
Senior party leaders, led by Venkaiah Naidu showed Advani the revised resolution yesterday. Naidu was accompanied by party general secretaries Sanjay Joshi and Pramod Mahajan.
Among others who called on Advani to persuade him to withdraw his resignation were Uma Bharati, Naqvi and Navjot Singh Siddhu.
Meanwhile, Advani’s resignation has triggered a new debate in the country. There is a section that holds Jinnah as a “secular.” Crediting Jinnah for his role in the freedom struggle, this section blames the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru for partition of the country.

True Face of Advani Exposed : Rawar

Shahid Raza Burney, Arab News
BOMBAY, 10 June 2005 — Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar joined the growing chorus of leader who took aim at the former BJP President Lal Krishna Advani here yesterday.
He said, Advani who had throughout his life castigated the founder of India, Mahatma Gandhi, for the 1947 partition, today is admiring the founder of Pakistan Muhammed Ali Jinnah in Pakistan.
Pawar said people now know what level the BJP leaders can stoop to for power, and the true face of Advani is now before the people.
The BJP and its allies have been lambasting Gandhi, who fought till his last breath of his life for the unity of the country and to prevent bloodshed between Muslims and Hindus, till date. Suddenly these very communal leaders go to Pakistan and praise the Pakistani leader, knowing fully well that Jinnah had demanded the creation of an independent country.
“Strange are the BJP’s nationalism and patriotism,” said Pawar, adding had Advani taken this into consideration during his chariot rally to Ayodhya, the bloodshed of the poor could have been prevented and communal riots would have not taken place.
Even some in the BJP and many in the RSS are not prepared to accept the new face of Advani that has now been exposed before the people, he said.
In another major development, the two-day NCP convention began in Surat yesterday.
A former Shiv Sena legislator Ramesh Prabhu met the NCP president and is likely to join the NCP. A large number of Shiv Sena and BJP party workers are also reported to have joined the NCP.

Muslim? Change your name like me

Tariq Ahmed: Became Daniel JacobWhat happens when the world changes around you and suddenly your face doesn't seem to fit? Tariq Ahmed, a British Muslim who changed his name to beat prejudice, tells his story.
Almost four years since 9/11 and it's still talked about like yesterday. That's four years in the spotlight for Muslims around the world, most of whom, like the rest of us may never have heard the name Osama bin Laden before the attack on America.
While many Muslims will tell you the name Osama has a beautiful ring in their culture (it means "like a lion") to many Western ears it is synonymous with terrorism.
If you want to find a job when you are out of work and a Muslim, then change your name
Tariq AhmedIn the case of Tariq Ahmed, a young London public relations executive, the fact that 9/11 was at the forefront of other people's minds led him to a radical decision - he changed his name to get a job.
Tariq had been working in Germany and returned to the UK following 9/11. With a mixed Muslim and Indian-Christian heritage, the complexities of identity were simply something that he had grown up with. And this experience had taught him a lot about stereotypes.
"The Muslims in this country are OK. We are not linked to terrorism. We are well educated, we have good jobs. We don't eat curry all the time and we even have the odd drink now and again," he says.
"[But] my 'brand' is Muslim and for people who don't know me or see me, but see my name on a CV, they will associate me with being Muslim."
Tariq said that he first noticed a subtle problem in people's perceptions when he speculatively sent his CV to corporate headhunters in the City.
Name test
"I sent my CV off and friends in very similar situations were doing that kind of exercise," he says. "And they were getting calls in for interviews, they were getting job offers and I was not.
"Then a friend said to me, 'What about your name? What about changing your name?' So I decided to test it."
If [Muslim] people want to achieve their objectives, then they have to understand the more they adapt or the more they can fit in without losing their core identity, the better it will be for them
Tariq AhmedSheikh Ali Tariq Ahmed became Daniel Jacob. And when he sent his original CV back out to the same companies who had shown no interest, "Daniel" got calls.
The fact that his new name was Jewish is coincidental, he says. Jacob is his mother's family name and he chose Daniel because it was innocuous and Anglo-Saxon.
Surprised by what he had found, he went the final step and legally changed his name by Deed Poll to Daniel Jacob.
"It was amazing because the interest was so much more obvious than before," he says. "If you want to find a job when you are out of work and a Muslim, then change your name and it will happen more quickly. Believe me, I know."
Tariq's experiences have made him philosophical. He says he remains proud of his Muslim upbringing - but also believes that you don't have to wear your culture on your sleeve.
When he returned recently to work, at the same company which employed him in Germany, colleagues encouraged him to change his name back to Tariq, something he has now done.
What this has taught him, he says, is that Muslims need to regard western wariness of Islam as a particularly challenging PR project.
"If people want to achieve their objectives, then they have to understand the more they adapt or the more they can fit in without losing their core identity, the better it will be for them and the better it will be for society."
Tariq and others tell their stories of living as British Muslims in Don't Panic, I'm Islamic, on Sunday 12 June at 1900 GMT on BBC Two.

Mere Facelift Won’t Do

Kuldip Nayar

It happens to political parties as to individuals. They become old even when they are young in years. At 25, the BJP looks jaded, sounds outmoded and stuck in the past. The party reminds you of the fable of a horrible old man who clung to the back of Sindbad the Sailor.

The party is celebrating its silver jubilee but there is everything in ideas and policies to suggest that it is the same Jana Sangh of yore. There is no difference in the attitude and the party has picked up the thread of parochialism, fundamentalism and even arrogance from where it left off. Still when the erstwhile Jana Sangh group parted company with the declining Janata Party in 1979 and gave itself the new name of BJP, it appeared as if a new outburst of ideology — Hindu nationalism — had taken over. But it has turned out to be Hindu chauvinism and it is worsening day by day.

The reading that the Jana Sangh members merged with the post-emergency Janata Party to get respectability of secularism has come true. In 1977, they swore by the Gandhian socialism and secularism at the Raj Ghat. Two years later, they took a 180-degree turnabout and refused to break links with the RSS, the preceptor of Hindutva. One had imagined that even the RSS would have realized that communal politics could not strike roots in a country which inhaled the air of tolerance and accommodation for centuries. Apparently, the RSS had joined the Janata to poach into the territory of secular groups. This was proved when the BJP assembled the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Strangely the RSS, which first constituted the Jana Sangh and then the BJP to serve as its political instrument, never faced the reality: It was counterproductive to argue that Hinduism was in danger in a country where Hindus numbered 80 per cent. Religious parties in Pakistan and Bangladesh are doing the same, appealing to Muslims in the name of Islam and polluting the atmosphere. They too are losing the ground after the initial bout of activity.

After leading the NDA for six years, the BJP should have known that it got support from secular elements because it kept apart its core agenda of building a temple at Ayodhya and of deleting Article 370 that gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Both of these emphasized India’s ethos: pluralism and diversity. For the BJP to go back to the line that the Jana Sangh took is proving fatal. The cauldron of communalism cannot be put on fire twice. The BJP has experienced this by vainly reviving the mandir issue.

The success of the party in the past was because of the mistakes that the Congress committed. Rajiv Gandhi amended the Constitution to undo the Supreme Court’s judgement which gave maintenance to Shah Bano, a Muslim divorcee. The BJP exploited the situation since Hindus felt horrified over a secular party compromising with communalism. Later, when Rajiv Gandhi had the locks at the Babri Masjid opened to placate Hindus the BJP had a field day. But now the atmosphere has changed and the voters have become mature.

Had the BJP become purely NDA, not only by shelving part of its agenda but by jettisoning it altogether, it might have emerged as an alternative. People, not happy with the Congress, might have begun thinking whether the BJP should be strengthened to cast off its Hindutva clothes. (In the sixties many joined the Congress to change it from within). The biggest fallout would have been a dent in the Muslim vote which makes a difference in some 200 Lok Sabha seats in the 546-member house.

Muslims are not enamoured of the Congress because they have been at the receiving end in the riots during the party’s regimes. Still they might have supported the BJP in the Hindi-speaking States at least to find out if the leopard had changed its spots. The leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee did make many Muslims and liberal Hindus tilt towards the BJP which looked fiercely Hindu nationalist, but not anti-Muslim.

This was despite the harm done by three people: LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Narendra Modi. Maybe, they brought to the fore the real face of the BJP. Maybe, they thought that the foundation of a Hindu Rashtra had to be laid when the BJP was in power. Maybe, they imagined that they had changed the Indian people to such an extent that they would give up their traditional spirit of living together in peace, whatever their religion.

Advani of the Rath Yatra fame communalized the administration. He saw to it that the RSS wishes were carried out to the extent of pracharaks serving as Governors and ministers in the BJP-ruled States or members in the Rajya Sabha. Joshi was the Education Minister who changed India’s history to spread the RSS line that Hindus were a suppressed lot in the best of Muslim rulers. He tried to spoil the minds of children, similar to what the books in Pakistan have been doing since the country’s birth. Strange, the Confidence Building Measures between the two countries have not a single committee to look into the books taught in the two countries.

In fact, it is Modi who has delivered a fatal blow to the BJP. The planned killing of thousands of Muslims in Gujarat has alienated minorities and liberals for decades to come. He may have exposed the real agenda of the BJP and in doing so he took the mask off from people like Vajpayee and Jaswant Singh, who were considered the liberal faces of the party. Their lack of action against Modi, when the BJP was ruling at the Centre, ended the illusion of some liberal Hindus who hoped against hope that the BJP could be reformed.

The BJP does not admit that Gujarat cost it the Lok Sabha elections. But its poll ally Telugu Desam has openly admitted it. In fact, Telugu Desam leader Chandrababu Naidu is so disillusioned that he has begun the exercise of assembling a non-BJP and non-Congress alternative at the Centre. The Left on which the Congress depends for its survival is helping him.

What has happened to the BJP in the first 25 years should be a lesson to the party — if it needs to learn any — that it cannot come to power with its anti-Muslim image. Twenty-five years should be an adequate period for the party to understand the country’s temperament. Secularism may still be weak in the country but nobody can play around with its ethos. The party can retire Vajpayee or Advani and have a younger person from among the squabbling second and third line leaders. Still, it cannot go far if the party does not change its characters
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The views are completely of the writer and not of the publiser