Ram Puniyani
A
friend with dogged determination to show that the BJP is a lesser culprit of
communal violence and that Congress is the major party to be blamed, listed the
major communal riots in India and showed that most of the time when violence
took place, it was Congress which has been the ruling party. He asks, so why
get stuck with one episode of Gujarat violence and put it as a major point
against Narendra Modi or BJP for that matter? Others also regularly point out
that the role of Congress was no different in anti Sikh pogrom of 1984 in Delhi,
when so many Congressmen were involved at various levels in anti Sikh pogrom. If
Modi justified Gujarat by saying ‘every action has an opposite reaction’ Rajiv
Gandhi also told us ‘when a big tree falls, the earth shakes’. So why single
out Modi-BJP being worse than Congress on the scale of ‘who is more responsible
for communal violence’.
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| Gujarat - 2002 |
During
the British period while the blame can be put to the communal history
introduced by British and their subtle moves to play one community against the
other, the communal forces cannot be exonerated for their role in perpetuating
violence. The police authorities that time played the role of a neutral
observer. What is important here to see that there are multiple agencies that
played different types of role in the tragedy of Hindu Muslim violence? The
blame at this stage has to be apportioned to British policies (especially there
introduction of communal historiography and the policy of ‘divide and rule’),
to the communal forces in equal measures. At this stage the police-administration
cannot be blamed for the role in violence.
Things
gradually started changing. After independence the role of Administration-Police
gradually started becoming partisan. The research of Dr. V.N.Rai, police officer
of repute, showed that no violence can go on unless the administration,
political forces included, wants it that way. The major blame has to go to the
communal forces, who not only kept on spreading canards against minority
community but some of their elements used communal violence to polarize the
community along religious lines. The polarization along religious lines did
help the communal forces to consolidate themselves in the social-political and
electoral arena. Many a politicians from other parties also sometimes used the
violence to either retain the power or to come to power. The inquiry commission
reports during this time uniformly tell the role of communal forces. Jagmohan
Reddy Commission on Ahmadabad riots of 1969 talks of the active participation
of RSS-Jansangh leaders, Jan Sangh is the previous avatar of BJP. Major blame has
to go to these forces, though they were not in power.
In
Bhivandi Jalgaon riots of 1970 Justice D.P. Madon states that ‘section of Hindu
elements particularly RSS and some PSP men were bent upon crating mischief, and
they could succeed because of the passive police’. Justice Joseph Vithayathil
on Tellicherry riots of 1971 points out that the anti Muslim propaganda was
begun by RSS-Jan Sangh which changed the situation leading to communal
polarization. In 1979 Jamshedpur riots, the report of commission of inquiry
says that Samyukta Bajarangbalis Akhada Samiti, related to RSS was the one
which deliberately created the dispute on the issue of route of procession and
the members of Samiti raised anti Muslim slogans leading to violence. Justice
Venugopal on Kanykumari 1982 riots makes the observation about the role of RSS
in spreading rumors etc., the rumors acted as instigation to violence. Justice
Srikrishna Commission also makes it clear that the BJP ally Shiv Sena’s role in
Mumbai violence was very stark.
So
the question is if there is some ruling party, should it be totally blamed? The
violence is an outcome of divisive propaganda, communal instigation, role of
police and the attitude of the ruling party. They all have separate blames to
take. While the ruling party, which has been Congress most of the places has to
be blamed for its soft handing of violence, sometimes overlooking the violence,
and sometimes being the active instigator as in the example of Delhi in particular.
The role of police is very central. The police which was neutral at the time of
British rule today has gone to become the most partisan player in this tragic
phenomenon as seen in the Dhule riots of 2012 in Maharashtra. Here the role of
the Hindu mob was not needed as police did the firing on its own and killed the
hapless minority victims.
So
how do we compare BJP and Congress as far as communal violence is concerned?
BJP is the political child of RSS. Communal propaganda, rumors, polarization,
instigation and violence has been led by RSS combine from the front by this organization
and its affiliates, the different progeny of RSS. Gujarat is the ‘total’
example, while in other episodes also it has played the crucial central role.
Not being in power does not mean it has not played the central instigator role.
This argument that Congress has been mostly in rule so it is to be blamed for
violence has been cleverly constructed for propaganda purposes. While Congress
cannot be exonerated for its role in the violence, its role cannot be compared
with that of BJP in any sense. Barring one example of the tragedy of Anti Sikh
violence, where the role of Congress was central, in other cases mostly its
acts were that of omission, while BJP and company have central role in most
acts of violence.
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| Anti-Sikh Riots - Delhi 1984 Courtesy: Wikipedia |
Notwithstanding
the fact that communal violence is a multi-factorial phenomenon, two wrongs
don’t make a right, Congress needs to tighten the total link from bottom to
top, and rectify the factors which have been leading to communal violence. The
communal propaganda, the laxity of laws, the impunity with which the guilty
officers get away. It needs to bring in anti communal violence bill to see that
this sub human phenomenon is put to rest. The propaganda emerging from RSS
combine stable is totally misleading to say the least.
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