Narendra Modi’s conciliatory speech in Parliament, which was followed by a ‘chai pe charcha’ with Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, provided more examples of the prime minister’s changing persona. From being the hawkish Hindu hriday samrat at the time of the Gujarat riots, he appears to have evolved into the very epitome of moderation and inter-faith harmony.
As if this makeover was not enough, he demonstrated in the Lok Sabha speech that he has moved away from his rabblerousing provocative self to acknowledge that all previous governments had contributed to the nation’s development.
Moreover – surprise! surprise! – he lauded Jawaharlal Nehru’s big heart because the former prime minister complimented his bitter critic, Ram Manohar Lohia, over the latter’s mastery of facts and figures. And, this from a man who once regretted that it was Nehru, and not Sardar Patel, who became India’s first prime minister.
What is going on? Is the latent DNA of tolerance embedded in every Indian finally asserting itself even in the psyche of an RSS pracharak, reared in the belief that secularism is “sickular” and that the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty is at the root of all evil – from failing to drive the Pakistanis out of the present-day “Azad” Kashmir in 1947-48 to losing the 1962 war to following the wrong model of economic growth? Or, has the stark reality of a multicultural, multi-religious, multi-linguistic, multi-ethnic nation, where there are 12 religions and 122 languages, finally overwhelmed the rigid, fascistic, anti-minority ideology of the RSS?
Or, is the softening of the tone the result of the BJP’s drubbing in Bihar and, therefore, something which is out of character since, as Rahul Gandhi has said, “this is not their style; they are doing it under pressure” ?
Only time will show, as the cliché goes. But, if the leopard is really changing its spots, then saffron politics is in for a big jolt, for no gulf is wider than the vision of social inclusiveness enunciated by Modi and the divisive weltanschauung of the RSS.
It is known, of course, that power induces responsibility. While Atal Bihari Vajpayee was always known for his moderation – the right man in the wrong party, as was said about him, or “half a Congressman”, to quote Sadhvi Rithambara – even the fiery rath yatri, L K Advani, mellowed down after a few years in office to become one of the best home ministers, according to the Tripura chief minister, Manik Sarkar, of the CPI(M).
But, whatever the views of Vajpayee or Advani, the BJP, in general, has not changed, as is evident from the words and deeds of Yogi Adityanath, Sakshi Maharaj, Mahesh Sharma, Manohar Lal Khattar and others.
They remain as virulent as ever with their blinkered outlook which sees the minorities as aliens who have no place in the country. As their various remarks show – APJ Abdul Kalam was a nationalist despite being a Muslim, as Mahesh Sharma said – they are yet to imbibe Modi’s more accommodative temperament either because they think that the prime minister is not serious or because of an inherent mental block about Muslims.
Friday’s speech must have left them shaking their heads in bewilderment, making them rush back home to consult Golwalkar’s Bunch of Thoughts, which has long been their holy book unlike the Constitution which, Modi now says, is the one and only revered text. The perplexity, even consternation, will be greater among the RSS patriarchs because Modi’s outlook will give rise to fears about the receding goal of their cherished Hindu rashtra.
In Vajpayee’s time, the apprehensions were muted because he even set up a commission to review the Constitution, which the RSS does not regard as a holy book, and initiated an underground look-see into the existence of a temple under the demolished Babri masjid.
But, Modi seemingly poses a greater “threat” if only because his sabka saath, sabka vikas project based on foreign and domestic investment runs counter to the protectionist and autarkic ideas of RSS affiliates like the Swadeshi Jagran Manch.
Besides, his avowed modernism via bullet trains and digitalisation will weaken the kind of traditionalism favoured by the RSS with regard to matters of lifestyle such as dress, culinary preferences, sexual orientation and men-women relationships. Modernism is a one-way street. It is not possible to decriminalise homosexuality, as Arun Jaitley has suggested, while criminalising beef-eating.
But, the main worry of the RSS will be the dilution of its majoritarian agenda which means that the “occupation” of the Hindu Right will be “gone”, to take a line from Othello, leaving the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and their soul mates like Hindu Mahasabha, Sri Ram Sene and others high and dry. And, what will be the fate of the army of Internet Hindus and sundry columnists, including a few whites, who make a living out of trashing the minorities?
What Modi’s tryst with multicultural India – or “multi-culti”, in Hindutva sympathiser VS Naipaul’s words, entails is a virtual shutting down of the 90-year-old RSS unless the latter sets up another political wing. The future promises that there will never be dull moment in the saffron camp for a considerable period of time. (IPA Service)
