‘In logon ko pakad pakad ke nasbandi karana padega’ (These people should be caught and sterilized) Varun Gandhi’s “final solution” for Muslims and Khalistani Sikhs!

Whilst Pakistan’s political situation remains unpredictable, now we have political chaos in India.

When we thought the BJP had run out of ideas, it has played the communal hatred card through Varun Gandhi. The latter has come to the rescue of the party representing the Hindutva agenda of the party.

This 29 years old, youngish champion of the Sangh Pariwar, has made hate speeches against Muslims and Sikhs. It needs to be remembered that he himself is the product of mixed blood - his mother, Meneka Gandhi, former union minister, is a Sikh , and his grandfather, husband of Indira Gandhi,, was a Parsee. In his fiery speeches, he has mentioned the killing of his grandmother, Indira Gandhi by Sikhs. However, he stopped short of mentioning that Mahatma Gandhi and his uncle, Rajiv Gandhi were killed by Hindus.

Once exposed by hidden video cameras, after some initial denial saying that the tapes had been doctored, instead of repenting for his irresponsible outbursts, he courted arrest at Pilibhit on Saturday 28 March, in the midst of slogan shouting saffron brigade. Hundreds of BJP political activists clashed with the police to ensure front page coverage. A case has been filed against him for inciting communal hatred. Senior BJP leaders like LK Advani, remain silent. No doubt they are jubilant. The front headline publicity given to Varun’s hate speeches and the arrest, have made a political martyr of him. Tactically, this is expected to consolidate majority Hindu vote in favour of BJP. However, he and BJP have also compromised India security by providing propaganda material for terrorists in the country.

The arrest of a Gujarat child welfare minister, Mayaben Kodnani, has given similar publicity to the extreme Hindutva agenda. She had been named by the Special Investigation Team appointed by Supreme Court, as one leading the riots following the Godhra train burning on 27 February 2002. The official figure for loss of life, mostly Mulim, is 1,180 people, whilst the actual figure is much higher. The court has stated that her role in the sectarian massacre was “nothing less than organized crime”. That makes no difference to the saffron brigade, for whom Varun Gandhi and Kodnani are political martyrs for the Hindutva cause.

In the meantime, the duplicity of the Congress party and the bias of the Election Commission (EC) has been exposed by those backing Varun’s candidature for Lok Sabha. They point out that leaders of 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdeesh Tytler have been given tickets by the Congress. Therefore, they argue, why target Varun Gandhi only.  In short, communal politics in the Indian democracy is alive and well and will continue to provide much ammunition for the terrorists from Muslim and other minorities.   

The role and powers of the EC in such matters is not readily clear to an outsider. It seems that the EC can only recommend that candidates like Varun should be dropped, but they have no power to disqualify candidates. Those like Varun can even fight elections from behind bars in prison. The Hindu majority and saffron activists would ensure that he wins.

Why the EC have not objected to the candidature of Tytler and Sajjan Kumar also, is a mystery.  Also, it is not clear on what grounds there is objection to the SGPC’s release  of Nanakshahi Calendar showing the Akal Takht  demolished by the army; except that the timing of the release would disadvantage the Congress in Panjab. 

Whilst Pakistan remains unstable, India is heading towards political chaos of a different kind. Smaller regional parties have local loyalties and are not connected with any national agenda. Their interest is in power sharing only and stable government is not their main concern. They are likely to decide the political future of India. On present trends, that future, without a strong central government, does not look too bright.

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Gurmukh Singh