01-24-2006, 10:30 AM
Define Hindutva or drop it
The national council of the BJP at a meeting in New Delhi on Friday completed the remaining formality required before Rajnath Singh could take over as the new party chief. Expectedly, the job was duly accomplished. Singh replaced L. K. Advani as the new BJP President.
In his first presidential address he regurgitated the clarion call of Hindutva which had first made Advani famous and brought his party handsome electoral dividends. Admittedly, Singh as yet lacked the stature of his predecessor. But in his capacity as the head of the countryâs second largest political formation, his words should command respect.
Therefore, it is assumed that he did not bandy about Hindutva and other such pet themes loosely. Assuming that he was serious about returning to the Hindutva plank, it is only reasonable to expect that he would spell out in some detail as to what the catch-all term stood for.
Various constituents of the Sangh parivar have harped on the Hindutva theme as if it was a panacea for all the ills confronting the country. In fact, Singh had come to head the BJP only because Advani had supposedly reneged on Hindutva and embraced `Jinnahismâ.
Even the faithful Sangh parivar loyalists are vague about the definition of Hindutva, though its detractors seem to be in no doubt about its un unwholesomeness. In particular, the Muslim minority is openly inimical to the very idea of Hindutva.
For sure, all parties by their very nature encourage a certain vagueness about their ideology, their agendas, etc. But because Hindutva has become such a bugbear for people openly hostile to the BJP, it will help the new BJP chief evolve a roadmap for the party should he spell it out in some detail.
Does Hindutva mean pulling down old and decrepit religious structures, even if such demolitions are meant to undo the past excesses of foreign invaders? Does Hindutva mean creating two different classes of citizens based on religious persuasion of Indians? Is Hindutva a religious concept? Or is it cultural in its connotations? Does it have any legal backing?
Despite the controversial verdict of Justice Kuldip Singh of the Supreme Court who had defined Hindutva as a way of life, it continues to mean different things to different people. Is Hindutva purely a negative concept, denoting the BJPâs oft-repeated aversion against the appeasement of minorities in the name of secularism? In short, define what you mean by Hindutva.
Or else stop mouthing terms which can only create confusion among supporters of the BJP. And cause its detractors to exploit the innate fear the term evokes among the minorities for electoral gains. There can be no doubt that surely but slowly a generational change is taking place in the BJP.
With Vajpayee opting out of electoral politics, and Advani in it only for a few more years, the second rung of leadership is being groomed for taking over the reins of the party. Singh has got his chance to fit the BJP in the new mould where its appeal is broad-based and its influence visible in all parts of the country.
For that to happen, it is for Singh to make it a truly liberal, middle-of-the-road party with a forward-looking social and economic agenda. Given that India is a young country with over 60 percent of the voting population below the age of 35, it would help immensely if instead of harping on vague terms such as Hindutva, the party embraced a pragmatic economic plank with an emphasis on development, creation of jobs, social security, et al.
In short, a modern party without the hangover of the Partition. It does not have to treat the 14 per cent odd minorities merely as a votebank, as the Congress Party has done all along, but it will have to go to some lengths to remove their apprehensions about their place under the BJP sun as and when it may rise again.
The new BJP chief, therefore, has his job cut out before him. He has to salvage the partyâs image. Quite a few of its members were entrapped by camera-wielding mercenaries masquerading as journalists in the questions-for-bribes scam. Earlier, an equally shoddy and ill-motivated sting operation had caught Bangaru Laxman in an embarrassing position.
The need for the party to pursue pragmatic idealism cannot be exaggerated. The challenge before Singh is to prove that the BJP is indeed `a party with a difference.â Can he overcome this challenge? We have our fingers firmly crossed.
Send in your comments on this article to samachar_editor@sify.com
The national council of the BJP at a meeting in New Delhi on Friday completed the remaining formality required before Rajnath Singh could take over as the new party chief. Expectedly, the job was duly accomplished. Singh replaced L. K. Advani as the new BJP President.
In his first presidential address he regurgitated the clarion call of Hindutva which had first made Advani famous and brought his party handsome electoral dividends. Admittedly, Singh as yet lacked the stature of his predecessor. But in his capacity as the head of the countryâs second largest political formation, his words should command respect.
Therefore, it is assumed that he did not bandy about Hindutva and other such pet themes loosely. Assuming that he was serious about returning to the Hindutva plank, it is only reasonable to expect that he would spell out in some detail as to what the catch-all term stood for.
Various constituents of the Sangh parivar have harped on the Hindutva theme as if it was a panacea for all the ills confronting the country. In fact, Singh had come to head the BJP only because Advani had supposedly reneged on Hindutva and embraced `Jinnahismâ.
Even the faithful Sangh parivar loyalists are vague about the definition of Hindutva, though its detractors seem to be in no doubt about its un unwholesomeness. In particular, the Muslim minority is openly inimical to the very idea of Hindutva.
For sure, all parties by their very nature encourage a certain vagueness about their ideology, their agendas, etc. But because Hindutva has become such a bugbear for people openly hostile to the BJP, it will help the new BJP chief evolve a roadmap for the party should he spell it out in some detail.
Does Hindutva mean pulling down old and decrepit religious structures, even if such demolitions are meant to undo the past excesses of foreign invaders? Does Hindutva mean creating two different classes of citizens based on religious persuasion of Indians? Is Hindutva a religious concept? Or is it cultural in its connotations? Does it have any legal backing?
Despite the controversial verdict of Justice Kuldip Singh of the Supreme Court who had defined Hindutva as a way of life, it continues to mean different things to different people. Is Hindutva purely a negative concept, denoting the BJPâs oft-repeated aversion against the appeasement of minorities in the name of secularism? In short, define what you mean by Hindutva.
Or else stop mouthing terms which can only create confusion among supporters of the BJP. And cause its detractors to exploit the innate fear the term evokes among the minorities for electoral gains. There can be no doubt that surely but slowly a generational change is taking place in the BJP.
With Vajpayee opting out of electoral politics, and Advani in it only for a few more years, the second rung of leadership is being groomed for taking over the reins of the party. Singh has got his chance to fit the BJP in the new mould where its appeal is broad-based and its influence visible in all parts of the country.
For that to happen, it is for Singh to make it a truly liberal, middle-of-the-road party with a forward-looking social and economic agenda. Given that India is a young country with over 60 percent of the voting population below the age of 35, it would help immensely if instead of harping on vague terms such as Hindutva, the party embraced a pragmatic economic plank with an emphasis on development, creation of jobs, social security, et al.
In short, a modern party without the hangover of the Partition. It does not have to treat the 14 per cent odd minorities merely as a votebank, as the Congress Party has done all along, but it will have to go to some lengths to remove their apprehensions about their place under the BJP sun as and when it may rise again.
The new BJP chief, therefore, has his job cut out before him. He has to salvage the partyâs image. Quite a few of its members were entrapped by camera-wielding mercenaries masquerading as journalists in the questions-for-bribes scam. Earlier, an equally shoddy and ill-motivated sting operation had caught Bangaru Laxman in an embarrassing position.
The need for the party to pursue pragmatic idealism cannot be exaggerated. The challenge before Singh is to prove that the BJP is indeed `a party with a difference.â Can he overcome this challenge? We have our fingers firmly crossed.
Send in your comments on this article to samachar_editor@sify.com