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RIGHT
ANGLE
Trident
of Belligerence
The Sangh
is the BJP's soul but it need not be its sole proprietor
By
Swapan Dasgupta
Among
the branch lines that flowed from the 1917 Bolshevik revolution in Russia,
Trotskyism proved the greatest draw for intellectuals in the West. Although
stillborn as a mass movement, it enabled sensitive souls to distance themselves
from the horrors of Stalinism without simultaneously losing faith in the
revolutionary potential of the proletariat. As a body of faith, it was
based on incorrigible optimism. Trotskyists were adept at designing the
most ideologically pure way out of a particular situation and endowing
it with the force of imminence. Reality, inevitably, proved more slippery.
Consequently, the world according to Trotskyism is a saga of permanent
betrayal and perfidy.
 At
the risk of underestimating its national influence, it is very tempting
to see the shadow of Trotskyism on the RSS' conduct today. It has detected
widespread moral panic over globalisation, brewing anger at the unending
proselytising zeal of Christian missionaries and profound dejection at
the BJP's growing ideological promiscuity. Never one for passivity, it
has decided the moment is ripe for a full-scale offensive centred on uncompromising
Hindu nationalism. Hindu society, it has convinced itself, is awaiting
such a decisive lead. Wasn't this, or so the very convoluted analysis
goes, the underlying message of the local elections in Gujarat where the
BJP received a drubbing? And isn't the BJP's disorientation in Uttar Pradesh
a consequence of the party having skirted its core agenda, particularly
Ayodhya?
It's a case
of arriving at an ideologically correct remedy first and then tailoring
the symptoms to fit the prescription. It's not that the amorphous body
that goes by the name of Hindu society is completely unconcerned with
the core Hindutva agenda. A majority of Hindus, particularly in the Hindi
heartland and western India, would, for example, favour the construction
of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. The question the RSS leadership skirts is
whether or not this is an overriding priority, even for those committed
to a loose form of Hindu nationalism. The answer is a resounding no. Having
got over a painful period of turmoil and uncertainty, the Hindu middle
classes-the backbone of both the BJP and RSS-are busy nurturing the new
opportunities provided by the liberalised market economy. They have never
had it so good. The last thing they want is the new mood of self-confidence
to be derailed by peripheral agendas that threaten conflict.
In putting
ideology at a discount and highlighting good governance, the BJP leadership
is reflecting the mood of change. This was borne out by the opinion poll
published in The Hindustan Times earlier this month where the political
ratings of both the BJP and the NDA Government touched dizzy heights.
This suggests that the political setbacks in both Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh
are consequences of uninspired leadership and bad governance.
In its preoccupation
with the committed core, the RSS leadership has unfortunately failed to
keep pace with the aspirations of a broader constituency. Its slogans
may have been relevant for the previous decade when there was a paramount
concern for correcting the distortions of the Nehruvian order. Today,
these same slogans resemble the innocent battle cries of an earlier age.
At worst, they sound like the rantings of spoilsports. No wonder Home
Minister L.K. Advani described the RSS as a "moral influence"
on the BJP. The polite implication was that the Sangh should steer clear
of statecraft. That's a piece of friendly advice the RSS leadership shouldn't
disregard.
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INDIA TODAY Deputy Editor Swapan Dasgupta voices the despair of a community that Jyoti Basu forcibly converted into a diaspora in his 23 years of zero-contribution rule. 