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ALLEGED BJP TOLERANCE OF BRUTALITY Revulsion grows toward Vajpayee's party By B. GAUTAM Special to The Japan Times NEW DELHI -- India's secularism is in flames. The western Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps the most economically prosperous region in the entire country, has been in the midst of communal carnage for many weeks now. The majority Hindu population there has been systematically butchering members of the minority Muslim group in what is ironically considered "the land of peace." It is in Gujarat that Mahatma Gandhi was born, the man who won India its independence from British rule in 1947 through nonviolence, which he chose to describe as ahimsa, a word coined thousands of years ago by Gautama Buddha. Gandhi's ashram pacifist colony stands to this day in Ahmedabad, the city that has been witnessing horrific brutality. Just one incident is enough to highlight this. Last week, a Muslim woman on her eighth month of pregnancy was seized by a Hindu mob, her abdomen ripped open and her fetus scooped out and thrown into a fire. The United Nations Human Rights Commission condemned the Gujarat atrocities, and said that they were as bad as -- if not worse than -- what happened in Nazi Germany, where Hitler and his men killed 6 million Jews in carrying out his "Final Solution." Curiously, in what is seen as an abject exercise to tutor the young and the impressionable in the Nazi doctrine of extermination, students of Class 12 in Gujarat appearing for their final examination were asked a question on Hitler's ruthless methodology. As part of an English grammar exercise, the boys and girls were asked to join the following sentences into one: "There are two solutions. One of them is the Nazi solution. If you do not like people, kill them, segregate them. Then strut up and down. Proclaim that you are the salt of the Earth." In Gujarat where hundreds of innocent Muslim men and women have been murdered, the perversion of an educational exercise appears to be part of a provocation process, which understandably led to an uproar not just within the nation, but also outside. Finland has made a strong protest over the handling of the Gujarat massacres, ignoring Indian accusation of "interference in internal affairs." In Britain, cases have been filed in court calling for the extradition of Narendra Modi, Gujarat's chief minister and a leader of the Hindu nationalist party, Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP, which heads the national coalition government in New Delhi, can find itself on a sticky wicket, because the U.K. is in a strong position to pursue the demand, given the fact that a few British citizens are among those dead in Gujarat. The Economist news magazine, in a strong indictment of the Gujarat barbarism, has called the BJP "shameless." It adds: "The BJP has for several years seemed to treat its Hindu nationalist ideology as a political liability. Now, when that ideology is showing its dangerous and shameful side, the party has suddenly chosen to reaffirm it." The atrocities began as a revenge for an attack by Muslims on a train carrying Hindu pilgrims. About 60 of them were burned to death. In retaliation, hundreds of Muslims in Gujarat were "slaughtered," and according to independent reports and eyewitness accounts, Hindu mobs were incited and the killings were orchestrated by the Modi administration itself. Yet, the nationalist BJP has been resisting just about every conceivable move to have Modi removed from chief ministership. Supporting him in a shocking display of bad judgment is India's prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, whose reputation for misplaced tolerance has until now endeared the BJP, which he heads, to most coalition members. "The massacres are condemnable" he said, "But who lit the fire and how did it spread?" Understandably, this has produced a sense of revulsion among the nation's opposition parties, which refused to let Parliament function for days until it was agreed that Gujarat would be on the table for a debate and vote on April 30. The Vajpayee government is bound to face uncomfortable questions that day. With even some of his own coalition partners perturbed and angry over the massacres, Vajpayee could soon well be in hot water. His party's directive to Modi hold early elections in the troubled state, and the national BJP's tryst with the Indian electorate in 2004, when the current term of Parliament ends, seem to point to an uncertain future for the Hindu nationalist party. The Japan Times: April 26, 2002 (C) All rights reserved --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
