The Hindu : Hindutva will triumph even if Cong. wins in M.P., says Karat

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 18, 2003

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Hindutva will triumph even if Cong. wins in M.P., says Karat

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM MAY 17. The CPI(M) politburo member, Prakash Karat, has said that the tragedy of the present Indian situation was that even if the Congress won the elections in the States such as Madhya Pradesh, the Hindutva ideology would triumph.

Inaugurating a two-day EMS seminar on `Fascist Threat: Underlying Processes', organised by the AKG Centre for Study and Research here today, Mr. Karat said the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Kerala were competing with the RSS-BJP combine to gain recognition as defenders of the ``ritualistic purity'' of Hinduism.

In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, had been campaigning for a ban on cow-slaughter. He had also mounted a scathing attack on the BJP leader, Uma Bharti, for her having allegedly offered a cake containing egg at a Hanuman temple. The Congress apparently hoped to combat the RSS-BJP combine by defending the ritual purity of Hanumanji and Mr. Digvijay had been holding seminars across the State against cow-slaughter. All this meant that the Hindutva ideology would triumph even if the Congress won in Madhya Pradesh. "The RSS is happy that its ideology is getting legitimised by the actions of the Congress,'' Mr. Karat said.

The Kerala Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, was also doing the same in Kerala by not banning the distribution of `trishuls' by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. In Rajasthan, about 200 communal clashes took place and, finally, the Gehlot Government banned the `trishul' distribution under pressure. When the CPI(M) raised the issue, it was confronted with the question of why the West Bengal Government had not banned the `trishul' distribution. "When we got in touch with our comrades in Bengal, we were told that no such programme has been announced in Bengal and that it will be banned if there is any attempt to distribute trishuls there,'' Mr. Karat said.

Delivering the keynote address, Amiya Kumar Bagchi, economist, said that though the Hindutva forces now targeted only the minorities, they would soon turn to Hindus whom they considered to be risky as had happened in the case of danseuse and social activist, Mallika Sarabhai, who had to be smuggled out of Gujarat during the recent communal onslaught because her life was under threat. Prof. Bagchi pointed out that both Narendra Modi and Shankersinh Waghela had used "false history" to coopt adivasis to the Hindutva project. Part of the objective was achieved by use of force.Presenting a paper on `Fascist depredations on the media', N. Ram, Editor, Frontline, called for efforts to strengthen ``serious radical journalism'' to fight fascist forces in the country. He said young journalists should be taught to pursue socially responsible and ethical journalistic practices in order to take on the fascist forces. ``Young journalists should be told that you can't be a decent modern journalist if you are not secular. Just as it is said you can't be a decent modern journalist if you are a racist,'' he said.

The CPI(M) politburo member, V. S. Achuthanandan, chaired the inaugural session. The former Kerala Chief Minister, E. K. Nayanar, spoke. The seminar convener, M. A. Baby, welcomed the gathering.

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