Anna Adopts Hindutva Laboratory Method

By Madhu Chandra

Anna Hazare who almost became Gandhi II this year on account of his campaign against corruption - seven days fast in April and thirteen days in August. Interestingly, the idea is not originated from Anna himself but from his team mate, he and his team adopted saffron methodology to test a laboratory on his campaign against corruption by choosing Hisar (Haryana) by-election scheduled on 13 October 2011.

Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in Gujarat along with Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other saffron Parivar ran a Hindutva laboratory test in 2002 just prior to state assembly election. It was declared success with 73 assembly seats won out of 95 seats and promised to adopt same method in other state and successful in the state of Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

What was BJP’s saffron laboratory test? The 2002 Gujarat violence describes the Godhra train burning and resulting communal riots between Hindus and Muslims. On 27 February 2002 at Godhra City in the state of Gujarat, the Sabarmati Express train was attacked by a large Muslim mob in a conspiracy. As a result, 58 Hindu pilgrims, mostly women and children of ladies compartment returning from Ayodhya, were killed. The attack prompted retaliatory massacres against Muslims and communal riots on a large scale, in which 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed and 223 more people were reported missing.^]523 places of worship were damaged: 298 dargahs, 205 mosques, 17 temples, and 3 churches. Muslim-owned businesses suffered the bulk of the damage. 61,000 Muslims and 10,000 Hindus fled their homes. Preventive arrests of 17,947 Hindus and 3,616 Muslims were made. In total 27,901 Hindus and 7,651 Muslims were arrested. Nearly 10,000 rounds of bullets were fired in police shootings that killed 93 Muslims and 77 Hindus.

This communal riot created, manufactured, supported and engineered has been politically declared as success of Hindutva Laboratory Test in the state of Gujarat. Narendra Mode who engineered the test became Chief Minister of the state and continues till today. Under his regime whoever attempts to speak true of the Gujarat 2002 riot and against him been charged and put behind the bar. The latest is the Sanjay Batt, an IPS Police officer, who is still behind the bar.

Anna Hazare and his team’s version of corruption are interestingly selective. It does not matter about the political communal riots, which have affected hundreds and thousands of innocent lives, who belong to minority and Dalit communities during Gujarat 2002 riots and Kandhmal 2008-09 communal violence.

The biggest corruption in India is the Brahminical philosophy of caste, which has violated highest amount of human rights in India for last 3000 years. Anna Hazare and his team do not intentionally address the issue of caste and its apartheid or because of the invisible forces behind them.

Hisar is known city in Haryana and Haryana is the hub of highest Dalit atrocities that takes every now and then. Jhajjar is added into world record in 2002 for a crime against five Dalits who were skinned alive for skinning a death cow in 2002, Gohana for burning 50 Dalit homes during daylight in the presence of police officers and District magistrate in 2005 and Mirchpur for burning a Dalit father and a daughter alive and latter fifty Dalit homes in 2010.

Anna Hazare, who has become modern day Gandhi, social activists and lawyer Shanti Bhushan and his son Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, first lady IPS Police officer Dr. Kiran Bedi and Rights to Information Act activist Arvind Kajiriwal, these forms Team Anna, seems nothing bothered of Jhajjar, Gohana and Mirchpur, when they take up Hisar by-election as Hazare Laboratory against India corruption.

Isn’t it too danger for India, if Anna Hazare started to adopting Narendra Modi’s methodology of Hindutva laboratory test to bring his version of Jan Lokpal Bill? Wounds are still unhealed and justice delayed and denied to victims of Hindutva laboratory test in Gujarat and Orissa.

Why not Anna Hazare moves into a political wing or join one if he has claimed that whole nation is with him? Let us not fool ourselves by Times Now’s version of “Hundreds of thousands at Ram Lila ground when Anna Hazare launched out his second fast against corruption from August 16 to 27.” Camera lens cannot capture whole ground of Ram Lila ground, which can accommodate only thirty thousand crowds at most. It was intentionally exaggerated figures of some Television anchors like Anarb Goswami of Times Now. He alone knows why he chose to exaggerate. It was far behind the number required if a Member of Parliament is to be elected.

The repeated denial and decline to the question to Anna Hazare that why does he not join politic to fight against corruption could be due the state of his dilemma between how successful he would be politically and as civil society of his own version. Perhaps he and his team want to wait until Hisar by-election.

Anna Hazare and his team have learnt enough that their version of civil society, claiming to represent whole nation, is incomplete, when Dalits, minorities and OBS leaders came forward that they stand away from their version of civil societies.

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Lokpal Bill, which has expanded from original limited members including the member of National Campaign for People Rights to Information, Civil Societies and Dalit Communities, must have worried Anna Hazare and his team that they can fool India for some time by using English Media but not always.

Let the people of India decide Lokpal Bill, not by the civil society represented by Anna Hazare and his team. Give Lokpal Bill to the people of India during 2014 general election and let the people of India give its verdict on this crucial bill through democratic process.

Danger is the method used Anna Hazare and his team to blackmail the constitutionally elected body of India Parliament. Let the supremacy of Indian Constitution, which is a gift to every Indian citizen, be the supreme and protect its constitutional proceeding of elected parliament functionary and system. Let all mal-functionary and corrupt system be dealt under the supremacy of Indian constitution, not by media hyped up micro-minority middle class because ours is the nation “WE THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE AND OF THE PEOPLE.”

Madhu Chandra is research scholar and social activist base based at New Delhi . He works as Regional Secretary for All India Christian Council and Spokes Person of North East Support Centre & Helpline.