India: BJP Backs the Hate Campaign of Varun Gandhi

-Rajesh Tyagi; 31 March 2009

After beating about the bush for some time, the BJP has come to its true colours, announcing today that it would protest against arrest of Varun Gandhi.

Varun Gandhi, the descendant of late Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, and son of Sanjay Gandhi, who himself was known for his notorious role in Emergency period in India (1974-77), his corrupt lifestyle and his well known anti-muslim stance, has been arrested under the ‘National Security Act’ by the Mayawati Government in Uttar Pradesh, for his violently communal utterances in public meeting, during his election campaign in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh. Making reference to Muslims through a derogatory term, Varun Gandhi is recorded on video camera, to have said that he will chop off their hands and heads. Varun Gandhi is parliamentary candidate fielded on the ticket of Bharatiya Janata Party, a rabidly communal, right wing Hindu Nationalist Party in India.

This one is not an isolated instance of hate speech by a BJP leader. The leaders of BJP, usually make such hate speeches publicly. In order to provoke a communal frenzy, to polarise their support among the people belonging to Hindu community, they frequently make utterances like such. However, these remarks, which constitute a serious offence in law and have the potential to endanger innumerable human lives by provoking riots between religious communities, are always taken lightly by the elite rulers. Wherever, state governments are in the hands of these right wingers or they form part of the coalition, they enjoy immunity from law. The infamous occurances in Gujarat, Bangalore, Orissa, Bombay, are witness to the same.

It is only a matter of chance, that the young chap, thoroughly poisoned by communal venom, in the traditions of Sangh Parivar (BJP, RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, etc) was caught on camera while spilling out this venom. As the right wingers do not permit cameras or recorders in their meetings, beat up the one who records them apart from destroying the equipment, it was again a chance that a recording of his speech could be made.

This is not something relating to Varun Gandhi only, but is really part of broader political issue, where the elite rulers, as a whole, cunningly engineer, divisions among the working people to use it to serve their political ends. In order to capture the power for themselves, the elite leaders, strive to polarise people as their vote banks and for that set them up against each other in the name of community, religion and caste. Needless to mention, that hitherto the elites- capitalists and landlords- have succeeded in their design to divide the people, rallying their support behind themselves and thus make them submit to their rule-the rule of money.

BJP, in India, is the extreme right wing of this political army of elite-the capitalists and landlords. It is political arm of Sangh Parivar, an informal bloc of several rightist organisations, led by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which though claims itself to be a cultural organisation, but in fact is parent organisation in the bloc, which is known as its family-i.e. the sangh parivar. This Sangh Parivar is the most notorious and thus most reliable formation for elite rule in India. Organised on the patterns of fascists bands of Mussolini, the RSS is mother of all, in this bloc. However, instead of acting in its own name, it always acts in the names of other front organisations, out of which BJP is the one. Neither it has any defined membership nor a programme. However, in its thoughts and actions it has all trappings of a rabid fascist party. From assassination of Gandhi in 1948, and till recently during the pogroms in Orissa, RSS was the real force, acting from behind the scenes.

The elite which took power from the hands of British colonialists, through betrayal of the freedom movement, declared its future state to be socialist and secular, giving false hopes to the people for a better future. As the slogan of socialism and equality, matched the aspiration of masses for emancipation from poverty and domination, secularism for them was the slogan of peaceful co-existence of communities, whose mutual clashes had taken a big toll yesterday. People then experienced with open eyes as to how these elite rulers, betrayed their own proclamations, one after the other, after betraying the freedom movement itself.

The formations like RSS, BJP, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, have been used by the elite to divide and rule over the working people and to brutally suppress their struggles and democratic aspirations.

Now, as BJP has thrown its open support behind Varun Gandhi and declared to make it a political issue, it is clear more than before that what Varun Gandhi uttered in Pilibhit, is part of a concerted campaign and a political policy, rather than an exception. BJP has already rejected the advice of Election Commission to withdraw the candidature of Varun Gandhi. He is arrested by the police after his prayer for quashing of the FIR, stood rejected by the Allahabad High Court. Apart from BJP, Shiv Sena has also supported the stance of Varun Gandhi.