Yatra drama

The Gujarat government, acting on the Election Commission's directive, prevents the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's efforts to take out its Yatra in the run-up to the elections, but not before the VHP succeeds in raising the level of Hindutva hysteria.

A YATRA to celebrate destruction. That has been the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (VHP) only contribution to the strife-torn election atmosphere in Gujarat. Acting on the orders of the Election Commission (E.C.), the State government stopped the Parishad's Vijay Yatra across the State, but not before the VHP had partly achieved its end. It created a controversy and amplified the Hindutva mood just before the elections.

The VHP decided to create trouble by organising the Vijay Yatra, which it said was to celebrate the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. The yatra was supposed to start on November 17 from Godhra and reach the Akshardham temple at Gandhinagar in Ahmedabad on December 6, when the Sangh Parivar will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of its Ayodhya outrage, hardly a week before the Assembly elections. While in Godhra 59 people were killed on February 27 when a few compartments of the Sabarmati Express were burnt by a communal mob, in Ahmedabad 37 people were killed in a terrorist attack on the Akshardham temple on September 24. In the post-Godhra communal riots that rocked Gujarat for over three months, more than 1,000 people were killed and several thousands rendered homeless. The VHP is intent on keeping the communal rage alive. It planned to display replicas of the burnt-out coaches during the yatra, a sure-fire way of stoking the communal hatred further. Fearing that the yatra could lead to trouble in a communally sensitive State, the Election Commission asked the Gujarat government to stop it. That flared VHP tempers. VHP leaders decided to violate the ban and go ahead with the yatra.

Labelling Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh `anti-Hindu' and biased in favour of the Congress(I), the VHP launched a scathing offensive. "Lyngdoh is acting as a perfect Congress agent... He is trying to impress the Christian Congress president... He is anti-Hindu," said Praveen Togadia, the VHP's international general secretary. The local administration, which had given permission for the yatra, withdrew it following the E.C.'s directive. However, the VHP used this to its advantage. "The yatra will go ahead as scheduled since it has permission from the local administration. For the VHP, Godhra is as sacred as Somnath... We will give a fitting answer to Godhra today in Gandhinagar, tomorrow in Delhi and after that in Pakistan," said Togadia at a press conference in Ahmedabad. "Lyngdoh has overstepped his brief. Banning a religious procession does not come under the purview of the Election Commission."

Lyngdoh did not react to the insults, but carried on with the work in hand. The same administrative machinery, which was seen as biased during the recent communal carnage, had to implement the E.C.'s orders efficiently. Heavy security re-enforcements were called for to ensure that VHP leaders could not enter Godhra. The district police issued orders for the arrest of VHP leaders who attempted to enter the district. In fact, the E.C.'s orders were based on a report it had asked the Gujarat government's Home Department to prepare on the likely effects of the yatra on the law and order situation. The report warned that the yatra could occasion communally provocative speeches. It also pointed out that the yatra would vitiate the atmosphere in a State where communal conflicts were still occurring. Even after the elections were announced, 10 incidents of communal violence have been reported in the State.

Regardless of the arrests, leaders of the VHP said that their organisation would change the form of its mobilisation but would continue to hold rallies. The VHP also intends to go ahead with its plan to hold a public meeting on December 6 in Ahmedabad.

The Bharatiya Janata Party was put in a dilemma, but it stood by its Parivar. The party defended the VHP's right to hold the Vijay Yatra and criticised the Chief Election Commissioner for banning it. "The Election Commission's decision to stop the Yatra can at best be described as inappropriate. In a democracy, people must have the right and liberty to speech and movement and the right to reach out to people," said M. Venkaiah Naidu, the BJP's national president.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee put a spoke in the Parivar's wheel by contradicting his own party's stand. He commended the Gujarat administration's action of banning the Yatra. "The government of Gujarat has done the right thing by acting as per the directive of the Election Commission to prohibit religious processions in the State ahead of the Assembly elections... I appeal to all organisations to honour this directive issued by the constitutional authority and help the State administration in discharging its duty," he said. The Prime Minister also criticised the hardliners in the Sangh Parivar. "Godhra was barbaric and everyone knew what happened thereafter. It should not be made an issue again and again. This will make it appear as if there is no other issue in Gujarat and votes are just toys," Vajpayee said. He had issued an appeal to all parties to focus on development and governance during the campaign, and not on matters that vitiated the atmosphere.

Vajpayee's remarks infuriated the VHP even more. It reacted with the usual absurd rhetoric. "The PM is not a Hindu," said Giriraj Kishore, VHP vice-president. "I expect the PM to safeguard the basic fundamental rights of Hindus and not yield to pressure from secularists," added Togadia. The next day, the Prime Minister typically softened this stand saying, "Everyone is just performing their duties." Asked why he differed from the BJP's official stand, he said, "I said the same thing in a roundabout way." The Prime Minister's statement only heightened the drama on the eve of the Yatra.

The stage was set for a well-managed spectacle. On November 17, VHP leaders were permitted to conduct puja at the Somnath temple in Bapunagar, Ahmedabad. After that, around 45 VHP members courted arrest before they could embark on the Yatra. The event was a media circus. Mediapersons outnumbered VHP members at the puja. Playing to the cameras, Togadia said, "December 12 (election day) is my birthday and I want you to give me a birthday present. I want a government that will bring in the Hindu Rashtra and will wipe out Pakistan." In Godhra too, around 50 local VHP activists were arrested. Among them was a former BJP member of Parliament, Gopal Solanki. The same night, trouble broke out in Shahpur, Ahmedabad. The police used teargas shells to quell it. However, that was a sign that the VHP's objective - to keep people on edge - had been met.

The arrest of VHP leaders put the Gujarat BJP in an awkward position. It could afford to antagonise neither its sister organisation, nor the Election Commission. The party reacted vaguely to the arrests. "The VHP had a right to take out its Yatra. And it was the duty of the government to maintain law and order. Both performed their duties," said Nalin Bhatt, a BJP spokesperson. The Congress(I) compared the drama at the Somnath temple to `match-fixing'. "We are happy that the VHP's Yatra was stopped. But we knew this would happen. We knew the BJP and the VHP would not clash with each other. The way the incident occurred, it appeared to be a mere formality. It is almost like match-fixing," said party spokesman S. Jaipal Reddy.

The drama was a well-orchestrated one. The different faces of the Sangh Parivar acted out their roles. Despite the arrests, their mission was accomplished. They were able to grab centrestage. The level of Hindutva hysteria was raised. The real failures of the BJP government were sidelined. Only the election results will reflect the reaction of the audience. Will the heady religious opium work in the BJP's favour?