Turning Point; No, Aberration

Gujarat will set the electoral agenda — cultural nationalism againstpseudo-secularism

M Venkaiah Naidu President, Bharatiya Janata Party

Most state elections are fought on theperformance of the government, the quality of leadership and local issues. But the Gujarat elections acquired nationalimportance because of the systematic and malicious campaign against the people of Gujarat, the BJP and Narendra Modi bythe Congress, the media and the pseudo-secularists within the state, the country and outside it.

The thrust of the campaign was: Gujarat means riots, murder, rape and looting, Hindus are communal; the BJP andNarendra Modi are villains. The Congress's Gujarat unit president even went to the US and told the Senate Sub-committee on Religion that the Congress would invite its members to Gujarat after it won the elections to investigate what had happened in the state. The Congress and the Election Commission also started a no-holds barred campaign to postpone the elections.

The BJP, for its part, projected the performance of the Keshubhai Patel and Narendra Modi governments. Security was also an important issue for us because of our suspicion that outside forces were involved in Godhra, even if the actual act was carried out by local people, and the definite Pakistani hand in Akshardham. We also said Hindu-bashing should end; the approach should be "justice for all,appeasement of none".

Indeed, this became the wider debate because the Congress responded by saying security was not an issue. When theCongress-PDP government released prisoners in Jammu and Kashmir aroundthe same time, and we criticised it, the Congress began to realise that theirnegative campaign in Gujarat could boomerang on them. So the Congress adopted soft Hindutva. But despite all its tricks, the intensive campaign by Sonia Gandhi and the deployment of 14 chief ministers, the Congress lost heavily. The fatwa or appeal issued by the Muslim clerics recoiled on the Congress.

And that is why the Gujarat elections are a turning point: When you pushsomeone into a corner, you are bound toget a reaction. The cumulative impact of the Congress stand on Gujarat, NCERT textbooks, anti-conversion law and population control produced a reactionin these elections and demonstrated what the people really want. The Gujarat elections have provoked a nationaldebate on all these issues and will set the tone for the next set of assembly elections. The debate will focus both on the performance of the state governments and the difference between our culturalnationalism and the double standardsof the pseudo-secularists.

You can't have progress without peace and peace without strong action against the terrorists for which you need stringent laws and our approach of "justice for all, appeasement of none".

Take, for instance, conversions: They cause social tension and mutual distrust. Take the attitude that if Hindus do something, that should be condemned, but if Muslims do it, it should be overlooked. Or that if the VHP says something, thatis wrong, but if the Imam of the Jama Masjid says something, that is OK. A film or a book that offends Hindus is alright,but one that offends Muslims must be banned. This discrimination won't betolerated anymore. If Godhra had beenadequately condemned, there would have been no reaction. I am not saying thereaction was good, both were equallycondemnable. But don't forget that in the post-Godhra riots, both communities were affected. It was not one-sided; of course, the population on one side was more.

We must stop thinking in terms of majority and minority. The majority will take care of the minorities; the minorities, in turn, must respect the majority. There must be give and take and mutual respect. No government can expect to leave out a section of the people and rule. Theminorities have an equal place in India;indeed, it is not the minorities who areat fault, but the pseudo-secularists who want to consolidate their vote banks.

The sentiments of all communities must be respected and that there should be no discrimination on the basis of religion, if there is to be rule of law. Hindu-bashing must end. This is the wider debate on cultural nationalism in the country today, thanks to Gujarat, and the Congressmust introduce some correctives in its softHindutva policy.

People keep saying that after Gujarat,the VHP will make all sorts of claims,but they have not demanded anything. However, the BJP does not agree with everything the VHP says. The other day, Pravin Togadia said that the position of Muslims in India would be the same as that of Hindus in Pakistan. We don't agree, because we don't believe in a theocratic state. We don't compare ourselves toPakistan where Hindus are second class citizens. We are a Hindu nation, but we will never be a Hindu state. What we say is, accept our concept of cultural nationalism and we will give you peace, prosperity and development.

(As told to Smita Gupta)