Mahesh Rathi
There could be many debates on the development model advanced by the BJP led National Democratic Alliance, but it is also true that the Gujarat model has proved to be the last resort for the alliance for being in power. Since the Alliance has come to power, the same model is depicted in various slogans and in the handling of issues all over the country starting from Karnataka, Maharashtra to Jammu and Kashmir as well as in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
The inner fabric of the Gujarat model is woven with the general discontent of people set aflame by organized communal riots. The entire initiative is targeted to split the communities and destroy the traditional composite culture. There is also a visible attempt to keep alive the seclusion of each of the communities and keep the rift alive.
The plan is to create areas in almost all the towns in the country where communities would be living segregated from each other. These areas would be marked as border areas, or LOC to keep the animosity alive. To fan up the hostility, there would be leaflets, posters, slogans, and finally on top of it all, there would be blatant lies spread across. The invisible war would always be there, layered and well hidden.
It may be remembered here that despite this well planned agenda, Narendra Modi came to power exclusively on the slogans to fight against corruption and offering of good governance. The failure to keep the promises has also come out glaringly within four months only. The NDA was committed to bring the black money back in the country from the foreign banks, to reign in the hike in prices, and many other such attractive slogans. Since the Alliance has failed on all these counts, it has gone back to its main stake, stoking the communal feelings.
The writer of the screen play is the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) and the technique applied is riding the tide of communal rage. The stage has been set mainly in the Hindi speaking areas and behind the curtain, the players are various RSS- BJP outfits like Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, ABVP and several others. There has been an in-depth analysis of the social psyche and also the use of the social media.
There are different programmes and slogans for each of the areas depending on their specifics.
Like in the Bodo areas in Assam and border line areas in West Bengal, the Sangh opts for the Bangladeshi migrants from across the border. The sudden upsurge in the population flow disturbs the delicate balance of life for the already impoverished sections. It is not difficult to provoke them and start the riots.
In eastern and western Uttar Pradesh, it is Love Zihad. In Haryana and Delhi, it is the mother Cow. There are innumerable incidents planned and enacted in different parts of the country based on these lines.
Keeping in view the coming elections in Haryana, there nave been attempts to politicalise the cow issue and movement has been started in different parts. The statement by Amit Shah that the Haryana Poll results would be a shock to the opponents is based on the confidence that the cow issue must deliver.
Few days back, the Cow Protection Group had organized a bike rally at Bawana, in the suburb of the capital, for youth on Bakaraid and hundreds of bikers had joined armed with provocative slogans designed against a particular community. It was just a pointer towards larger divisive conspiracies. Almost all the state assembly constituencies in Delhi are at its receiving points.
Around and inside Delhi, there are dozens of Jat majority areas like Kirari, Mundka, Mangolpuri, Nazafgarh etc with their rural background and dependence on agrarian source of livelihood.
Arya Samaj has been playing a dominating role here and hence cow is taken as a sacred animal. It is in this background that the BJP has centered its movement around cow protection. However, it is also true that after the cow stops giving milk, it is thrown out on the streets to fend for itself.
The issue in fact pays politically. On October 4, 2014, in Mangolpuri, the powerful elements in the colony pressurized the police to put restrictions on traditional goat killing and special prayers. The police in charge forced the minority community people to sign an agreement and get conditional permission for the use of loudspeaker and other rituals.
The BJP had promised to keep Gujarat free of riots after the carnage in 2002. But the promise has turned empty after the gory incidents in Vadodara and Ahmedabad. The issues taken up to fan the tension were insignificant like demanding closure of butcheries, Love Zihad and so on. According to one of the English language dailies, coming out from Gujarat, when the police raided the Shahpura area of Ahmedabad on complaints of illegal beef trade, there were found many VHP and BJP members and leaders too involved in the racket. In Vadodara too, there are reports of a nexus between police and the rioters in the incidents committed in Nawabganj, Yakubpura etc.
Despite such exposures, the VHP continues to distribute CDs of distorted incidents and there are groups formed starting from five to six to sixty and more spread out in areas marked and also their responsibilities ascertained. .
There are such incidents taking place in east UP districts, like in Balia, Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Bhadohi, Kushinagar, Mirzapur, Gonda and several others. In all these areas as well as in several others, there were several violent incidents on the day of Dassera. The difference between Gujarat and UP is that while in Gujarat, there is the reported connivance of police, in UP, these forces have to fight against the police that takes stand against the communal provocations.
Thus while defining the Gujarat model, its inner weave gets clearer. There is the provocation against certain community, fanning up intolerance, and lack of basic human concern. In fact one realizes in this process that perhaps every Sangh supporter is not a rioter, but in every riot, there is the involvement of Sangh Parivar.
For the government, to remain in power, it is imperative to take care of the basics, like food security, environment protection, health, as well as ensure peace and freedom to all the citizens, but instead, there are concessions to corporate houses at the cost of people.
The agenda for development is made always practicable after shelving the basic issues away. It has been the strategy for Modi government, and it is also followed by the majority of the policy makers of the world.
