India – BJP’s Paradoxical Policy

Padmini Arhant

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah’s justification on Article 370 abrogation not limited to revoking then Kashmir’s constitution bound special status though there are at least six states in north and north east combined sharing such status to preserve cultural, economic and environment heritage in the respective domains.

BJP’s expedited action on Article 370 in Kashmir was proclaimed as setting history in resettlement of so-called upper caste Kashmiri Pandits i.e. Brahmins though other non-muslims in the valley comprising designated lower caste Hindus referred to as Dalits and others of different faiths like Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains or Christians were all affected in politics instigated disturbance in Kashmir.

There is no doubt politics anchored on communal divide for self-benefit promote violence and indefinite unrest hurting the entire population in the state.

BJP propagated Kashmir’s special status as exclusive to the state barring rest of India to invest and own real estate in the valley when there are at least six states as enunciated above with Nagaland granted state represented flag for participation in the United nations besides allowing the tribal state to print their currency for use within state and much more qualifying autonomous status that was denied to then Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh state declaring such aspiration as sedition.

BJP also condemned desecration of Hindu temples and shrines in the valley in the course of launching Article 370 abrogation.  The sentiments were long before echoed on this site during politics induced violence and cross border terrorism from Pakistan.

However, BJP’s position in this regard beckon introspection considering the demolition of Babri Masjid ( mosque) in Ayodhya setting precedence for incidents in Kashmir. BJP’s engagement in Babri masjid embroiled the northern state Uttar Pradesh in long legal battle recently delivering verdict in BJP’s favor with no accountability or legal ramifications for any of BJP political leaders and party hired fringe elements in the destruction of mosque as usual resulting in both Hindu and muslim casualties largely affecting muslims in the northern state Uttar Pradesh.

Juxtaposed, BJP’s partisanship towards Sri Lankan Tamils with roots in Southern State Tamilnadu, India, speaks volume on political expediency and blatant discriminatory policy.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and then Tamilnadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi of DMK provided extraordinary support to then brutal regime of President and Commander Mahinda Rajapaksha in ethnic cleansing of Tamils in Sri Lanka in 2009. Indian government cooperation in this respect was duly acknowledged with gratitude by then President Mahinda Rajapaksha during his visit to India subsequent to his removal from office.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hard line mindset like BJP Rajya Sabha member Subramaniam Swamy enthusiastically involved in the re-emergence of Mahinda Rajapaksha regime ignoring the regime’s atrocities and gross human rights violations against innocent children, women, elderly and vulnerable Tamil population in the island nation. In the height of Sri Lankan state authorized violence against Tamils in the island, Hindu temples and holy sites were leveled conforming to sacrilege with Indian authorities observing silence until now.

In these circumstances, BJP and party’s fundamentalist doctrine together with Tamil Nadu political parties DMK and ADMK under the leadership of Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha ruling the state for decades slighting Tamils from Sri Lanka held in illegal immigrant status since their residency in Tamil Nadu lasting more than three decades is hardly surprising.

Sri Lankan Tamils like any other ethnic groups and demography are pawns for political factions at regional and national level to gain political mileage during election.

At any given time, any political party were to demonstrate genuine care and concern in action rather than exploiting diverse groups unfortunate plight, the nation would have been on track in dealing with humanitarian and social issues without subjecting citizens en masse witnessed at present.

BJP claiming moral high ground in the introduction of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Registry of Citizens (NRC) conspicuously reeking religious bias against muslims and extended empathy to Parsis who are not natives of India with their country of origin being Iran earlier known as Persia categorize Hindu religion in political dimension.

Unlike the other three religions – Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originating from Hinduism, zoroastrianism or Parsi is not an offshoot of Hindu religion i.e. Sanatana Dharma except for those classifying themselves as Aryans i.e. the self- proclaimed upper caste in the societal caste structure enacting close relations with Parsis and their language to Sanskrit again in the absence of any connection to one another and primarily oriented towards Aryan lineage leading to Iran and Germany specifically Austrian born Adolf Hitler headed Nazis glorifying superiority in race citing Aryan race in their genealogy.

In conclusion, the latest CAA legislation and NRC proposal targeting muslims and substantial middle class and poorer population expected to be unable to produce range of documents thereby failing to meet criteria would eliminate significant voting block for any viable political opposition leaving the arena entirely to BJP to garner votes from their loyal Hindu vote base i.e. upper caste or Brahmins ever exerting dominance through casteism and monopoly on Hindu religion.

The activism is currently rife in the north importantly Hindi heartland in addition to RSS founder Vinayak Savarkar and chief Madhav Golwalkar followers in the western region including the southern states like Karnataka and least anticipated Tamilnadu with Tamil brahmins represented Right wing cadre as their group identity vehemently defending RSS Hindutva ideology and BJP’s authoritarian rule.

Much to economic woes wasting national revenue and resources on CAA and NRC, BJP divestment from economy to protracted political, humanitarian and social crises is anything but wise and pragmatic.

Repealing CAA and NRC, normalizing Kashmir with resumption of digital access and communication lines as well as enabling conducive peaceful atmosphere for Kashmiris, fair resolution on indigenous population problems in the north east and reviving economy with jobs and productivity in all sectors, containing inflation, protecting all citizens women, children and students from social crimes and injustice would be a respectable approach resetting constitutional guided democracy.

Thank you.

Padmini Arhant 

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