On Thursday 26 March, several BJP MLAs stood up in the Goa Legislative Assembly to openly tell the Goa government that recent events in the country and the State were causing Goa’s minorities to oppose the BJP. Describing Goa as a “non-communal state”, BJP Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral said: “I will be the first to oppose if anybody starts any of this ‘ghar wapsi’ in Goa.”
St Andre BJP MLA Vishnu Wagh said that communal flare-ups outside the State, like ‘ghar wapsi’ in UP and the beef ban in Maharashtra, are triggering tensions between the minority community and the BJP-led coalition government in Goa. He also reminded the Goa government that it got a clear majority only because of minority support. The BJP should not forget that Christians and Muslims account for nearly a third of the State’s population, he said.
Velim Independent MLA Benjamin Silva (supported by BJP) denounced RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statement on Mother Teresa and the ban on beef in BJP-ruled states. BJP supporters in Goa took a beating in the recently held Zilla Panchayat elections, he explained, “because of these reasons. Catholics are not willing to vote for BJP candidates”.
It is courageous of these MLAs to make statements on the floor of the Legislative Assembly, where they are officially recorded, rather than to take up these issues only in closed-door inner-party forums. The fact is that right from the time Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in May last year, minorities in India are feeling under constant and increasing threat. On more than one occasion, Modi has said that he has a single-minded development agenda and that his ‘religion’ is “India First”. But such statements have been too few and far between and, more important, are not perceived to be backed by any action.
Hindu organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) obviously do not share Modi’s vision of ‘India First’. Besides, the RSS — which believes in creating a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ — has a strong grasp on the BJP’s organizational structure. This became clear in July last year, when two top RSS pracharaks — Sangh Spokesman Ram Madhav and its Western UP Chief Shiv Prakash — were appointed as senior General Secretaries of the BJP.
Shiv Prakash was Amit Shah’s right hand man in the UP Lok Sabha election last year, when the BJP grabbed a stunning 71 of the State’s 80 seats. More recently, RSS pracharaks (full timers) worked closely with the BJP’s core team in the Delhi Assembly elections. Each of the 70 Assembly seats was assigned one pracharak who, in turn, mobilized local RSS cadres to micromanage the campaign and counter the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) door-to-door approach. That the BJP came a cropper in Delhi is another matter, but this shows the party’s heavy dependence on full-time RSS cadre, especially at election time.
The RSS has its own agenda, which differs from the BJP’s on several important issues. For example, at the recent three-day Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the apex decision-making body of the RSS, held at Nagpur from Friday 13 March, and attended by around 1,400 select representatives of 35 front organizations, Sangh functionaries of 41 divisions across the country and top BJP functionaries like President Amit Shah, Organizing Secretary Ramlal and General Secretary Ram Madhav, Sangh Sah-Sarkaryavah (joint general secretary) Dattatray Hosabale said that affiliates like the Bharatiya Kisan Sabha (which strongly opposes the BJP’s Land Acquisition Bill) and the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (which is against the BJP’s new labour reforms) were “free to vent their anger” at the Sabha, and hoped that BJP representatives like Shah and Ramlal would “take note”.
Some veteran political commentators have suggested that it is possible that for the time being, Modi is tolerating these communal irritations and biding his time till his reforms start to show results and bring about an industrially strong and progressive India, so that a grateful nation will vote for him without the help of Sangh cadre, and he becomes politically powerful enough to cut the BJP’s umbilical cord with the RSS. That is deeply wishful thinking. Even if it was at all possible, it is unlikely to be anywhere in the realms of probability.
The essence of democracy is making all citizens feel equally secure. This must be the foundation of any ‘development’ agenda. How can one have any real development if unrest and insecurity are rife in the country? The minorities cannot wait to feel safe. They must get that security today. And unless the BJP’s central and state governments make it clear — not just by statements but by their actions — that they will treat people of all religions equally, the party will certainly lose the wide support that propelled it to power. Goa can start by listening to its MLAs.
