The Times They Are a-Changin'

The Hindu Right in India, as scary as it is, can be quite amusing. The latest saga with Varun Gandhi is an example of how flaky BJP really is, with regards to its identity.

Varun Gandhi is the son of mysterious-place crash victim Sanjay Gandhi and the legendary bahu (Daughter in law) Maneka Gandhi who turned against her Prime Minister saans (Mother in law), with tales of sorrow and abuse. Educated at LSE and SOAS, Varun Gandhi has been involved in Indian Politics for a few years now. Coming from the legendary Congress family, Varun Gandhi and his animal-activist mother Maneka Gandhi took a much publicised decision to join the BJP. And in the upcoming elections, Varun Gandhi is contesting the Lok Sabha seat in Philbit (in Western Uttar Pradesh) for the BJP (a seat that has belonged to his mother previously).

In his campaign, Varun Gandhi has decided to adopt a very very Hindu right-wing agenda and is clearly not afraid to show it.

"If somebody lifts a hand against the Hindus, or thinks they are weak, there is nobody behind them, then I swear on the Bhagvad Gita I will cut off that hand."

"Apne jao, apne gaon mein jao aur halla karo ki saara Hindu ek tarfa ho jao, chhetra ko Pakistan hone se bachao, aur saara Hindu ek tarfa ho jao! (Go to your villages and give the call that all Hindus must unite to save this area from becoming Pakistan..)

"Yeh panja nahi hai, yeh kamal ka haath hai. Yeh kat** ke galey ko kaat dega chunaav ke baad. Jai Shri Ram! Ram ji ki jai! Varun Gandhi kaat daalega! Kaat denge us haath ko, kaat denge, kaat daalega! (This is not the (Congress symbol) ‘hand’, this is the hand of the ‘lotus’. It will cut the throat of the Muslims after the elections... Varun Gandhi will cut... Cut that hand, cut it, cut it.)

And my personal 'favourite':

"Kya yeh sach nahin hai… ki usko bola gaya ki mataji aapka naam kya hai... agar usne bola ki Bimla Devi, to usko kahaa ki dekhenge, sochenge... pehle paanch hazaar rupaye do... aur agar uska naam hai Saira Bano ya jo bhi Begum Hukum Begum... hum to jaante nahin hain... badey daraawne naam hotey hain inke... Karimullah... Mazharullah.... agar raat ko kabhi dikh jaayen... to darr rahen hain.. " [Is it not true... that if (a woman) is asked her name and she says Bimla Devi, she is told we’ll see, we’ll think (about giving Government aid), give us Rs 5,000 first... But if her name is Saira Bano or whatever begum Hukum Begum... I don’t even know... These people have such scary-sounding names... Karimullah, Mazharullah... If you ever encountered them at night, you’d be scared...]

Other than the quotes, of course are acts of clear communal mistreatment, like him asking a Sikh BJP leader to leave a rally, since he was not a Hindu.

Now coming to the BJP. When Varun Gandhi launched into his clearly ethno-nationalist, severely right wing rhetoric, the BJP leaders distanced themselves from his discourse. BJP has been trying to portray a secular image in the last few months. When Ram Sena decided to throw out women from a pub in Mangalore, the BJP condemned the attacks. The BJP has been trying quite hard in these months before the 2009 elections, to distance themselves from extremist Hindu propoganda and conduct their campaigns on the premise of secularism, and economic prosperity. So when Varun Gandhi launched into his pro-Hindu and viciously anti-Muslim discourse, BJP leaders voiced their concerns.

Naresh Verma, a popular BJP leader in Puranpur - within the constituency - said, "I am a BJP activist and a Hindu too. But I am not in favour of launching a communally charged campaign. If Varun Gandhi persists with such style of campaigning, I would be compelled to keep myself away from it."

Added another BJP veteran Gurdial Singh: "Varun is going out of hand. If he is not restrained, this election could end in a bloody communal clash."

On 22 March 2009, the Election Commission found Varun Gandhi guilty and has condemned him in the case related to his 'hate speech' during an election rally in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh. The Election Commission asked the BJP not to nominate him as a candidate for the 2009 General Elections. The Election Commission informed the BJP, since the party disowned the comments made, if party nominated him as a candidate then whatever he mentioned in the 'Hate Speech' would be treated as the party's policies.

And this is when the tables turned.

Now, Varun Gandhi became an innocent BJP politician, being jailed by the evil Congress. He was a martyr. A leader who did nothing wrong. Wrongly accused, badly treated, he was thrown into jail by the 'others.' In Varun Gandhi the BJP found their rhetoric against the Congress. And now Varun Gandhi is the wronged leader, who will combat all this hardship, and not give up. He will fight from Jail and win ! He is BJP's hero.

"He (Varun) had not done something for which he has to go to jail. It reminds people of how leaders like George Fernandes and Nanaji Deshmukh, behind bars during Emergency, fought elections from jail and won with handsome margins. This is all a Congress conspiracy," says Senior BJP leader LK Advani.

The BJP is finding it extremely hard to decide if it is to be a very Hindu-Right party or a secularist party. It often oscillates between the two, unable to find a stable middle ground. The formation of its principles and discourse, much like all else in the subcontinent, is a mere play on the circumstances, twisting into the shapes required, as and when they are required.

And the irony of it all is, that the man in the Orange turban, with the red tilak, shouting slogans of Jai-SriRam, asking for a ban on cow slaughter, and spewing hatred towards the Muslims, is only a quarter Hindu. Much like some of his Hindu Right predecessors (who are self-proclaimed atheists), he supports the cause of extremist Hindu Nationalism and a Hindu Nation, shouting the name of Lord Rama, playing on the Hindu identity, without even being Hindu.

(I would laugh. But instead I worry.)