TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/111290/1112002.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 7.4 KB | 152 lines

                                                                                WORLD, Page 47

INDIA

The Awesome Wrath of Rama


Religious nationalism threatens to bring down the government
and splinter the country

By GUY D. GARCIA -- Reported by Edward W. Desmond/Ayodhya and
Anita Pratap/New Delhi


    The god Rama is worshiped by many of India's 696 million
Hindus as the embodiment of chivalry and virtue. But it was
Shiva, the god of destruction, who showed his face last week as
thousands of Rama devotees marched toward a 462-year-old Muslim
mosque in Ayodhya, a site holy to both Hindus and Muslims in the
northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Shouting "Break the mosque!
Break the mosque!" about 100 stone-throwing crusaders pulled
plaster from the walls and planted saffron-colored flags atop
the shrine before they were driven off by police and
paramilitary troops armed with tear gas, riot sticks and guns.
At least six militants died; next day an additional 16 were
killed as police used bullets and bamboo staves to hold back the
crowds.

    In defiance of government policy, Hindu militants have
vowed to tear down the Babri mosque, which they believe was
built on Rama's birthplace, and erect a temple of their own. As
a result, more than 257 people have died over the past two
weeks as clashes between Hindus and Muslims spread to cities in
six other states.

    The spasm of communal violence has almost brought down the
11-month-old government of Prime Minister V.P. Singh, who
offered to resign for the second time in three months. It was
the most serious challenge yet to Singh, who is struggling to
hold his party together, even as the rise of Hindu nationalism
threatens to undermine the secular foundations of the world's
most populous democracy. Said S.R. Bommai, president of the
Prime Minister's Janata Dal party: "The country is at a
crossroads. We have to choose between secularism and religious
fundamentalism, between democracy and mobocracy, between unity
and disintegration."

    The Ayodhya incident was just the latest blow to a
government shaken by a series of crises. Two weeks ago, the
Prime Minister's ruling coalition lost its majority in the
parliament after Singh ordered the arrest of L.K. Advani, a
Hindu nationalist who had refused to halt a five-week religious
march to Ayodhya to support the construction of the Rama temple.
Advani's Bharatiya Janata Party responded by withdrawing its
backing from the government, a move intended to provoke Singh's
downfall in a vote of confidence scheduled for this week.

    Another volatile force tearing at India's fragile unity is
the politics of caste. Two months ago, Singh opened that
pandora's box by announcing that he was setting aside 27% of
government jobs for Indians who belong to 3,000 designated
"backward castes." The Prime Minister took the initiative to
enlarge his support among lower-caste voters and cut into the
B.J.P.'s and the opposition Congress (I) Party's power base. But
it had the unanticipated effect of arousing ancient animosities
among caste groups in the north and stirring violent protests,
including self-immolations, by upper-caste students who felt
they were being squeezed out of an already tight job market.

    Singh is also wrestling with problems inherited from his
predecessors, including separatist movements in Punjab, Assam,
and Jammu and Kashmir that have claimed 4,000 lives this year.
These rebellions are a reaction to the increasing centralization
of power in New Delhi, particularly during the tenures of the
late Indira Gandhi and her son, Rajiv, who was ousted as Prime
Minister last November.

    To a certain extent, the turmoil that now threatens Indian
democracy may be a consequence of its very success. During the
1980s the Indian economy grew at an unprecedented rate of more
than 5% a year, largely owing to Rajiv Gandhi's liberalization
policies. According to Swaminathan Aiyar, a leading economic
analyst with the New Delhi-based Times of India, that growth may
have lifted as many as 150 million Indians above the poverty
line, reducing from 48% to 29% the portion of the population
that is officially poor.

    The rush of prosperity spawned entirely new political
forces as the expectations of the formerly destitute rose along
with their incomes. The Hindu nationalists have managed to ride
that social wave, as have parties and movements representing
untouchables, farmers and groups like the Yadavs, a low-caste
group in north central India. Says Mulayam Singh Yadav, the
chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and himself a Yadav: "Before,
democracy was only for the powerful. But now real democracy has
arrived." Observes a senior government economist: "The poor are
organizing themselves as Muslims, as [ethnic] Jats, and so on.
They want to get their share, to get on the bus to power. It may
be chaotic, but Indian democracy is working."

    But for how long? The B.J.P. has touched a responsive chord
with its calls for a "Hindu Rashtra," or Hindu nation, a society
and government centered on respect for Hinduism and in
particular Rama. The party's emphasis on depriving minorities,
especially Muslims, of special rights such as funding for
religious schools and a separate civil code has also tapped a
powerful vein of resentment among anxious middle-class Hindus,
who feel their interests are being ignored by New Delhi. Indians
have taken as well to the party's emphasis on civic virtue and
piety. But some leaders are worried that in a polyglot society
like theirs, such self-righteous credos can too easily
degenerate into cultural intolerance. At B.J.P. rallies, it is
not unusual to hear the slogan "The only place for Muslims is
the graveyard or Pakistan." Warns a Singh adviser: "We are
seeing the Indian face of fascism."

    Equally disturbing are signs that Hindu activism is
reverberating beyond India's borders. In Bangladesh gangs of
Muslims armed with knives or clubs attacked at least 11 Hindu
temples in the southern port of Chittagong in retaliation for
the Ayodhya assault; hundreds of Hindu homes and shops were
burned. Major demonstrations also broke out in several cities in
Muslim-dominated Pakistan.

    If Singh, who is under mounting pressure to quit from
dissidents within his own party, loses the vote of confidence
this week, new elections could be called within a few months.
The Prime Minister can point to accomplishments in foreign
policy, including a peace settlement with Nepal, and such
populist but expensive programs as debt relief to farmers and
job guarantees for the poor. He can also emphasize his support
for "secular" values opposed to what he calls the B.J.P.'s
efforts to "lay the foundation stone of a theocratic state."


    Singh can probably count on the support of segments of the
backward classes in the north and of the country's 96 million
Muslims, who have applauded his efforts to protect the Ayodhya
mosque. But he will have a harder time swaying the rest of the
population, which is more concerned with rising inflation and a
growing budget deficit. The B.J.P. will fight back with its
platform of Hindu Rashtra, trying to convert religious fervor
into votes. Where Rajiv Gandhi's Congress (I) Party might enter
the equation is anyone's guess. But in order to survive, the
winner must find a way to appease Rama without sacrificing
Indian democracy.