Betrayal of Democracy

The idea of India cannot be imagined without democracy and non-violence. Democratic principles have their roots in the Veda. The RigVeda says of two assemblies: Sabha and  Samiti.  The Sabha ‘functioned as a parliament for the disposal of public business by debates and by discussions’. The Samitis elected the king, discussed the state matters. Debate and discussions were part of the socio political discourse. The Atharva Veda VII -121 mentions the prayer of a member of the Vedic assembly: “May the enemy not win the debate…Overcome the debate of those that debate against us, render them devoid of force…”. At the beginning of an assembly was sung a prayer reflective of desire for unity of mind:

                               “samgacchadhwam samvadadhwam
                               Sam vo manamsi janatam
                               Deva bhagam yatha purve 
                                sanjanana upasate…”
             ( May you move in harmony, speak in one voice; let your minds be in agreement; just as the ancient gods shared their portion of sacrifice…)

A prayer invoked by our Prime Minister Narendra Modiji in his address to the nation on 14th August, 2014. Sanatana worldview is pluralistic in nature. While it believes in one ultimate Truth or God, it also recognizes multiple paths to the Almighty: “Ekam Sat Bipra Bahudha Badanti” (Truth is One, but the Wise calls it by different names).This philosophy remains at the core of a billion Hindus’ religious Faith. This philosophy inspired Swami Vivekananda to address the American Christian audience at Chicago in 1893 as ‘sisters and brothers of America…”

Non-violence was India’s answer to British oppression and path to freedom. Unlike Christianity and Islam, Hindu sees the presence of the Higher Self in both sentient and non sentient beings. Hindu views the world not in binary terms where one is always privileged against the other. Concepts like ‘Kafir’ are alien to Hindu culture. The dogmatic doctrine which does not recognize the holistic existence of the ‘Other’ is posing a serious threat to Human civilization. Hindu civilization has suffered the onslaught of Islamic invasion and British colonialism.

Thousands of temples were destroyed by the Islamic invaders, lakhs forcefully converted. India won freedom from the British on 15th August 1947 but on 14th August, 1947 the country was divided on the basis of two nation theory. India chose the path of secularism while Pakistan became a theocratic Islamic state. Rise of Islamic fundamentalism in ‘secular’ India exposes the faultline within the so called secular structure envisaged by Nehru and others. Democracy was degenerated into the Dynasty’s ‘vote bank’ politics .  This alienated the majority people; minoritism took hold. Congress’ ‘Muslim’s first right over national resources’ policy worked to subvert the voice and aspirations of the majority mass of the people.

In post independent period, during Congress rule, the country witnessed genocide of Hindus in Kashmir. Some five lakhs Hindus were forced to flee, Thousands of Kashmiri Hindus killed, women raped. Not a single Hindu took up arms against Muslims though they knew the killers belonged to the Muslim community.   On October 17, 1949, Article 370 was incorporated in the Indian constitution ; it exempted the state of Jammu and Kashmir from the Indian constitution. Jammu and Kashmir was granted separate constitution and flag. Hindu dominated Jammu remained under represented. Practically Hindus remained mutilated marginals. Congress Government turned a blind eye to the woes of the Kashmiri Hindus. So called secularism worked to suppress Hindu voice. Nehru Govt brought the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Act in 1959 and allowed the state Governments to take over temples and control their vast properties and assets. The State Governments today control over 4 lakh out of an estimated 9 lakh temples across the country. In Tamil Nadu only 44000 temples are under the management of the Government of Tamil Nadu. Around 34500 temples in Karnataka are governed by the state Government .Mosques and Churches are however, exempted. Nehru reformed Hindu laws and made polygamy a punishable offence but Muslims were allowed to have four wives.

The Waqf Act, 1995 which was amended in 2013 by the Congress Government gives power to Waqf Board to snatch anyone’s property. Millions of acres of land belong to the Hindus have been snatched so far. In Tamil Nadu even a 1500 years old Hindu temple’s land has been declared Waqf property. At present there are total 8,54,509 properties with the Waqf board spread over 800000 acres of land. Section 3 of the Waqf Act stipulates that if the Waqf ‘think’ that a particular plot of land belongs to Muslim, then it is the property of the Waqf. One cannot go to the court against this. One may approach the Waqf tribunal which consists of Muslims .Waqf tribunal decision cannot be challenged even in the supreme court. Section 40 of the Act states that it is not the responsibility of the Waqf Board but of the real owner of a land whose land has been claimed by the Waqf  Board . 

Congress Government under the leadership of Indira Gandhi brought the IMDT Act for Assam in 1983 which caused ‘external aggression’ and ‘internal disturbance’ in the state of Assam. The Act was  scrapped by the Supreme Court in 2005.The Act, as observed by the Hon’ble Supreme court, ‘negated the mandate’ of article 355 of the constitution ‘casting a duty on it to protect every state against external aggression and internal disturbance.’ The Supreme court observed that Assam is facing external aggression and internal disturbance on account of large scale migration of Bangladeshi nationals.’ The Apex court termed the IMDT Act as the main barrier in identification and deportation of illegal migrants. The immigrant Muslims were used as vote bank by the Congress. Large scale migration has altered the demographic landscape of the state.  Disproportionate increase of Muslim population as a result of large scale migration from the then East Pakistan and now Bangladesh has made the Hindus minority in some ten districts of Assam. The Congress leader Abdul Muhib Majumdar who drafted the bill of the IMDT Act later publicly expressed his desire to turn Assam into a Muslim majority state. It may be mentioned here that All Assam Students’ Union launched the Assam Movement in 1979 against illegal migration. Illegal migration from Bangladesh posed serious threat to the indigenous culture and identity of the state. Congress Govt used bullet against the Assamese Youths who took part in the movement. 855 Assamese youths were killed, the ‘blood stained hand’ of the Congress brutally suppressed the democratic voice of the indigenous people of Assam. ‘All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten the little hand’ of Congress. Today in some 40 constituencies of Assam the immigrant Muslims decides the MLAs. Some 63 lakh bighas of land belonged to forest areas, wetland areas, temple are under encroachment; encroached mostly by the immigrant Muslims.

Indira Gandhi facilitated the formation of Shariat institution in the name of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) in 1973. On 7th November, 1966 Indira Gandhi led Congress Govt  showed its brutal nature by killing some 350 Sadhus on the street of Delhi  for their anti cow slaughter agitation. At the stroke of midnight hour on 25th June, 1975 emergency was declared. Congress President Devakanta  Barua declared “Indira is India.”  Voice of democracy was suppressed. 34,988 people were arrested under MISA and 75,818 people were arrested under DISIR. Opposition leaders, journalists were arrested. Later Sanjay Gandhi told Kuldip Nayar in an interview that election was not in his scheme of thought. Indira Gandhi’s Govt between 1966 and 1977 imposed president’s rule 39 times in different states. During emergency the word ‘secularism’ was imposed by 42th amendment of the constitution. Irony is that in a secular country there is special provision for religious minority under article 30(1).
  On April 23, 1985 the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Shah Banu case came. The judgment favoured maintenance given to the aggrieved divorced Muslim woman. A Muslim woman Shah Banu, after her husband gave her talaq, filed a claim in April, 1978 for maintenance for herself and her five children under section 123 of the Code off Criminal Procedure, 1973. Hon’ble Supreme court ordered the payment of maintenance to Shah Banu. The verdict exposed the hypocrisy of many Islamic organizations and so called secular organizations and parties. This AIMPLB along with other Islamic organizations came to the street against the supreme court verdict on the Shah Banu case. They claimed the verdict went against the Sharia law. Rajib Gandhi led Congress Government using its power n the parliament nullified the supreme court verdict to satisfy the Shariat based groups/organizations. 

In 2011 Congress led UPA brought the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, 2011 which presumed that the killers in a communal violence are only majority and victims are only minority. In case of sexual assault (Clause -7) the bill says that it can happen to only minority and not to majority. If the Bill had become law, only Hindus would have been tried, convicted and sentenced of communal violence and incitement of communal hatred. It would have refused to accept that Muslims, Christians can also indulge in violence. If Hindus are killed in case of a Hindu-Muslim communal violence, none from the Muslim community could be held responsible once the bill became law. It was an instrument to mutilate the Hindus.

Setting an Islamic structure in a country where 80 percent people are Hindu and naming it secularism is a betrayal of democracy and an act of despotism against the Hindus. The Hindus answered to this injustice by the ballot in 2014 and in 2019. Rising above the caste, creed dynamics, people voted en mass for security and development. The Hindu Renaissance or the rise of the Hindus witnessed in 2019 general  election may remind one of P.B.Shelly's lines:  , 

“Rise like lions after slumber
 In unvanquishable number
 Shake your chains to earth like dew
 Which in sleep had fallen on you”