From: bond@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca (Girish)
Subject: The Roots of the Recent Violence in India
Keywords: violence, caste politics, religious dispute.
Organization: University of New Brunswick
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 22:06:54 GMT


    Slightly improved version of the article "The Roots of Recent Violence
    in India" by Dr Subhash Kak:
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------

    Ayodhya and other matters
    -------------------------
    by  Subhash Kak                    (Copyright)

    Religious and caste discord in India, if allowed to  fester,  has  the
    potential  of  turning  into  a bloodbath in comparison with which the
    continuing horrors of Yugoslavia may look like a garden party.  In the
    event  of  such  a  catastrophe the rest of the world would be saddled
    with millions of refugees.

    It is my contention that the dispute over the mosque/temple at Ayodhya
    is  just  a  symptom of a much deeper problem.  What the resolution to
    the Ayodhya problem might be is not immediately clear.  But it appears
    that  certain  initiatives  from  the  Indian government will calm the
    waters a great deal and create conditions  where  the  more  emotional
    issues can be resolved.

    The rise of Islamic fundamentalism has been  widely  debated  and  the
    causes will not be recounted here.  On the other hand, there are three
    primary reasons for the increased Hindu  militancy  of  the  past  few
    years.   These reasons are related to the breakdown of the Indian pol-
    itical system and the cynical use of vote-banks by the major parties.

    Politics of Historical Wrongs

    The Indian Constitution which came into force in 1950 provided  quotas
    for  certain  historically disadvantaged castes and tribes in the leg-
    islatures in proportion to their populations.   These  quotas  ran  to
    about  14  percent of the total.  In addition there were job quotas of
    about 22 percent.  The quotas were to have been in force for a  period
    of  10  years  only but the Constitution has been amended for these to
    remain a part of the law.

    Electoral considerations soon led to an enlargement of the  quotas  to
    cover increasing groups of people.  Lacking a larger moral and politi-
    cal vision, the politicians have used the quotas to divide the popula-
    tion.   In certain states the quotas are as large as 70 percent of all
    the jobs.

    More recently the leftist Janata party, has developed its entire  pol-
    itical agenda on quotas based on caste divisions.  V.P. Singh, who was
    prime minister during 1989-90 used the recommendations  of  a  certain
    Mandal Commission to announce reservations for more than 70 percent of
    all jobs.  This triggered a wave of suicides by the youth that finally
    brought  down  his  government.   Nevertheless  in  the  campaign that
    followed leading politicians like Rajiv Gandhi and V.P. Singh spoke of
    their support for further quotas, some even based on religion.

    Most recently the P.V. Narasimha Rao Government has passed a bill that
    would  reserve close to 60 percent of all jobs based on different cri-
    teria related to circumstances of birth rather than fitness to perform
    the  job.   In  other  words  the  Mandal  Commission recommendations,
    although with some modifications, have become law.  The law with  cer-
    tain  modifications  has recently been upheld by India's Supreme Court
    for its constitutionality although it ruled that  the  reserved  posi-
    tions  could not exceed 50 percent of the total jobs and economic con-
    siderations could not be used for determining eligibility.  A new wave
    of demonstrations and suicides have followed.

    The logic of the quotas is to right a historical wrong.   The  leftist
    parties  in  India  have exploited the rhetoric of these wrongs and of
    caste bashing to hold on to their electoral support.  With the  direc-
    tion  of  the  Supreme Court and the Central government the quotas can
    only become stronger.  It is claimed that India is following the exam-
    ple  of  the  U.S.  not realizing that U.S. does not have quotas, only
    affirmative action.  The end game of such a politics  based  on  caste
    and religion can only be a situation like Somalia's.

    The leftist parties take it as axiomatic that India's backwardness  is
    due  to  the nature of the Hindu religion.  The Hindu right feels that
    the caste politics of the leftist parties is a ploy to destroy India's
    heritage.   It  has  countered  by seizing on the emotive issue of the
    historical wrongs by certain Muslim kings like Babar and Aurangzeb  to
    divert the attention from the caste politics of the left.

    Observing the events of the past three years one sees that the Ayodhya
    temple  issue  has  often heated up following the moves of the left on
    the caste quotas.

    There is a feeling that the Congress party will not  remain  in  power
    too  long because of the international collapse of the socialist model
    of economy, which was the foundation of the party's policies.  What we
    witness  then is a bitter fight between the left and the right for the
    heart of India.

    An asymmetric law

    Now imagine the U.S. with a law that allows only the religious minori-
    ties  to  run their tax-exempt parochial schools.  In such a situation
    it will be natural for the Christian majority  to  consider  this  law
    discriminatory  and  have  it  expunged.  Such an asymmetry is another
    reason behind religious discord in India today.

    An obscure Article [30(1)] in the Indian Constitution was used in  the
    70's  by  the  Communist provincial government of West Bengal to chal-
    lenge the right of the Hindus  to  run  their  schools  and  colleges.
    According to this Article members of the majority religion do not have
    the right  to  establish  their  own  religious  schools  whereas  the
    minority  religions  do.   When  the Supreme Court of India upheld the
    interpretation of the Communists, several Hindu sects (such as Ramakr-
    ishna Mission) that ran schools filed for or received status as minor-
    ity religions  to prevent the government takeover of their schools.

    The government of India did not respond to this ruling of the court to
    try  to change the law so that all religions would be treated equally.
    This has led to a great resentment amongst the Hindus.

    Likewise the change in the law in 1986 that  removed  Muslim  divorces
    from  adjudication by the Supreme Court will remain a lightning rod to
    channel Hindu discontent with India's legal framework.

    Pakistan and Kashmiri Refugees

    There is another important reason for the rise  of  the  recent  Hindu
    militancy.   This  is  the  general  belief  in India that Pakistan is
    behind the sectarian killings that have racked the provinces of Punjab
    and  Kashmir  for the past decade.  International pressure on Pakistan
    to dissociate itself from such sectarian violence  would  reduce  ten-
    sions.

    Another sore point are the victims of the sectarian violence in  Kash-
    mir.   The  government  of  India  has, for strange electoral reasons,
    decided to ignore them.  The Indian government should be asked to pro-
    vide  a  humane settlement for these Hindu refugees who have been lan-
    guishing in camps in Jammu and Delhi for the past three years.  If the
    government  cannot  guarantee  reasonable  protection even after three
    years of turmoil, it should provide compensation for loss of  property
    and jobs.

    The drama building up to the events in Ayodhya brings into  focus  the
    inadequacy  of  the Indian political and legal systems to resolve con-
    flicts.  Indian politicians have not shown courage or imagination dur-
    ing  the  whole  episode.   The sorry state of the judicial system has
    been made clear.

    The government needs to have a clear policy framework.  A democracy is
    a  covenant  between various interest groups and the colonial practice
    of banning organizations will be counterproductive.

    It is absolutely essential that the government of India undertake ini-
    tiatives  so  that  India  becomes  a  truly secular state.  The cheap
    remedy of righting historical wrongs through the system of caste  quo-
    tas that the Narasimha Rao government has embraced should be dropped.

    The press in India should be encouraged to develop an  editorial  con-
    vention to stop the incessant airing of historical injustices.
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