From: bond@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca (  Girish)
Subject: The Roots of the Recent Violence in India
Keywords: violence, caste reservations, politics, religious disputes
Organization: University of New Brunswick
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 15:20:45 GMT


     After the removal of a disputed  structure in Ayodhya, more  than 1200
     people have died  in riots in Bharat. Why  did it happen? What is  the
     root cause of this violence? In this regard, following article written
     by  the  well-known  Bharatiya  historian, philosopher,  and scientist
     Dr Subhash Kak will make an interesting reading.

     -- Girish.

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     The Roots of the Recent Violence in India
     -----------------------------------------
     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 Western 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  some initiatives from the Indian government will calm the waters
     a great deal and create conditions where the more emotional issues can
     be resolved.

     There are two primary reasons for the increased Hindu militancy of the
     past  decade. These reasons are related to the breakdown of the Indian
     political system.

     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. 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.

     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 fol-
     lowed 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. The  Hindu  right
     feels  that the caste politics of the leftist parties is to weaken the
     hold of the Hindu religion. It has countered by seizing on the emotive
     issue  of  the  historical  wrongs  by the Muslims who ruled India for
     about 500 years 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.

     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 the other
     main reason behind religious discord in India today.

     An obscure Article in the Indian Constitution was used in the 70's  by
     the  Communist  provincial  government of West Bengal to challenge 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 that ran schools filed for or received
     status  as  minority  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.

     Americans and the international community can pressure the  government
     of India to undertake the following initiatives:

     *Enactment of uniform laws for all citizens.

     *Drop the  cheap  remedy of righting historical wrongs through the
      system of caste quotas that the Narasimha Rao government has
      embraced.

     *Repeal the law that bars the Hindus from running their schools and
      colleges (which other religionists can).

     *Strengthen the judiciary which currently has a very low credibility.

     In addition the press in India should be encouraged to develop an edi-
     torial   convention   to  stop  the  incessant  airing  of  historical
     injustices. Bashing of any community and class should be made  into  a
     statutory offence.

     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 be beneficial.
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