TIME Asia | Right Wing Rising

	INDIA	MARCH 2, 1998 VOL. 151 NO. 8
Right Wing Rising With moderated mantras and tempered ideals, the BJP is becoming a major force in Indian politics BY ANTHONY SPAETH deals are important for any nation, and India has had more than its share through the years. Mohandas K. Gandhi envisioned a peaceful land of quaint villages, where citizens meditated, spun their own thread and churned butter in the backyard. He never became prime minister, though, and most of his vision was scrapped by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first leader after independence, who opted for industrialization, socialism and secularism: a package of beliefs still held by millions of Indians. But not by all. The Bharatiya Janata, or Indian People's, Party is one of the country's most powerful forces these days, and for many of its followers it evokes a highly idealistic vision. If the party comes to power this time around--opinion polls indicate that it will win the most seats but will not score a parliamentary majority--it will rekindle the dream of a Ram Rajya, literally the Rule of Ram. The reference is to the mythological god-king Ram and his kingdom as described in the country's religious epics: a place where no one is hungry, rain is plentiful, all families have sons and the ruler, like Ram, is a slave to dharma, or duty. It's a vision familiar to most Indians from gaudy religious lithographs, mythological films and television serials. But that vision can be held dear only by the country's 760 million Hindus: in Ram's theocracy, there was only one faith. The BJP, a pro-Hindu party with links to various fundamentalist groups, hopes to rule over a country that is currently home to many non-Hindus, including 120 million Muslims, the second largest Islamic population in the world. The BJP's other mantra is Hindutva, a vaguely described Hindu-based national ethos that the party says will energize and build India. The party's most spectacular populist feat, however, was to support the illegal 1992 destruction by Hindu militants of a mosque at Ayodhya in northern India. That event thrilled many Hindu voters but led to nationwide riots and more than 1,000 deaths. "These people," proclaimed Sonia Gandhi during the election campaign, "only want to push our country into a deep pit of communal hatred." Stump demonology, obviously, for there is another side to the BJP. Its core followers may adhere to the pro-Hindu message, but to expand its base, the party has watered down its chauvinistic promises and even roped in some Muslim candidates for the current campaign. More importantly, its phenomenal rise from a marginal group--it won only two out of 543 seats in the 1984 general elections--to national powerhouse has been made possible by the withering away of the Congress Party, which held a monopoly on political power for half a century. The Congress has lost its way through the years with ever-less-inspiring leaders and ever-increasing corruption. Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia's late husband, was booted from power in 1989, only the second time voters had spurned the party. Then the Congress lost the Gandhi dynasty, or so it seemed, when Rajiv was assassinated in 1991 during a comeback campaign. The BJP won 120 seats in those polls and 163 five years later, the largest single bloc, enabling it to form a minority government. Even though it fell after a mere 13 days, there was widespread acceptance that an alternative to the Congress had to emerge for stability's sake, and the BJP was the logical choice. Only Sonia Gandhi's campaign bandwagon has tossed a wrench into what had seemed like unavoidable BJP victory. The party's pedigree is perhaps its most worrisome feature. It was formed in 1952, under the name of the Jana Sangh, or People's Organization, as the political arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or rss, a militant Hindu group formed in 1925. (The rss shot to prominence in 1948 when one of its renegade zealots assassinated Mahatma Gandhi for being sympathetic toward Muslims. Formerly banned, the group is now legal and renowned for its devoted recruits, their khaki-shorts uniforms and the quasi-military training they receive.) Early adherents to the party were pulled from the rss, and through the decades its main support came from the Hindu trader class. After joining the combined opposition group that ousted Indira Gandhi in 1977, the party split away in 1980 and changed its name to the BJP. In the late 1980s, the weakening of Rajiv Gandhi's Congress gave the BJP an opportunity to ascend, and it used various Hindu-Muslim controversies as its step-ladder. None was more successful than the decades-old squabble over a crumbling, shuttered mosque in Ayodhya. According to legend, that city was the site of Ram's fabled kingdom. Hindu propagandists maintained that the mosque was built on the precise spot where Ram, an avatar of the God Vishnu, was born. They also said a great temple had once occupied the site and was deliberately destroyed in 1528 by the invading conqueror Babar, who allegedly used pillars from the temple to construct the mosque. The BJP, aided by its militant cousin organizations, led prolonged agitations for the mosque to be removed and a new Ram temple built. Those efforts were so popular that in 1989 even Rajiv Gandhi was promising a Congress-inaugurated Ram Rajya. On Dec. 6, 1992, at what was supposed to be a peaceful gathering, Hindu militants destroyed the mosque as BJP president L.K. Advani looked on. In a land of long-simmering communal tensions, this was an extraordinary gesture: a national party advocating violence against the Muslim minority's places of worship. And one that keeps rebounding. Two weeks ago, as Advani campaigned in the southern city of Coimbatore, several bombs went off around the city, killing 60 and wounding nearly 200. The attack was allegedly the handiwork of Muslim extremists. (Advani was unhurt, but communal violence soon flared in other cities.) Since 1992, the BJP has tried to sustain the devotion of the far right while assuaging Indians who were appalled by the events at Ayodhya. Prime ministerial candidate Advani was replaced by the charismatic and less strident Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 71. Extremists' demands that two other mosques be torn down have been downplayed. Hindu chauvinism has given way to plain nationalism: the BJP's manifesto says it wants India to develop nuclear weapons and missiles, although it hardly hides its desire to point them at Muslim Pakistan. A few Muslim politicians have joined the party with an interesting argument: that communal disturbances are the work of parties out of power, not those trusted with governance. "Whenever a BJP government has been in power," posits party supporter Abdul Shafiq in Amethi, referring to the BJP's rule in various Indian states, "anti-Muslim riots have stopped. The Muslims of India should give it a try." For the mainstream, that's the basic temptation: the Congress' record over the past two decades has been so dispiriting that the BJP should be given a chance, despite its stridency, checkered history and the danger of abandoning the Indian secularist ideal. For moderate voters, Vajpayee is plainly the party's best face. "He's an honest man," says Avtar Singh, a government employee in the north Indian town of Bhiwani. "He should be Prime Minister." But it must be remembered that the BJP's ranks are filled not just with moderates. The party's promise to build a Hindu City on the Hill--or several--is taken seriously by many. Girish Shampura, a stone carver from western India, is working to prepare elaborately carved pillars and panels for the Ram temple in Ayodhya. The project has been formally frozen by various court orders, but workers like Shampura are busy nonetheless not far from the construction site. "The temple will be built only after the BJP comes to power in New Delhi," he says. "It will happen. How can we get Ram Rajya unless we build a temple to Lord Ram?" For many voters, that's the promise--and the threat--of the BJP. Reported by Meenakshi Ganguly/New Delhi, Maseeh Rahman/Bhiwani and R. Bhagwan Singh/Coimbatore
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With moderated mantras and tempered ideals, the BJP is becoming a major force in Indian politics

BY ANTHONY SPAETH

deals are important for any nation, and India has had more than its share through the years. Mohandas K. Gandhi envisioned a peaceful land of quaint villages, where citizens meditated, spun their own thread and churned butter in the backyard. He never became prime minister, though, and most of his vision was scrapped by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first leader after independence, who opted for industrialization, socialism and secularism: a package of beliefs still held by millions of Indians.

But not by all. The Bharatiya Janata, or Indian People's, Party is one of the country's most powerful forces these days, and for many of its followers it evokes a highly idealistic vision. If the party comes to power this time around--opinion polls indicate that it will win the most seats but will not score a parliamentary majority--it will rekindle the dream of a Ram Rajya, literally the Rule of Ram. The reference is to the mythological god-king Ram and his kingdom as described in the country's religious epics: a place where no one is hungry, rain is plentiful, all families have sons and the ruler, like Ram, is a slave to dharma, or duty. It's a vision familiar to most Indians from gaudy religious lithographs, mythological films and television serials.

But that vision can be held dear only by the country's 760 million Hindus: in Ram's theocracy, there was only one faith. The BJP, a pro-Hindu party with links to various fundamentalist groups, hopes to rule over a country that is currently home to many non-Hindus, including 120 million Muslims, the second largest Islamic population in the world. The BJP's other mantra is Hindutva, a vaguely described Hindu-based national ethos that the party says will energize and build India. The party's most spectacular populist feat, however, was to support the illegal 1992 destruction by Hindu militants of a mosque at Ayodhya in northern India. That event thrilled many Hindu voters but led to nationwide riots and more than 1,000 deaths. "These people," proclaimed Sonia Gandhi during the election campaign, "only want to push our country into a deep pit of communal hatred."

Stump demonology, obviously, for there is another side to the BJP. Its core followers may adhere to the pro-Hindu message, but to expand its base, the party has watered down its chauvinistic promises and even roped in some Muslim candidates for the current campaign. More importantly, its phenomenal rise from a marginal group--it won only two out of 543 seats in the 1984 general elections--to national powerhouse has been made possible by the withering away of the Congress Party, which held a monopoly on political power for half a century. The Congress has lost its way through the years with ever-less-inspiring leaders and ever-increasing corruption. Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia's late husband, was booted from power in 1989, only the second time voters had spurned the party. Then the Congress lost the Gandhi dynasty, or so it seemed, when Rajiv was assassinated in 1991 during a comeback campaign. The BJP won 120 seats in those polls and 163 five years later, the largest single bloc, enabling it to form a minority government. Even though it fell after a mere 13 days, there was widespread acceptance that an alternative to the Congress had to emerge for stability's sake, and the BJP was the logical choice. Only Sonia Gandhi's campaign bandwagon has tossed a wrench into what had seemed like unavoidable BJP victory.

The party's pedigree is perhaps its most worrisome feature. It was formed in 1952, under the name of the Jana Sangh, or People's Organization, as the political arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or rss, a militant Hindu group formed in 1925. (The rss shot to prominence in 1948 when one of its renegade zealots assassinated Mahatma Gandhi for being sympathetic toward Muslims. Formerly banned, the group is now legal and renowned for its devoted recruits, their khaki-shorts uniforms and the quasi-military training they receive.) Early adherents to the party were pulled from the rss, and through the decades its main support came from the Hindu trader class. After joining the combined opposition group that ousted Indira Gandhi in 1977, the party split away in 1980 and changed its name to the BJP.

In the late 1980s, the weakening of Rajiv Gandhi's Congress gave the BJP an opportunity to ascend, and it used various Hindu-Muslim controversies as its step-ladder. None was more successful than the decades-old squabble over a crumbling, shuttered mosque in Ayodhya. According to legend, that city was the site of Ram's fabled kingdom. Hindu propagandists maintained that the mosque was built on the precise spot where Ram, an avatar of the God Vishnu, was born. They also said a great temple had once occupied the site and was deliberately destroyed in 1528 by the invading conqueror Babar, who allegedly used pillars from the temple to construct the mosque. The BJP, aided by its militant cousin organizations, led prolonged agitations for the mosque to be removed and a new Ram temple built. Those efforts were so popular that in 1989 even Rajiv Gandhi was promising a Congress-inaugurated Ram Rajya. On Dec. 6, 1992, at what was supposed to be a peaceful gathering, Hindu militants destroyed the mosque as BJP president L.K. Advani looked on. In a land of long-simmering communal tensions, this was an extraordinary gesture: a national party advocating violence against the Muslim minority's places of worship. And one that keeps rebounding. Two weeks ago, as Advani campaigned in the southern city of Coimbatore, several bombs went off around the city, killing 60 and wounding nearly 200. The attack was allegedly the handiwork of Muslim extremists. (Advani was unhurt, but communal violence soon flared in other cities.)

Since 1992, the BJP has tried to sustain the devotion of the far right while assuaging Indians who were appalled by the events at Ayodhya. Prime ministerial candidate Advani was replaced by the charismatic and less strident Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 71. Extremists' demands that two other mosques be torn down have been downplayed. Hindu chauvinism has given way to plain nationalism: the BJP's manifesto says it wants India to develop nuclear weapons and missiles, although it hardly hides its desire to point them at Muslim Pakistan. A few Muslim politicians have joined the party with an interesting argument: that communal disturbances are the work of parties out of power, not those trusted with governance. "Whenever a BJP government has been in power," posits party supporter Abdul Shafiq in Amethi, referring to the BJP's rule in various Indian states, "anti-Muslim riots have stopped. The Muslims of India should give it a try."

For the mainstream, that's the basic temptation: the Congress' record over the past two decades has been so dispiriting that the BJP should be given a chance, despite its stridency, checkered history and the danger of abandoning the Indian secularist ideal. For moderate voters, Vajpayee is plainly the party's best face. "He's an honest man," says Avtar Singh, a government employee in the north Indian town of Bhiwani. "He should be Prime Minister."

But it must be remembered that the BJP's ranks are filled not just with moderates. The party's promise to build a Hindu City on the Hill--or several--is taken seriously by many. Girish Shampura, a stone carver from western India, is working to prepare elaborately carved pillars and panels for the Ram temple in Ayodhya. The project has been formally frozen by various court orders, but workers like Shampura are busy nonetheless not far from the construction site. "The temple will be built only after the BJP comes to power in New Delhi," he says. "It will happen. How can we get Ram Rajya unless we build a temple to Lord Ram?" For many voters, that's the promise--and the threat--of the BJP.

Reported by Meenakshi Ganguly/New Delhi, Maseeh Rahman/Bhiwani and R. Bhagwan Singh/Coimbatore