Chaos theory in the Hindu cosmos

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Earlier this year when L K Advani released his memoirs, My Country My Life, his contribution to Indian public life was hailed. Advani was credited with creating a "bipolarity" in Indian politics, for creating, for the first time, an ideological and political alternative to the brute dominance of the Congress throughout the first decades of Independence. It was Advani, it was said, who changed the entire debate on "secularism" and "pseudo secularism", and coined words as "minorityism" and "cultural nationalism."

Indeed, the BJP during the NDA rule years did succeed to some extent in becoming the robust opposite number of the Congress, notwithstanding the lurking dangers of militant Hindutva. The BJP under vikaas purush Vajpayee was seen as pushing towards a modern stance. A stance that was anti-family privilege, anti-dynasty, pro-market, pro-upward mobility, pro-America, pro-reform, tough on law and order, and unapologetic about the majority community viewpoint. This was a stance that thrilled the hearts of urban middle class India. From housewives to professionals, all felt that here at last was a party that echoed their way of thinking, here at last was freedom from the stifling feudalism of the arrogant Congress with its "appeasement" policies and its anti-business pro-subsidy inclinations.

Yet, with such a strong tailwind of middle class approval, on such an important mission of creating the democratic opposition to the Congress, what was the public image we saw of the BJP on the fateful day of the trust vote against the Manmohan Singh government? We saw LK Advani deliver a rather rambling half-hearted speech. We saw him look on in forlorn loneliness as 13 MPs of the NDA cross voted, 8 from the BJP alone. Whatever the truth of a "purchased" trust vote, we saw an octogenarian public personality, someone who had created a powerful ideological challenge to Nehru-Gandhi dominance, we now saw him asking for a television sting operation. We heard no gut-wrenching speech or full throated roar of dissent. There was no magnificent verbal attack on a motley UPA coalition that pussyfoots on terrorism, distributes a 60,000 crore loan waiver to buy votes in the countryside, that stalls reform because of coalition politics, that has failed to exemplify the strength of a federal government. Instead we heard conspiratorial soundbites about a sting operation.

Television will show the truth, said Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh. Television? Must television come to the rescue of the Bharatiya Janta Party? A party that from 3 seats in 1984 became a contender for national power in just eight years, a party of Atal Bihari Vajpayee who stunned parliament with oratorical power in days when the House was dominated by the Congress? Surely, such a party does not need a television image for its politics. Alas, this was not just a vote of no-confidence against Manmohan Singh, it was a vote of no-confidence against parliamentary grandeur. Displays of cash are not worthy of LK Advani, currency notes are not the currency of a party seeking to lead new India in the 21st century in which a 25 year old from Punjab has created a historic sporting moment at the Olympics and set the country singing, "chhodo kal ki baatein". (Leave behind the stale talk of yesterday)

Yet in times of tumultuous economic change, when our eyes are fixed on the future, the BJP, has fallen back on that old tired slogan of "Hindu anger." It opposed the Indo-US nuclear deal when it knew, in its heart of hearts, that this is the deal beloved of its own constituency, that open-ness to America, a bold new vision of partnership with the world, freedom from 30-year old technology sanctions, was striking a gigantic chord with the upwardly mobile Indian. It is now all set to oppose banking, pension and insurance reform, taking the place of the Left in blocking economic reform. It has tried and failed to muster "Hindu anger" over the Ram Setu. It has fastened onto the protests in Jammu over the Amarnath land transfer in order to bolster its identity as a party of "spontaneous Hindu rage", a campaign that finds no echo in any part of India except in Jammu. Instead, by blocking of the nuclear deal, blocking of economic reforms, blocking of development initiatives on grounds of religion, India's political right is ceasing to be India's economic right. The BJP is chanting "Hindu! Hindu! Hindu!" when a restless young country is shouting, "Change! Reform! Opportunity!"

Hindutva was Advanis pet calling card thirty years ago, but India has changed too far and too fast for thirty year old slogans to remain seductive. Today the "war for Hinduism" is already won. The gayatri mantra is so mainstream that it's the chosen melody of every Five Star hotel spa. The so-called "leftist-secular" intellectuals who the BJP hates have mostly all discovered their "Hindu" roots through Bollywood and yoga. Every TV channel runs its regulation Mahabharat-Ramayan soap operas. Not a day passes when the Muslim minority is not reminded of its "terrorist" tag, to the extent that the ulemas have even issued a fatwa against terrorism. Aamir Khan is beloved of millions of post-Babri Masjid children and Irfan Pathan's religion matters not a jot to the devotees of the great game. Militant religiosity is no longer a heart-stopping cultural crusade but instead a predictable cynical weapon used by default during election season, evoking public weariness rather than immediate response. Even Modi has decided to stop Hindu rhetoric in the aftermath of bomb blasts and speak instead of a political consensus on terrorism.

So perhaps the BJP should now try to find a more relevant campaign. Right wing parties in mature democracies stand for unleashing the power of private enterprise, and values of family and tradition, articulated in a civilized manner. If its rhetoric remains rude like accusing the government of bomb blasts and calling the prime minister names like "nikamma", if its actions become thuggish, like tearing up paintings in an art school, if its economic policies become leftist, such as blocking reforms and nuclear energy agreements, the BJP will find that its space in the urban heart will melt away faster than the holy lingam at Shri Amarnath.