HVK Archives: Gandhi divides the family
Gandhi divides the family - Outlook
Yubaraj Ghimire and Saira Menezes
()
22 January 1997
Title : Gandhi divides the family
Author : Yubaraj Ghimire and Saira Menezes
Publication : Outlook
Date : January 22, 1997
Guess who is attacking Bal Thackeray now? It's the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which is fuming over his public outburst
against Mahatma Gandhi. And the only person who can make amends is
Thackeray himself, by desisting from such off-the-cuff remarks.
But in true Thackeray style, he is keeping quiet about the row
after triggering it off.
Thackeray rattled the parent organisation of the BJP when he
questioned Gandhi's 'father of the nation' status and his attitude
towards women.
The first salvo was fired in an editorial of Tarun Bharat, a
Nagpur-based Marathi daily controlled by the RSS, on January 4. It
called Thackeray a 'pervert' who was becoming a liability for the
saffron brigade. It said the Sena chief had got a tremendous
opportunity to be a 'Krishna' (selfless guide) to Sena Chief
Minister Manohar Joshi. But that he showed all the signs of being a
'Sishupal' (Krishna's cousin who abused the lord only to be killed
by him)-traits that could lead to self-destruction.
That RSS ideologue M.G. Vaidya is one of the trustees of the
Marathi paper only heightens the discord: because the edit cannot
be seen in isolation from that of the RSS' views. This puts fresh
pressure on the Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra, which has
weathered several storms in the past. Like when BJP leader Ram
Kapse's candidature for the Lok Sabha was vetoed or the
RSS-sponsored Swadeshi Jagaran Manch resisted the Dabhol power
project-when the BJP backed out of a row. But now, the BJP is
finding it difficult to even play down the incident, and faces
criticism from other parties.
Pramod Mahajan, BJP general secretary, tried to wriggle out of the
whole controversy but that did little to bail out the party. "India
has a 5,000-year-old history. Gandhi could at best be one of its
noble sons, not its father," said Mahajan. Desperate not to anger
the alliance partner, Mahajan stood by Thackeray, ignoring the harm
it could do to the BJP which not too long ago swore by the ideals
of Gandhian socialism.
According to Sharad Pawar, the Congress parliamentary leader in the
Lok Sabha, 'the BJP's so-called faith in Gandhian ideology is a
hypocrisy." Says Pawar: "Thackeray is like Hitler. And by keeping
quiet on the outburst, the BJP has shown that it is also closer to
Hitler."
Thackeray's anti-Gandhi pronouncements also rankled the
intellectual fraternity. Noted director Amol Palekar turned down
an award from the Mumbai Sahitya Mahasangh on the ground that it
had earlier felicitated Thackeray "who had scant regard for
individual freedom". In Ahmednagar, playwright Girish Karnad also
launched an attack against the Sena's functioning. (See interview.)
Meanwhile, Mahajan was pulled up by the leadership for going out of
his way to defend the Sena chief. They feel that 'silence would
have been more prudent'. In 1994, Mahajan joined his colleagues in
the Rajya Sabha to demand the dismissal of the Mulayam Singh-led
government in Uttar Pradesh because Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj
Party -a coalition partner-had called Gandhi a 'Manuvadi'
(casteist).
"Both the BJP and the RSS have a high regard for Gandhi. He is
remembered everyday at the RSS' morning prayers. We do not need to
go into a discussion on whether Gandhi was great or not. His
position in history cannot be influenced or altered by what certain
people are saying,' says Murli Manohar Joshi, former BJP president.
Apparently, there have been efforts in the Sena to play down the
political impact of the editorial. 'Our alliance is with the BJP,
and not the RSS. The newspaper belongs to the RSS. As long as the
BJP does not say it, we are not going to give importance to the
episode,' says Raj Thackeray who is being projected as the Sena
chief's successor.
There has also been no reaction from the party organ, Saamna, to
the editorial. "In the past too, the RSS was against the Michael
Jackson show but that was ignored. We write against them sometimes,
but that does not mean it is the end of the alliance. Anyway, these
days, everyone tries to achieve greatness by framing Thackeray,"
adds Raj Thackeray.
In fact, the issue also figured at the RSS family conclave, that
included representatives from the BJP, in Virar from January 10 to
12 where it was acknowledged that such statements should be
avoided. But, Mumbai's RSS unit is yet to formulate its stand
towards the Sena after the editorial. "The RSS does not criticise
anybody or target any one individual. We are not interested in
issues unless they have national importance. What appeared could
have been the editor's point of view,' says Vasantrao Tambe, senior
office-bearer of the RSS in Mumbai.
But the Sena and the Thackerays are missing a point-that though the
BJP enjoys a large degree of autonomy in charting out its political
course, the RSS is its patron. It criticises 'aberrations' in BJP
actions and dictates the final course if necessary. The Tarun
Bharat editorial is a tactical warning to the Sena supremo that he
should mend his ways, which is quite a tall order. The RSS is also
sending out a veiled message that it does not want the BJP to be
seen as a party to such anti-Gandhi comments. The BJP has to take
a stand on the issue, before the impending budget session in
Parliament where it is sure to be cornered by secular forces.
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