8/10/2019 Modi Will Have to Bend the Sangh Parivar to His Will Business Standard: January 04, 2015

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10 DEMOCRACY AT WORK MUMBAI | 4 JANUARY 2015 1>

A new threat for Shivraj Singh Chouhan

After Haryana’s success where a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government could beinstalled for the first time, the stock of Kailash Vijayvargiya – BJP head for the Haryanaelections – has soared. Apart for posters that proclaim him the Hero of Haryana, he hasnow got unfettered access to party chief Amit Shah. Obviously, this has made MadhyaPradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, somewhat jittery. Chouhan is alreadyfacing three ladies who are tending to become a headache — Sushma Swaraj, externalaffairs minister, who is also elected from Vidisha; Sumitra Mahajan, Lok SabhaSpeaker; and Uma Bharati, Union minister. And now, Vijayvargiya, who has eco-nomic clout as well as proximity to Delhi’s poles of power, threatens to become a chal-lenge. Chouhan is said to be mulling how to handle this new threat.

Modi government’s fashion statement

Who are the two worst dressed ministers in the Narendra Modi government ?It’s a tie — between Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Railway Minister

Suresh Prabhu. While Parrikar was spotted the other day wearing a bomber jacket andsandals at an official function, Prabhu turned up with his shirt tails hanging out of 

his pullover. Parrikar apparently does not own a bandh gala…Among the ladies, Smriti Irani’s saris bring back Margaret Thatcher’s famous

statement. When asked what her taste in clothes was, she replied that she likedwearing modern clothes, but was always mindful of one thing: “That I must never,ever be mutton dressed as lamb”.

It is unusual, if not sacrilegious, to invite a person who does nothave history bred in his bones to a conclave of men and womensteeped in the intricacies of a much talked about but inadequate-ly understood human pursuit that dwells on the past and seeks toenlighten or confound the present. I, therefore, deem it a great priv-ilege to be invited by the Indian History Congress to inaugurate its75th session.

My own academic discipline in the distant past was political sci-ence and I do recall Professor John Seeley’s jingle, well-known inmy time and presumably not forgotten today, that “History with-out political science has no fruit and political science without his-tory has no roots.”

In more recent times, and for professional reasons, I came tovalue Winston Churchill’s aphorism: “Study history, study histo-ry; in history lies all the secrets of statecraft.”

Historians at all times have endeavoured, as Herodotus put it,“to preserve from decay the remembrance of what men havedone.” Historians have dwelt on the facts of the past and soughtto make implicit or explicit judgements about those facts. Not tobe ignored is a mid-nineteenth century caution that historians“have been seduced from truth not by their imagination but bytheir reason” pursuant to the impulse of “distorting facts to suitgeneral principles.”

Equally hazardous is the propensity to read the past into the

present or the present into the past; so is the temptation to ignorethe distinction between memory and history. Memory is based onidentification with the past and is unavoidably egocentric, whilehistory is based on its treatment as an external object and not a partof the self. History also cannot be faith-based. The domains of thetwo exist separately and conflation does not further the cause of either. To a lay person, a number of questions are unavoidable.What then is history, and with what does it deal? What is the taskof the historian? Is history a science, or an art, or a bit of b oth?

A simple answer is that it is a method of inquiry, which dealswith what has reportedly happened and not exactly as it hap-pened. It is a narrative of change. It has been suggested that his-torical objectivity is seen to be not a single idea but rather sprawl-ing sets of assumptions, attitudes, aspirations and antipathies. Itis evident that on most if not all occasions, the narrative is con-tested. Such contestations nevertheless need to have a basis infacts, demonstrable and logically sustainable. As E H Carr put it,“the historian without facts is rootless and futile; facts without theirhistorian are dead and meaningless.” He added that “the study of history is inescapably the study of causes.” This would excludewhat has been called “counterfactuals” or the “what if ” categoryand its simplistic assumptions and premises.

It is thus evident that methodology is critical to the study of his-tory. Efforts to curb “intellectual efflorescence” through official dic-ta can only be viewed as undesirable. Furthermore, contestationsover the historical past need civility of discourse to ensure that it

does not cross the imperatives of ensuring social peace and soci-etal cohesion. Carr also dwelt on history’s wider relevance: “an indi-vidual stripped of memory finds the world a confusing place: asociety with no sense of history is unaware of where it has comefrom or where it is going.”

Is there a more practical relevance of history? To my mind, ithelps us know and learn from the mistakes of the past. Those mis-takes relate to frailties in judgement leading to mistakes in state-craft and governance. These as one historian has put it, could bedue to tyranny or oppression, excessive ambition, incompetenceor decadence, and folly or perversity. In each, the inability or theunwillingness of society or its ruling establishment to pay heed toreason and realism, to dissenting opinion and to alternative cours-es of policy or action, led to unfounded certitude resulting in mis-takes. It is for this reason that in every period of the past, beginningperhaps with the 30th century BC Egyptian King Menes, codes fordispensing justice were enunciated. Alongside, manuals werepenned for the guidance of rulers. Departures from these and theresulting consequences is what historians have dwelt upon.

History writing, and history teaching, has a contemporary rel-evance in a more evident sense. We live in a world of nation statesbut the idea of a homogenous nation state is clearly problematic.Diversity is identifiable even in the most homogeneous of societiestoday. The global scene in modern times has been replete with com-plexities and tensions of what has been called the national question.

In our own country the sheer diversity of identities, 4,635 com-munities according to the Anthropological Survey of India, is aterse reminder about the care that needs to be taken while puttingtogether the profile of a national identity. It has of necessity to beliberal and accommodative; marked, to quote an eminent schol-ar, neither by complete homogenisation nor by the particularismof closed communities. Instead, it is a balance struck by “themutual gravitational pull of disparate sections that make thewhole.” Our sagacity in building pluralist structures that havestood the test for over six decades, stands in contrast to many strait-jacket edifices in other societies that came to grief. By the sametoken, these structures need constant nurturing.

It is no longer a matter of debate that history has to be morethan narrowly political or economic. The imperative is to make itcomprehensive and inclusive of neglected groups in society. Thesesubaltern classes, as Gramsci had pointed out, are not unifiedand their history, therefore, has to be intertwined with that of civ-il society. It has challenged what has been called “the univocalityof statist discourse.” It has sought to focus on Dalit and genderissues. The methodology of studying these opened up new andenriching vistas of study for historians.

The pasture of stupidity, said the great medieval historian IbnKhaldun, is unwholesome for mankind. He warned historiansnot to succumb to the “temptation of sensationalism”, addingthat “a hidden pitfall of historiography is disregard for the fact thatconditions within nations and regions change with the change of 

period and the passage of time.”

 Edited excerpts from Vice-President of India Hamid Ansari’s speech at the

75th session of the Indian History Congress, New Delhi, De cember 28, 2014

‘There is a needto make history

more inclusive’

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?

It is now almost certain that ghar wapsi– or

conversion of those who are perceived to have

“strayed” away from Hinduism – is going to be

the dominant theme in the coming year. What

kind of changes do you think this is going to

bring in Indian society and politics? Are there

any international parallels? If there are, what

has happened to society and politics in

those countries?

There is an inherent structural tension in therelationship between the prime minister (PM)and the Sangh Parivar. On the one hand, thecadres of the Sangh Parivar are essential for win-ning elections. On the other hand, their prioritiesare not those of the PM. His goals for the country

are future-oriented — tapping the aspirations of a young country was a major factor underlyinghis electoral appeal. But many in the SanghParivar are obsessed with the past and their for-ays into deeply divisive and contentious issuessuch as  ghar wapsi are at a minimum, deeplyinimical to the development and foreign policygoals that the PM wants to achieve. The uproar inthe Rajya Sabha on conversions has stalled hislegislative agenda, forcing the government totake the ordinance route, which can only go sofar. And externally, the goodwill that the PM hadearned as a result of his successful foreign visitsis now vulnerable. The PM had put much of thebad blood with the US behind after his very suc-

cessful trip there. But now the Sangh Parivar’sactions are gratuitously putting these hard-wongains at risk. It’s almost as if through their actionsthey are saying “ Aa bail mujhe maar ” (invitingtrouble). But the fact that this is happening is nothappenstance. The Sangh Parivar is worried thatwhat happened in Gujarat may happen in India,namely that its leaders would have to play secondfiddle to the prime minister’s leadership. Recallhow Pravin Togadia was run out of Gujarat andthe Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was not par-ticularly happy either. This is an internecine bat-tle and the manner of its resolution will funda-mentally affect what this government will beable to achieve.

Successful leadership always requires astrong foundation of legitimacy. It is very hardto build but it is amazing how easily it can unrav-el — what happened with Rajiv Gandhi is a sadtestimony to this harsh reality. For the PM toretain his legitimacy, he will either have to bendthe Sangh Parivar to his will or else he will findit hard to govern and impossible to achieve hisambition of emerging as a historical transfor-mational leader.

In the coming year, what do you expect the

politics of the Opposition to be? Who will be

the Opposition in India: caste-

based parties, parties to the right

of the right wing or groups that

rally round the radical Muslim?

The Opposition parties are in disar-ray. Most have become like family-owned businesses and have no freshideas. The winner in India’s elec-toral landscape is increasingly theparty that scores fewer self-goals. If the Bharatiya Janata Party can avoid that – and

it is not clear that it can – it can maintain its new-found pre-eminence for quite a while.

A lot has been made of India’s place in the

world. Has anything changed?There is no doubt that India’s image hasimproved, in large part because of the PM’s ener-getic external travels and meetings. But India’splace in the world will, in the end, depend onimproving fundamentals at home. There is sim-ply no substitute. That means raising growthrates to 7-plus per cent and ensuring that thisgrowth is inclusive. It is not going to be that easysince the rot in the system is pretty deep. Wehave a mind-boggling number of governmentinterventions, many of which try to set right thewrongs of sundry other government interven-tions. It will require not just changing policies –which are hard enough – but even more, chang-ing institutional structures, which is much moredifficult. It will also require fundamentalimprovements in India’s human capital sinceour predominant asset is our people. Regrettably,I am afraid that the actions of the humanresource development ministry do not inspireconfidence that there is any understanding of 

what is required. If we do not invest wisely in thehuman capital of our young, we not only destroytheir future but the country’s as well.

India’s place in the world also requires thatwe fundamentally rethink our security policies.This requires, first of all, not being stupid infomenting sectarian strife for short-term gains.And second, asking harder questions of our larg-er security establishment. It is hardly a revela-tion to say that the basic institutional structureof internal security – the police – has been sys-tematically undermined. There needs to bemuch greater accountability of the leadership of our para-military forces that have become bloat-ed but which casually send jawans to slaughterdue to sheer incompetence and callousness; theentire intelligence apparatus, which uses the

cloak of secrecy to hide its weaknesses and mis-use of funds and personnel; the DefenceResearch & Development Organisation andMinistry of Defence, whose records have beendecidedly inadequate; and the armed forces,which are spending large amounts of scarcebudgetary resources to fight wars of the 20thcentury rather than preparing for the future.

Can you see the emergence of a new Indian

woman? Who is she?One of the most arresting images last year wasthe image of our women scientists in the com-mand control room of India’s Mars mission –most wearing saris – celebrating the successfulMars space mission. That juxtaposition of tradi-tion and modernity could be viewed as emblem-atic of what you refer to as the “new Indianwoman”. There are a host of structural factorsweakening the deeply rooted structure of patri-archy in Indian society — declining fertility,growing (albeit still quite limited) access to tech-nologies that liberate women from back-breakinghousehold chores (such as the washing machineand dishwasher), education, greater exposure tothe wider world (electronic media, cell phones),growing migration and urbanisation and so on...The diktats of the khap panchayats are the

response of a system that is being chal-lenged from below and is struggling tomaintain its hegemony. But make nomistake — the struggle for genderequality will be long and arduous.

The defining feature of India today

is the mobile phone. What happens

to a society when from

communicating intermittently,

communication suddenly becomes

instantaneous? In the past, it was hard tobuild institutions, but once built, they

seemed unassailable. Now, you can build

institutions – like the Aam Aadmi Party –

very quickly, rectification is even faster and

demolition follows... in what ways has

mobile telephony influenced Indian society?I agree. Future historians will see the cell phoneas one of the most transformative – and empow-ering – technological revolutions of our age. Idon’t think we have more than a superficialsense of the multiple and complex implicationsof social media; and let’s be clear — not all willbe for the good. If we can roll out 3G and 4Gacross the country and keep costs low, its poten-tial can be leveraged in so many ways.

There has been a lot of talk of federalism and

passing on powers to the states. But we haven't

seen much happening. Will 2015 see a

new alignment in Centre-state relations

and federalism?

I think the scaling back of centrally sponsoredschemes and passing on some of those resourcesdirectly to states, as well as the growing momen-tum for the passage of the Goods and Services

Tax will b oth strengthen federalism. However,to a considerable extent, the real challenge is lessthe distribution of power between the Centreand the states and much more the astoundingdegree of centralisation within states. India isfacing the most singular urban transformationof the 21st century and is woefully unpreparedin considerable part because urban local bodies(ULBs) are not empowered. State governmentshave deliberately gutted the spirit of the 74thAmendment for obvious reasons — there is somuch money to be made in urban land and realestate that everyone wants their finger in thispie. If the PM wants his agenda of “smart cities”to take off, its foundations will have to be root-ed in radically decentralising power from thestates to ULBs.

‘The PM will haveto bend the Sangh

Parivar to his will’

DEVESH KAPUR, director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania andholder of the Madan Lal Sobti Chair for the Study of Contemporary India tellsAditi Phadnis in an e-mailedinterview what India’s challenges in 2015 will be. Edited excerpts:

ILLUSTRATION: BINAY SINHA 

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ne : (Barack) Obama is nowscheduled to pay a visit to India and attend theIndian Republic Day celebrations in January.However, he’s not visiting Pakistan. Given thedelicate geo-strategic balance in the region, itseems rather odd that a US president would goall the way to India but give a cold shoulder tothe neighbouring country that has and continuesto play a pivotal role in the war against terror.Since 2001, each successive government inIslamabad as well as the army leadership hasstood by the US, supported its effort to endterrorism and now that the president hasplanned a trip to the area but Pakistan’s been

given a woeful thumbs down treatment. D

aw 

n: President Obama informed the primeminister (Nawaz Sharif) of his forthcoming visit toIndia, a late night Foreign Office statement said.

“The President (Obama) also assured the Prime

Minister (Sharif) that he would undertake a visit toPakistan at an early date, as soon as the situationnormalises in the country,” the statement saidwithout elaborating if the US president was talkingabout normalisation of the security situation or thepolitical unrest.

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s : Obama will fall into the trapof communal Hindus if he is not careful, becauseIndia under Prime Minister Modi (under theinfluence of the Sangh Parivar) is bound toexploit Obama’s visit to further the cause of Hindu communalism.

Before coming to India, Obama should ask NewDelhi to repeal laws against freedom of 

expression and ask US embassies and consulatesin India to conduct detailed studies on thecommunal prejudices of the Indian state.Otherwise, Modi is bound to exploit Obama’svisit to further the cause of communalism.

OPINION

HAMID ANSARI

“Our board of trustees is of the opinion that conversion detaches a person from (the) national stream.... Ghar wapsi unites the person with (the) national stream. The Government of India should enact strong 

legislation to stop conversion so as to pave the path for steadydevelopment of Bharatby its patriotic community.” 

Pravin Togadia, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, after themeeting of the central board of trustees, VHP, December 29, 2014

       C       H       A       T       T       E       R       B       O       X

DEVESH KAPUR

Director, Center for theAdvanced Study of India,University of Pennsylvania

CHECKLIST OBAMA’S R-DAY INDIA VISIT: PAKISTAN REACTS

R KRISHNADAS

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) government in Chhattisgarhhad hired two helicopters for cam-paigning during the civic body elec-tions in the state through December.While one of them wasused by Chief MinisterRaman Singh, the oth-er stayed grounded formost of the time.

The helicopter’sinactivity was in manyways a metaphor forthe idleness of the BJPbrass and reflected thesimmering internalfeud. The secondchopper was hired forBJP National GeneralSecretary SarojPandey, who wasappointed co-con-venor for the civic

body polls. She is considered to be inthe anti-Raman Singh camp. Pandeywas annoyed because her supporterswere denied tickets.

“Never has factional feud in theparty assumed such proportions inthe BJP,” said a senior party leader.The trouble began when Singh’strusted Cabinet colleague and statetransport and public works depart-ment minister Rajesh Munat went

public saying that hewanted to contest thepoll for the Raipur may-or’s post.

But the chief minis-ter’s rivals scuttledMunat’s moves. Finally,the BJP announced thename of SacchidanandUpasne, who has thestrong backing of theRashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS), as a com-promise candidate.

“I never thought Iwould be the BJP’smayoral candidatefrom Raipur and hence

was not prepared,” said Upasne. TheBJP made Brijmohan Agrawal, amember of the anti-Raman Singhcamp, the convener of the civic body

election so as to minimise chancesof internal sabotage.

Even as Upasne struggled to com-plete his canvassing in a short span of time, most leaders showed no inter-est in making him win. The 10 BJPMembers of Parliament werenowhere to be seen. BJP candidatesacross the state also got little supportfrom senior leaders. The results willbe announced on Sunday.

According to political observers,the outcome of the civic body elec-tions would be crucial for Singh andthe state unit of the party. The issue of shrinking vote share was brought tothe notice of party president AmitShah during his visit to Chhattisgarhlast month. The difference betweenthe vote share of the Congress andthe BJP in the 2013 Assembly elec-tions was less than two per cent.

“An adverse result in the electionscould kick off a campaign againstSingh,” says political commentator

Virendra Pandey. If the BJP’s per-formance is good, it would help Singhcome out of the controversy sur-rounding the sterilisation deaths in

the state last year. However, thechances of the BJP’s poor show in theelection were remote, as the Congress

had failed to come up as an effectivepolitical option.

The situation in the Congress iseven worse. The fight between state

Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel andformer Chief Minister Ajit Jogi isshowing no signs of easing. Baghelhad recently said it would not makeany difference if Jogi did not turn upfor campaigning. Baghel wasresponding to Jogi’s statement thathe would not campaign for the civicbody polls.

Jogi has considerable supportamong party cadre and masses. Buthis lack of interest in the polls, leftmany of his supporters in the lurch.

Supporters of Jogi and Baghelclashed twice in the party headquar-ters. A senior Congress leaderexplained that the BJP was promot-ing Jogi and former Oppositionleader Ravindra Choubey, who sud-denly came into the picture duringthe election. “This triggered a clashwithin the party. This is bound tohelp the BJP,” the leader said.

Although the BJP is better placedto win the polls, it is more because of 

the failure of the Congress ratherthan the saffron party’s strength. Butit doesn’t mean things are easyfor Singh.

The outcome is likely to have an impact on state Chief Minister Raman Singh’s future; the Congress is a divided house, too

Civic body elections expose internal feuds in BJP, Cong

Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh

STATESCANCHHATTISGARH