The Poison spreads

Even while ‘secular' Congress and Janata Dal has chosen compulsive stasis, the Hindutva brigade has consolidated its moral vigilantism in Karnataka, the new hate lab after Gujarat

Girish Nikam Bangalore/Delhi

The spate of attacks against the Christians and their prayer halls and churches in Karnataka, over the last month, has been part of a well-worked out plan of action of the Sangh Parivar. At the time of writing, over 55 instances of attacks have been reported from the districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi - bastions of the Sangh Parivar and BJP for decades now - as well as from neighbouring Chikamagalur. What is worrisome is that these attacks have now spread to a central district like Davanagere and even Tumkur and Chikkaballapur.

The sudden spurt in anti-minority incidents in the state can be directly attributable to the advent of the BJP government on its own strength (with the help of innovative defections), in May this year. The heightening of tensions seems to tactical - to raise the communal atmosphere with the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in view. The BS Yeddyurappa government has adopted a policy of least resistance towards the sangh affiliated fronts which have been on a rampage for the last one month. The UPA government's decision to issue an advisory about the attacks has been dismissed as "merely advisory". This has come in handy for the BJP to launch a counter attack against the Centre and the Congress. However, when the second "advisory" was sent by the Centre, the government seemed to have panicked, and started acting.

The double-standards of the Sangh Parivar are evident in the way the Yeddyurappa government has responded. Even as churches were being ravaged by the Bajrang Dal, VHP and its affiliate organisations,Yeddyurappa declared that it is all "a conspiracy" against him. He denied vehemently reports that any of the sangh outfits are involved. The Karnataka chief of the Bajrang Dal, Mahendra Kumar, during a TV talk show, pompously declared that his organisation was responsible for the attacks. He even went on to assert that this will continue till Christians continued to convert Hindus.

Neither Home Minister VS Acharya nor Yeddyurappa, not the state police took note of it, until the Centre's "advisory" was received. He was arrested but managed to get bail within two days. His release has been delayed as another court in Koppa in Chikamagalur has issued a body warrant against him and he has to be produced on September 27.

In a move that is typical of governments facing brazen violations of constitutional rights, the BJP government instituted an enquiry by the State Corps of Detectives (COD), which is expected to give its report in two months. However, it was only after the Centre and various organisations and political parties applied pressure, he instituted a Court of Inquiry under a retired high court judge.

Meanwhile, the justification for the attacks against the Christians being touted by the BJP-RSS-VHP-Bajrang Dal etc is that Christian sects have been indulging in forcible conversions of the Hindus. New Life, a Pentecostal sect, has been identified as the main culprit, though the pro-Sangh Hindu mobs have made no distinction while attacking Catholics as well as other sects' places of worship.

The entire pattern follows a long-term project. Karnataka has been the ‘southern lab' of the sangh ever since the late 1980s. Considering that the party was almost extinct in the 1989 assembly elections winning only four seats, it has managed to grab 110 seats and has formed a government on its own. The experiment has indeed been successful.