Alarming signs

INCIDENTS OF ATTACK on institutions run by Christian missionaries and the justification of such barbarism by the leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) are taking place once again. The recent attacks of such nature have been reported from Ujjain (in Madhya Pradesh) and Thane (in Maharashtra) and it is distressing that the civil administrations in these two places have done nothing to apprehend the culprits. By not doing anything to deal with the perpetrators of such violence, the civil administration as well as the political masters of the Executive in these States will only intensify the sense of insecurity among the minority communities apart from encouraging the lunatic fringe within the majority community to indulge in such activities in other places too. The state machinery can in no way let this happen for the simple reason that the freedom to profess and practice the religion of one's choice is a right guaranteed by the Constitution and the Executive is ordained by the Constitution to ensure that this right is not infringed upon. In this sense, the civil administration shall not lose any time, at least from now on, to enforce the pluralistic spirit of the Constitution.

While the State Governments in these two States will have to take the blame for letting the violence take place, there is, however, a larger dimension to the violence and this stems from the game plan of the Hindutva forces that are behind the attacks. There is also the systematic propaganda carried out by officers in the Union Home Ministry who seem to be busy planting tales about some ``links'' between funds received by institutions attached to the Church and the insurgency in the Northeastern States. This propaganda, mostly in the form of spreading tales, cannot be looked at in isolation. It does appear that the attacks (including the recent ones in Ujjain and Thane) are part of a larger conspiracy rather than mere incidents involving a bunch of lumpens. While it is imperative for the Union Home Ministry to act sternly against any agency abusing the provisions of the Foreign Currency Regulation Act (FCRA), such conspicuous silence by its officials in the midst of such propaganda about suspected links between some of those agencies and separatist groups is inexplicable.

Be that as it may, there may not be any direct evidence (that could be sustained in the courts) to establish that those indulging in these acts of violence are the members or the cadre of such outfits as the VHP or the Bajrang Dal as it happened in the case of the grisly killing of Graham Staines and his two sons in Orissa. These outfits, as it emerged at that time, do not maintain any membership registers. But then, it is obvious that the acts of violence are indeed a fallout of the vicious propaganda unleashed by the VHP and other sangh parivar outfits and add to it the ``certificate of good conduct'' issued by the top leaders of the BJP (the Home Minister in particular) to the members of such outfits. It is this attitude of the political masters that encourages the cadre to engage in such hate campaigns and violence. And for this reason, it is now imperative for the political leadership of the ruling combine to come out against the hate campaign carried out by the VHP-Bajrang Dal combine; it is also necessary that Mr. Advani, in his capacity as the Union Home Minister, place on record any such ``information'' regarding abuse of the provisions of the FCRA and clear the air of the tales. By remaining passive when such rumours are being spread, the Home Ministry will be seen as subtly reinforcing and encouraging the majoritarian propaganda, and its horrific consequences.

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