By R K Barik
The judiciary has put a spanner in the BJP’s plans for Haryana, triggering an outburst from BJP chief Amit Shah. The BJP also faces hurdles in its Baba-first plan in Odisha where Naveen Patnaik has jailed 10 babas on charges of rape and cheating
What is the mystery behind the Khattar government’s incompetence in handling Gurmeet ‘Ram Rahim’ Singh’s arrest? Is Khattar incompetent or is his administration inept? The real issue is their political design which needs a thorough probe.
The Haryana CM’s handling of the law and order situation was criticized during the Jat agitation as well. The BJP Government did not restrain the Jat community from causing mayhem in some cities because it is part of the BJP’s political design to create anger in the other communities. That was the BJP’s politics of mobilization of other castes.
The backroom boys of the BJP have worked out the execution of this plan in India in general and Haryana in particular. They found the Baba useful as he is rooted in the lower strata of society, especially the Dalits and marginalized communities.
Why do the Babas dominate the local society? While conducting a study into the role of the babas in Odisha two years back I found that they have legitimacy in the prevailing tradition. Traditionally, the baba was a fakir without any wealth and power. With wisdom he helped the local people and earned his livelihoods by taking alms from the poor and rich alike.
In Punjab and Haryana, the tradition of the Babas started in the similar manner. Capitalism helped the Deras to expand and gain wealth and power while in Odisha the market economy has grown at a slower pace. The Gurmeet Ram Rahims have acquired political power because of powerful politicians who have tried to benefit from their politicized social base. This has brought mafia with them to protect the ill-gotten wealth, women and power. But they do not bother being questioned by the legal society because of the support of police and the administration. This has created havoc in regional politics.
But our study showed that the Chief Minister of Odisha allowed the police to take action against similar babas and they are now facing the courts. In Haryana, all the ministers led by the CM himself, went to Dera Sacha Sauda. As a result, the verdict against Ram Rahim encouraged his followers to create mayhem while Haryana Police and the paramilitary forces stood as bystanders.
The BJP government of Haryana imbibed a lesson from Gujarat 2002. The then CM Narendra Modi used his political acumen to allow the dead bodies to from the train fire to go to Ahmedabad which fired the emotions of the Hindu community leading to riots. Again, as in Haryana, the Gujarat police and paramilitary forces stood as bystanders. Modi consolidated the Hindu community votes earning him repeated electoral victories.
Here in Panchkula, the followers of Ram Rahim were allowed to attack government property, media and ordinary citizens resulting in the killing of 38 people. Ram Rahim was an ardent BJP supporter and his ashram had become the defacto office of the Haryana cabinet. Khattar, like Modi in Gujarat 2002, has no social support. Like Modi he is a pracharak and both are close friends. This riot is a planned and calculated pogrom which may lead to Modi and Khattar trying to consolidate their social base in Haryana.
Let us examine the case of Odisha where around 10 babas were involved in cases of rape and cheating. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was instrumental in putting them behind bars while the BJP opposed the arrests by claiming the action was against Hindus. Patnaik refused to listen to anybody including two of his party MLAs who were ardent supporters of the Babas.
The persecution of these Odisha babas is going on in the various courts. Here lies the difference in the administrations of Naveen Babu and Khattar.
Baba politics of Odisha is different from Haryana’s Dera politics. The babas of Odisha do not have a single-caste support whereas the deras here have the support of specific castes. As the BJP is trying to replicate the Gujarat political project in Haryana, it is facing problems from the judiciary, specifically the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. That disturbs the political design of Amit Shah who has already blamed the courts. In Gujarat they got a sympathetic judiciary which helped them build their communal base after the riots organized by the Hindutva forces in 2002. To get justice, victims had to run to the Supreme Court which claimed that there was a failure of natural justice. It reopened the major cases and directed their trial outside Gujarat. In Haryana, they wanted the cult figure of Baba Ram Rahim to support BJP and by implication, the castes supporting Baba backed BJP as well.
Can the BJP succeed now? It is a million dollar question. They may take up the cases of the members of the Dera who were involved in violent clashes. That could help the mobilization of caste supporters of the Dera who would then prefer wait for a favorable High Court judge to bail out the Baba rather than try to destabilize the Khattar government. In the case of Odisha, the BJP worked with the Babas who are in jail but they do not have the caste support. That is the fear that is haunting the leaders of the BJP in Odisha. Moreover, Naveen babu does understand their political design he does not want to be the victim of the BJP design as happened in 2002.
(The author is a Senior Fellow with ICSSR)
Be the first to comment