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MARGINAL NO MORE?
Will India's Hindu nationalist government walk a moderate line? March 20, 1998 |
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Questions asked
in this forum:
Other political parties claim to have religious roots, but are not called fundamentalists. Why the double standard? Why is the BJP support of a uniform civil law considered an anti-minority position? What is the significance of small, independent parties in this election? Will the BJP embrace multinational organizations? Is a there any reason for minorities to worry about a moderate BJP government?
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Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party
Indian National Congress Party
India's Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, (BJP) has remained on the fringes of Indian politics for most of its existence. Even when voters made it a minority government, no other party was willing to form a coalition because of its often extreme positions.
That long history on the margins ended March 15, 1998 when India's president formally invited the BJP to form the government of the world's largest democracy.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a moderate Hindu nationalist, will become prime minister.
(AP Photo)In a sprawling election that spanned three weeks and drew over 300,000,000 voters, the BJP won the highest number of seats-- 178-- but still fell almost 100 seats short of a majority.
After two weeks of uncertainty, the BJP managed to muster enough support from several small parties, to lead a coalition government.
The win is historic. For the first time, India's lower house of parliament will be guided by the BJP who support "Hindutva," a philosophy which embraces India as a Hindu country. This concept has evoked mixed reactions especially from India's 120 million Muslims. Many Muslim women, for example, voted for the BJP because the implementation of a Hindu civil code would give them more freedom than they have under the current, stricter Islamic code. Others worry of a re-emergence of an extreme and violent version of the Hindutva. In 1948, for example, a Hindu fundamentalist shot Mahatma Gandhi claiming the revered leader was a Muslim supporter. And six years ago, Hindu nationalists demolished a mosque they claimed stood on sacred Hindu ground. Subsequent riots killed 2,500 people.
Throughout this year's elections, the BJP has done its best to distance itself from more extreme interpretations of hindutva, toning down its anti-Muslim rhetoric and selecting a party moderate to become the next prime minister.
The election also marks a turning point for the Congress Party, which lost power after governing India for 44 of its 50 years of independence. The party, home to the Gandhi and Nehru dynasties, guided many of India's political principles, including a secular approach to government espoused by Mahatma Gandhi.
A loss for the Congress Party, despite intense campaigning by Sonia Gandhi, above.
(AP Photo)Tainted by scandal the Congress Party slipped in popularity in recent years and not even a marathon campaign by the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi could secure victory for the party in this election.
What factors have helped propel the once marginal BJP to power? Will the coalition government ensure that the BJP will walk a moderate line? Does the election prove that the Indian electorate increasingly accepts Hindutva? Will a coalition government prove unstable and hurt the economic health of the country? Is this the death of the Congress Party or simply a setback?
Our guests for this forum will be Paul Brass, professor of Political Science at the University of Washington; Ashutosh Varshney, associate professor at Harvard's Center for International Affairs and Ainslie Embree, Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University.
Other political parties claim to have religious roots, but are not called fundamentalists. Why the double standard? Why is the BJP support of a uniform civil law considered an anti-minority position? What is the significance of small, independent parties in this election? Will the BJP embrace multinational organizations? Is a there any reason for minorities to worry about a moderate BJP government?
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