With friends like these…

Hateful rank and file of Sangh and BJP have undone years of govt work in Kashmir

Alok Tiwari

There is no denying that Kashmir was emerging as an unlikely success story of Modi government. In the years following abrogation of Art 370, the popular militancy symbolized by the stone-pelting crowds had been curbed. Domestic extremists had largely been silenced. Just recently elections were held and a popular government was installed. Tourism was booming and investments were about to take off. Happy tourists carried back tales of their good experience, local population did not show any trace of animosity towards mainlanders.

It was only a matter of time before our friends in Pakistan would do something about it. Last week, they did. With chilling efficiency and devastating effect. The attack on tourists in Pahalgam was carried out with clinical efficiency and left nearly 30 people dead. The attackers singled out Hindu men and killed them deliberately leaving the shattered women to go back and tell the tale. They knew exactly the effect this would have. This was not an attack on Hindus. It was an attack on government’s success that was rapidly taking Kashmir away from Pakistan.

Shocking as the attack was, that Pakistani elements would do such a thing was not surprising. What was surprising was the political response in India that followed. The usually politically savvy BJP appears to be scoring a spectacular self-goal. Instead of a coherent and smart response that would protect the gains in Kashmir and instil confidence in the rest of the country in its leadership, the party seems to have left the field to hotheads and crazies.

Right from the word go, the foot soldiers have turned this into a war on Muslims, and not just of Kashmir. Prime Minister Narendra Modi did cut short his Saudi trip but has since been largely missing in action when he should have been most visible. His first public appearance has been at an election rally in Bihar. Terrible optics for a leader who projects himself as protector of Hindus. Meanwhile, the field has been left open to second-rung leaders who only know rabble rousing. This they are doing with startling and dangerous efficiency. Social media posts are openly calling for boycott of Muslim businesses and worse.

The very first response was that the terrorists asked about religion and not caste before murdering a man. There are calls to the faithful to never again set foot on Kashmir. Anyone advocating calm or communal amity is being viciously attacked. The rabid TV channels are amplifying these sentiments with no rebuke from the government. The silence of senior leadership and Sangh over all this is deafening. This is as dangerous as it is wrong, even for a party that wins elections by raising Muslim bogey. A nation simply cannot function if a sixth of its population is treated in such a hostile manner. The resulting strife will derail the country and vaporise dreams of $5 trillion economy and Viksit Bharat.

It is tough to believe this is part of the BJP’s plan because it is undercutting its own achievements gained at considerable political expense. By letting its scum lead the response to a national tragedy, the party is helping the Kashmir separatists and their handlers in Pakistan establishment beyond their wildest dreams. They desperately want to cut growing ties between Kashmiris and rest of India. They would love to destroy the booming tourist industry so jobless Kashmiri youth can be recruited to their cause. BJP rank and file and their supporters are giving them all this and more. It is also helping widen the already huge chasm between Hindus and Muslims in entire India. Modi may have been sincere in sending gift hampers to Muslims on Eid, but his bloodthirsty underlings are making it look like a sham.

Besides being insane, it undercuts what BJP has stood for publicly. It denounced the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. To this day, it is not tired of reminding Congress how the party punished entire Sikh community over the act of a couple of members. Going even further back, Swayamsevak’s always recall attack on Maharashtrian Brahmins in the aftermath of assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse. The party’s message has been clear, do not hold community at large responsible for the acts of a few mad men. Especially so when Indian Muslims have absolutely nothing to do with Kashmir attack and have openly denounced it.

A more politically nuanced response from BJP should have seen Modi visibly in charge, not just coordinating the security but also in providing solace to the kin of victims. He should be boosting the morale of security forces for whom this is a big setback. His ministers should be out there convincing people of Kashmir that this was not just an attack on Hindus but on them too and their livelihood. Modi and Amit Shah should be telling them that they appreciated the individuals who rose heroically to help the victims, and that India stood solidly behind them. They should be firmly putting down the talk of boycott and should be encouraging people to visit, assuring them of better security. If ever there was a chance for BJP to build on its successes, to win the hearts and minds of Kashmiris, it was this. It would not change Kashmiris’ perception of the party overnight but a chance to make a beginning seems to have been missed.

In the mainland, the party leaders should be reining in the extremist talk. This is a time of unspeakable tragedy. One expects the PM to play the healer-in-chief and apply balm on wounds of hurting Hindus. He should also be telling them that targeting Indian Muslims for this outrage was wrong. All this while leading a united and effective response against perpetrators. He should bring the statesman in him to the fore and, just once, let the politician take a back seat.