Retreat, reconciliation?

The BJP in Kerala saw the Prime Minister's Kumarakom retreat as an opportunity to build bridges with dominant minority segments. GEORGE JACOB discusses the impact of this strategy.

THE PRIME Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, finished his Kumarakom retreat and started a debate on the dialogue he had with Christian prelates and its possible political fallout. A debate was in the air with the very selection of Kumarakom in the Christian heartland as his ``holiday destination''. And in the vortex of this debate is the State unit of the BJP, which, since its inception, had found itself at sea in Kerala's unique socio- political milieu.

Inspite of declamations to the contrary, it was beyond doubt that the BJP's State leaders wanted to use the visit of the Sangh Parivar's most secular face to build bridges with dominant minority segments in the State without whom they cannot dream of opening an account in the Kerala Assembly. After years of trying to bring together the Nair and Ezhava communities, without any success, they appeared to have come to the conclusion that it was easier to cap the religious gap, than caste differences.

For the Church leaders, however, the issue was an entirely different one. The dialogue, to be effective and productive, had to address the core issues involved in protecting minority rights. While they had their own grievances, these had to be addressed in the larger perspective of the problems of the minorities, they maintained. They had nothing to hide and made their intentions clear at a press conference much before they were officially invited for the parleys.

It was clear that the top BJP brass were not interested in making such a clear statement on minority issues, especially at a time when they had identified a more vigorous pursuance of Hindutva as their strategy for the ensuing elections in Uttar Pradesh. After protracted dilly- dallying, they appeared to have found a way out by inviting the bishops for an audience on a Sunday morning, thereby, providing the `not so keen' sections an opportunity to stay away citing `preoccupations'.

With only six of the bishops arriving for the conclave, and majority of them confining themselves to issues such as the crisis on the agriculture front, the meeting could be turned into a low-key affair as intended by the BJP think-tank.

However, the decision to fix the appointment for a Sunday morning has come for severe criticism as many like Dr. Ninan Koshy, human rights activist, believe that it has only once again proved the BJP's lack of sensitivity to other cultures. The only saving grace for the occasion was the presence of the highly respected and by far the seniormost prelate in the Christian community in India, the Catholicos of the East, Baselius Marthoma Mathews II of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, who expressed the community's apprehensions and called upon the Prime Minister to rise above party and communal considerations as he was the Prime Minister of all Indians.

``The only way the situation could have been redeemed was by responding to the call made by the Catholicos,'' says Dr. Koshy and points out that this was exactly what the Prime Minister did not do. Dr. Koshy takes exception to the claim that the attacks on minorities have no ideological bearing and points out that it was Mr. Vajpayee himself who initiated a debate on conversion at the height of the attacks against Christians in Gujarat in 1998. And it was the series of statements made by the Parivar leaders which created a climate of antagonism which resulted in the attacks, he adds. The Archbishop of Thiruvananthapuram and president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), Cyril Mar Baselius, too believes that while the violent acts could be taken as a law and order problem, the Prime Minister had the responsibility to allay the fears created in the mind of the minorities.

However, that it has generated a debate itself is the greatest benefit for the party, says one of the senior BJP leaders. He points out that the climate of `untouchability' is no more there as the BJP could open a window at the highest level with various social groups.

And many of its leaders believe that they could drive a wedge in the Christian leadership, though those who came for the conclave did not represent even half the Christians in Kerala.

But will this reflect in the coming Assembly polls? The BJP leaders are noncommittal; they are well aware that unlike the Panchayati Raj elections where social connections are the key, the Assembly polls are more political.

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