Task cut out for BJP to rein in the fringe

Just last week Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal and an accused in the Malegaon blasts, called the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, a patriot.

Just last week Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal and an accused in the Malegaon blasts, called the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, a patriot. And on Sunday, the Hindu Mahasabha celebrated the birth anniversary of Godse in Surat and Aligarh. While Pragya later apologised and retracted her statement, after she was admonished by the BJP, eight people have been arrested for the Surat incident.

But these two events indicate that fringe right-wing elements have likely been emboldened, if not empowered, ever since the BJP government came to power at the Centre in 2014. While communal riots and violence in the name of protecting the cow have taken place even before 2014, the latter has seen a recent spurt, according to reports.

There have been quite a few cases of lynching of people belonging to the minority community and in most of them it’s the fringe that has been involved. While the BJP claims it has no links with organisations such as the Hindu Mahasabha, how is it that many elements from these groups got mainstreamed? Does not the latest induction of Pragya into the party who, hours later, was given an election ticket from a constituency that is considered a BJP bastion indicate the trend? What else can also explain the ascendance of Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister of a state that is caste-riven, communally-divided and saddled with myriad problems? A new government will soon assume office.

Whichever party or grouping that comes to hold the reins, the need before it will be to control fringe elements. India’s beauty lies in its diversity. The new government must handle the cultural, regional, communal and caste differences sensibly. Else it will only play into the hands of its enemies, who are looking to exploit this.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com