By Alex Gonsalves
Ever since the Karnataka-based Sri Ram Sene chief, Pramod Muthalik once again announced a few weeks ago that he plans to set up a unit in Goa, apprehensions have been expressed in various quarters about whether an organisation which believes in fanatical Hinduism and mujahideen-type of moral policing especially targeted at young women and has been engaged in lawless, violent practice of its beliefs — whether such an organisation should be allowed to operate in a state where social life has been characterised by harmony and liberal values. These apprehensions were given vent to by some members of the state Assembly on Wednesday, and the chief minister, Manohar Parrikar has done it well to use the occasion to reassure the public at large that he would not allow Sri Ram Sene to “create trouble” in Goa and order his arrest if he did try. “Don’t worry. I will haul him up if he sets foot in Goa to create trouble. I will ensure that he is thrown into prison for maximum period,” he said.
It needs to be noted here that officially the BJP and RSS do not consider Sri Ram Sene as a constituent of the extended sangh parivar. Parrikar meant the same as much when he said Goans should not support a person with a “crooked mindset”. The BJP had declared its absence of love for Sri Ram Sene when about three years ago around 25 Sene activists barged into a pub in Mangalore one night and beat up women accusing them of behaving in a fashion that is obscene and not conforming to Indian culture. The then BJP president, Rajnath Singh denounced the assault as “reprehensible”. “The BJP condemns the incident in totality,” he said. The BJP government in Karnataka, he said, had already initiated strong action against the “unacceptable act of hooliganism”. He declared that the BJP and RSS had nothing to do with the Sri Ram Sene. The RSS leader, Ram Madhav — even though maintaining that pub culture was “alien to Indian ethos”- denounced the Sene’s hooliganism. He felt that to counter such “alien” trends what was needed was “public education and not public violence”.
The similarity of views on ‘alien’ trends such as pub culture sows the suspicion in others’ minds. After all, the RSS too stands for a puritanical Indian culture — which essentially means the ancient culture of the land before the “corruption” introduced by Islamic and Christian invaders — and the activities of some of its affiliated organisations on some issues have been directed at stopping the trends of “alienation” among people, especially younger generations. One example that comes to mind is disallowing younger people to celebrate Valentine’s Day by force or women to wear jeans and other forms of western dress. Such activities by organisations or fronts identified with the sangh parivar are what often makes it hard for most people to distinguish between the ideology of the sangh parivar and the manifesto of Hindu fanatical organisations such as Sri Ram Sene that work outside its Nagpur-centric line of authority.
In Goa, of course, the BJP has managed to keep up a relatively more liberal image than the party has been able to in the rest of the country. Despite commitment and attachment to broad Hindu traditional beliefs and political and social values represented by the RSS and BJP nationally, the state BJP has by and large managed to keep clear of fanatical and extremist angularities. One of the reasons could be the great power of the social cohesion that has historically evolved over centuries in the state overwhelming the religious distinction that is a fact of life. So, liberalism is realpolitik for the BJP in Goa. The other reason could be the electoral arithmetic, which won’t allow any political party or alliance ever to win a majority of seats in the Assembly without appearing to be cross-cultural and liberal. Yet another reason could be higher commitment to liberalism of leading figures in the state BJP, such as Manohar Parrikar.
Under no circumstances should Parrikar and the state BJP allow the liberal ethos of Goa to be undermined by pathologically inclined groups like the Sri Ram Sene. As far back as 2009, Muthalik had declared that he was going to “take our fight against pub culture to Goa”. Muthalik was “enthused” by the “success” of the Sene assault on young men and women at a pub in Mangalore and had set his sight on Goa. He was obviously inebriated with the publicity (no matter adverse, denunciatory and even black-humoured, as the mountains of pink chaddis mailed to him by indignant women across the country showed) he got after the Mangalore pub attack and thought Goa offered him a much bigger — international scene — to create a world fame for himself. Ravi Naik, who was then the state’s home minister, said as firmly as Parrikar did on Wednesday that the Sene would not be allowed to set up its unit in Goa. Parrikar bears a great responsibility. He must keep his word in the interest of the fine culture of goodwill, amity and tolerance we have in Goa. There is a limit to which democracy can accommodate lunacy: the lunacy can prove fatal to democracy. Germany is one of the healthiest democracies respecting individual freedom of religious or political belief. But Germany does not allow anyone to preach or practice Nazi ideas. Not even to read Mein Kampf. INAV