Protection of the Constitution does not relate to the law and   order  problem.

At one time, it was said that the Prime Minister was so    disgusted   with the VHP campaign that he had decided not to go  to Gujarat.

Some fairly authentic reports are now available to indicate that the Election Commission would have suspended the polls in Gujarat if the State Government had not stopped the Vijay Yatra. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had planned to lead it nearly three weeks ago with a replica of the charred coach of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra. Whether or not the Supreme Court’s directive not to stall the polls on the ground of law and order would have come in the way of the Election Commission is difficult to say. After making it the sole arbiter of deciding when to hold the election, the Supreme Court’s order would have been, at best, a subject for interpretation. But that eventuality never arose. Protection of the Constitution does not relate to the law and order problem.

In any case, the Gujarat Government considered it prudent to arrest some VHP leaders to stall the yatra. The manner in which the VHP was ticked off and the precautionary measures taken by the State, however reluctantly, should have chastened Chief Minister Narendra Modi. But the Gujarat election campaign showed that he went to the farthest limit to break every rule, written or unwritten, legal or moral. His speeches reflected disdain for the Election Commission or, for that matter, any institution. He is a law unto himself. The sum total of Modi’s efforts has been to turn the election in the State into an exercise in obscurantism so as to consolidate the Hindu vote.

The word ‘mian’, which he affixed to the name of President Pervez Musharraf, is meant to deride the Indian Muslims and placate the Hindu elements for whom it is a word of contempt. Muslims are hardly a political force in the State. They are not more than 11 per cent of the electorate. But Modi believed that by inculcating an anti-Muslim feeling, he could ride a pro-Hindu wave. The Election Commission stepped in at times to ensure that the polls were free and fair. It has stopped the use of Home Guards for election duties because most of them are RSS camp followers. The Commission had also taken adverse note of the wide distribution of propaganda compact discs and T-shirts depicting the Godhra train burning. In Ahmedabad, the Commission had parts of hoardings pulled down because the text read: "Be it Godhra or Akshardham (temple), we will wipe out terrorism."

Still, the Election Commission has limitations. Its major source of information is the State. It cannot run the administration that is under Modi. By the time the reports reached Delhi, the damage had already been done. Even otherwise, the Commission can do little when the ruling party in the State and at the Centre is bent upon communalising the atmosphere. The Sangh parivar has staked all in the Gujarat election to make it a referendum on Hindutva. If it fails, it may take the parivar many years to recover. But if it succeeds, it may be emboldened to take on the pluralistic society in other parts of the country. It is a disturbing scenario for the future. To some, it may seem farfetched. But that’s what emerges when one does a reality check. The VHP, the Taliban arm of the RSS, is calling all the shots. The BJP is toeing the line. The VHP shows the crude and militant side of Hindutva while the BJP is its camouflage. They are two sides of the same coin.

The other members of the Sangh parivar are in no way less fanatic and fundamentalist than the deeni (religious) parties in Pakistan or Bangladesh. The Prime Minister had said that governance and economic development would be the poll issues, not Godhra. But, apparently, he could not make the Sangh parivar accept that plank. Otherwise, how do you explain the election propaganda material--calendars, handbills, posters, stickers, CDs and almanacs--all replete with images of the burning Sabarmati Express bogie?

Vajpayee has used the Congress reference to the publication of a White Paper on Godhra and the promise to punish the guilty to break his pre-poll assurance not to bring in Godhra. Assuming the Congress is a violator, there is no justification for unleashing the most pernicious propaganda against the Muslims and even offering justification for the Gujarat carnage. At one time, it was said that the Prime Minister was so disgusted with the VHP campaign that he had decided not to go to Gujarat. But this frame of mind did not last long because he openly said later that he would go to Gujarat if anybody called him (agar koyi bulayaga). The RSS, which now controls all the elections from behind the scenes, has obliged him. The Congress ‘crime’ cannot be the ground for the Prime Minister joining the divisive and parochial forces.

L. K. Advani has thrown every caution to the wind. He should know that he is India’s Home Minister, not the Gujarat Chief Minister’s drumbeater. How can he give Modi a clean chit when the Government-appointed Nanavati Commission is sitting and recording evidence on what happened in Gujarat and who was guilty? When the Home Minister declares Modi not guilty, the entire purpose of the Commission is defeated. If the Commission does not clear Modi, he can proclaim the Chief Minister’s innocence on the basis of the Home Minister’s certificate. In fact, the Concerned Citizens Tribunal, with retired Supreme Court and High Court judges as its members, has already indicted Modi. Its two-volume report, entitled Crime Against Humanity, tells how the misuse of religion for political ends resulted in the Gujarat carnage. The tribunal says: "Hindutva barbarians came out on the streets in different parts of Gujarat and, in all flaming fury, targeted innocent and helpless Muslims who had nothing to do with the antecedent Godhra event. They were brutalised by miscreants uninhibited by the police; their women were unblushingly molested; and Muslim men, women and children, in a travesty of justice, were burnt alive. The Chief Minister, oath-bound to defend law and order, vicariously connived at the inhuman violence and some of his Ministers even commanded the macabre acts of horror."

Still, the Home Minister praised Modi for the "exemplary handling" of the riots! Unfortunately, the Congress, too, is using sadhus and sants lest it should be seen not to have the support of religious leaders. Congress President Sonia Gandhi started the campaign after invoking blessings in temples. These acts, too, are reprehensible. I do not know how the Gujaratis will ultimately vote. But the election campaign is a warning to the nation: there is no compunction in mixing religion with politics. The entire structure of the polity is in danger if this trend is not ruthlessly stopped. The adherents of theocracy will devour democracy. In no part of the world is one nationality and one religion synonymous; nor has it ever been so in India.

Since 10 more State elections are due in the next 12 to 15 months, there should be ground rules on their conduct. The Election Commission alone cannot check the prejudices and passions which are sought to be raised during the poll campaign.