Rahul Gandhi is playing the old divisive game

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s assessment of terrorism in India, which was shared with US ambassador Timothy Roemer, has now found its way into the public domain, thanks to WikiLeaks.

What is of real concern is that Gandhi, who claims he wants to change a few things in the party structure and thinking, has trapped himself in the party’s post-Independence mindset, which was both wrong and opportunist.

The Congress felt that Muslim communalism, which has now mutated, in some instances, into Islamic terrorism, could unleash Hindu terrorism. Majority communalism could also turn into terrorism.

This is the substance of Gandhi’s remarks to Roemer.

His detractors from the BJP are sure to accuse him of ignoring or condoning Muslim communalism and, by implication, Islamic terrorism. As a matter of fact, the opposite is the case. Gandhi has expressed the apprehension that Islamic communalism and terrorism could trigger Hindu communalism and terrorism, and that is a danger.

If his account is true, then it is indeed a matter of concern. Hindu terrorism would derail the country as a whole, though what Gandhi seemed to be more worried about was the impact such a development would have on the minority Muslim community. The Congress leader is thus narrowly focused on majority-minority relations, and following his party’s perverted perspective.

What Gandhi and the Congress will have to understand is that this attempt to treat Hindus and Muslims as equally susceptible to the evil charms of communalism does not survive scrutiny. This is not to deny the reality of Hindu communalism or even the dangers of Hindu terrorism but they have no chance of ever becoming the voice of the community as such.

There are many reasons for this. Hindu society is too large and too diverse for it to ever adopt a monolithic ideology. This is not so much an assumption as a fact of history. Hinduism has never been a uniting factor in Indian history. So, Gandhi’s and the Congress’ reading of India in terms of Hindu and Muslim, largely a British legacy, is nothing more than a blockhead’s worldview.

In a democracy, everyone has a right to his or her opinion, however wrong it may be. The danger arises when it becomes the official narrative of the nation.

Congress has been queering the pitch for the country because of its cynical game of playing the minority against the majority, and it has to be roundly condemned, refuted and ridiculed for repeatedly igniting this brand of divisiveness.