January 16, 2008

Hindu nationalists are likely to intensify attacks to polarize voters along religious lines.

NEW DELHI – With elections due in 10 states this year and a general election scheduled for 2009, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is apparently planning to use religion-related issues to polarize voters. This tactic, Christians fear, will increase the incidence of anti-Christian violence.

While state legislative elections are expected to take place early this year in Karnataka, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura, elections are scheduled for the second half of the year in Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The BJP holds power in three of these states: Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Persecution of Christians is already a cause for concern in these states. The party is planning to hold major rallies in almost all state capitals by the end of March in preparation for the general election, reported The Hindu on January 9. Parties have begun preparing for the general election in 2009, when the five-year term of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-led by the Congress party will end.

“There will be increased violence against Christians in the 10 states that go to the polls – and in other states, too,” said Dr. John Dayal, secretary general of the All India Christian Council (AICC).

Dr. Sajan K. George, national president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), agreed with Dayal. “The climate for the Christians is likely to be volatile this year,” he said. “Hindu nationalism has grown over the years, and there are severe threats, life risks, and several other challenges from the Hindutva extremists and their leaders.”

Hindutva is a political ideology of Hindu nationalism asserting that India belongs to Hindus, who make up more than 80 percent of the 1-billion-plus population, and that religious minorities such as Christians are “outsiders.”

Ram Puniyani, a social activist who has long been working for religious harmony in the country, warns that the recent victory of BJP Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the state legislative election in Gujarat is a “shot in the arm for fascist forces [Hindutva extremists],” and that they are likely to intensify their “tirade against the minorities” in other parts of the country as well.

Modi is widely known for persecuting minorities, including the Christian community. He allegedly allowed Hindu extremists to organize large-scale violence in 2002 in which more than 2,000 Muslims were reportedly killed.

The BJP has won twice in Gujarat assembly elections, most recently in December, as voters split along religious lines, Christian leaders say.

Disillusionment with Congress Party

Christians who have traditionally voted for the Congress Party are now becoming disillusioned with it, saying it is soft on Hindutva at the federal level.