THE POLITICAL AND COMMUNAL EXTREMISTS

- Acharya JB Kripalani - 

...It is therefore, my firm belief, that if the moral boost that the Naxalites get from the various Communist parties, and the Hindu extremists get from other Hindu parties, and the friends of Pakistan get in India from various recognised Muslim parties is withdrawn, and if the authorities are vigilant and efficient, we shall be saved from the forces of disruption....

It is a fact that all over the world there is an increase of violence. This is due to the fact that these days for various reasons the norms of conduct necessary for the smooth working of a social group have been undermined. When there are no fixed rules, laws and well recognised procedures to regulate social intercourse, the individual or the group finds for him-self or itself the best way through which real or fancied wrongs can be righted and justice of their conception established. When justice rendered by a recognised authority is not accepted, the conflicting individuals and parties decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. No authority being recognised willingly or through its force of coercion, the parties find for themselves what appears to them the most effective way of getting what they think they can justly claim. What is just is decided by the disputing parties. Through what means and agency justice is to be rendered is also to be decided by the parties themselves. Argument and reason can decide a conflict only when there is somebody whose judgement about facts and their interpretation through law off rational thinking are accepted by the disputants. If in a society, laws, appropriate procedures and law courts, for any reason, cease to function the only course left to the parties in a dispute is to rely on their own resources. They would naturally want a decision to be reached quickly. Arguments take time and there being no judge are likely to become interminable wrangling. What can be under the circumstances the speediest way of getting what is wanted. It is to kill the opponent. It settles the matter under dispute immediately, there being no other party.

This has nothing to do with the acts of criminals and antisocial forces. The criminal recognises the law and the authority of the police and the judge acting under it. When apprehended tried, and adjudged guilty he submits to the punishment. But there are organized and unorganized groups these days in each community, who repudiate the existing social order in toto, in favour of one of their own conception and choice. More dangerous are groups and parties who believe that first there must be social confusion and chaos, to enable them to capture power, to reshape society according to their conception of right and justice. They do not wait to think that they may not be the beneficiaries of the chaos they so ardently desire and work for. Their enemies may have as much chance- as they to capture power, after vacuum in authority has been created by disorder and confusion. A political charlatan like Hitler or a military leader like Bonaparte may come to power when there is confusion and chaos!

Let us now see the forces which believe that only through unregulated violence can they capture power and then establish in India the social order of their conception. There are many such forces – political, social, economic, communal, regional, etc. But here I shall treat only two of these, which appear to me the most dangerous. They are political and communal. I shall take them at their extreme formulation.

The Naxalites believe that the social order of their conception can be achieved if authority is undermined and as a consequence there is confusion and chaos in the country. Though the Naxalites are believed to be the followers of Mao in China, they seem to be improving on his conception of the revolution. Mao does not want confusion in China. What he wants is to bring about the "Cultural Revolution" of his conception. The Naxalites do not work for that, they merely want confusion. The cultural revolution will come only when they gain power as a result of confusion they succeed in creating. They do not ask themselves the question whether they will necessarily be the beneficiaries of the confusion they wish to create or some other forces will arise to take advantage of it.

On the other side there are extreme Communalists. They too believe that a social order of their conception will arise after the country is plunged into confusion and chaos and as a consequence they come to power. There are two such communal forces working in the country. One is of extreme Hinduism, the other is of extreme Islam. The first relies upon the strength of numbers to bring about the confusion desired by them, on the crest of which they will achieve power and establish in India, Hindu Raj. The Islamic extremists rely upon help from Pakistan to bring about such confusion as would put India under their control, to establish Islamic domination. Consciously or unconsciously some organised parties whose existence is allowed by law in India prove helpful to both these extremists, who desire and create conditions for confusion. The recognised Communist parties in India help the Naxalites directly or indirectly. The various recognised Hindu parties help the extreme Hindu communalists, whether they like it or not. The various Muslim organisations, consciously or unconsciously, help the friends of Pakistan in India.

It is my opinion that if the Naxalites are isolated and the organised Communist parties whether directly or indirectly render no help to them, it will not be difficult for the authorities to deal with them, provided they, the authorities, have the will to, maintain law and order. In the same way, the authorities can deal with the extreme Hindu and Muslim communal forces effectively if the recognised parties in the two communities do not help them directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously. While the Communist parties do not deny the existence of the Naxalites, the Hindu and Muslim parties deny the very existence among them of religious fanatics. This is most dangerous. It is, therefore, my firm belief, that if the moral boost that the Naxalites get from the various Communist parties, and the Hindu extremists get from other Hindu parties, and the friends of Pakistan get in India from various recognised Muslim parties is withdrawn, and if the authorities are vigilant and efficient, we shall be saved from the forces of disruption and disintegration which threaten not only our democracy but any organised social order in India. I also believe that the indirect help that the Naxalites and the extreme communal groups get is due to the weakness of the Central authority in India, as it is constituted today. This weakness has been enhanced recently by the divisions in the ranks of the Congress. These made the Congress group in power at the Centre to rely for its survival as the Government on recognised communist and communal parties. If it were not so, the instruments of repression that even the smallest state has at its command today would be sufficient effectively to deal with the forces of disorder and disruption. There can be today no revolution, as in the past, on the barricades or at the hustings. In those days the people had as good instruments of destruction as the authorities. The people had the advantage of numbers. Today the instruments of destruction the authorities have, are infinitely superior to those which the people can command. Their numbers no more count. Will our authorities realise the danger and act before it is too late?