|
While the horrors of
the Gujarat carnage were taking place, except for a couple of industrialists,
the entire big business community was silent. Top industrialists, leading film
stars and the elite of the country graced Modi’s rise to power at his
super-grandiose swearing in ceremony after his electoral victory. At the NRI
jamboree in Delhi, organized by one of the leading big business associations of
the country, the FICCI, Modi was a star attraction. In mid-January another of
the leading big business associations, the CII (Confederation of Indian
Industries) specifically organized a huge gathering of 1,000 business people in
Mumbai, entitled Gujarat Unlimited, where top business leaders showered
unbelievable praise on this butcher. Finally, two top industrialists from
Gujarat are members of his ministry.
Though Modi was the
mastermind of the worst anti-Muslim pogrom in India since 1947 in which roughly
2,500 Muslims were butchered, hundreds of women and girls were brutally raped,
and several lakhs of people were uprooted causing an economic loss varying from
Rs.3,000 to Rs.10,000 crores, he is being accorded all social respectability and
praise by a sizable section of the elite of this country and the pillars of the
establishment. Though he and his associate, the VHP general secretary, Praveen
Togadia, continues to pour venom day-in-and-day-out, instigating more to murder,
rape and plunder, both are being accorded pride of place in the media and
establishment circles. But this then is nothing new. After all it was the top
industrial houses of Germany that financed Hitler to power and propped up his
horrific rule.
The CII event in
Mumbai was the most disgusting example of a section of business’s slavishness to
this monster. Gracing it was a virtual Who’s Who of industry and banking,
including Jamshyed Godrej of Godrej and Boyce, A.M.Naik of Larsen and Toubro,
Prashant Ruia of Essar, P.P.Vora of IDBI, Nimesh Kampani of Morgan Stanley,
Chintan Parikh of Ashima, Pradip Madhavji of Thomas Cook, etc. In attendance
were 1000 such big and petty businessmen. The director-general of the CII, Tarun
Das praised the event saying "this meeting is not just a Gujarat or a regional
event, but a national event"; and full-page advertisements announcing the event
highlighted Modi Quotes. Godrej praised Modi for his "vision". Thereby top
elements of the CII have sought to legitimize Modi’s vile politics and his
murderous communalism. Modi on the other hand has promised to implement economic
reforms with greater speed, and at the CII event announced his agreement to the
much-awaited demand of big business to privatize the highly lucrative fertilizer
industries there. Their fascist teeth was evident even at the event when a small
liberal group, Insanyat, was not even allowed to demonstrate outside the event,
and its members prevented from entering the hall. Yet, one of its leading
members, Jairus Banajee, managed to get in. When he raised questions regarding
giving legitimacy to the butcher he was forcibly thrown out. Though a section of
the CII later questioned Modi’s law and order record (mildly) at a later Delhi
meet, it is clear that large business interests support his politics of murder.
So, we find that in
Modi’s cabinet there are two top Gujarati industrialists, US educated with
high-level NRI links. One, Surabh Dalal, in fact belongs to the Ambani family,
and has businesses, marketing chemicals, steel, pig iron, etc. The other, Anil
Patel, heads the Apollo group of industries, which has a Rs.100 crore turnover,
and runs plants in Mehsana, Alang and Ambhaji and also owns a Rs.100 crore
technical institute financed by NRIs.
Besides big business,
there are huge funds coming into this Sangh Parivar outfits through the rich
NRIs based in the UK and America. According to a Channel 4 investigation there
are two leading ‘charitable’ organizations based in London that are funding the
hate campaign in India — Sewa International and the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS).
So, for example, the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram of Gujarat has received millions of
pounds from the Sewa International. The HSS, jointly with the VHP, raised $3.5
million for the Gujarat earthquake. In the US even larger amounts of funds have
flowed to the Sangh Parivar through numerous official and semi-official
organizations like the IDRF (India Development Relief Fund). The vast funds
flowing from abroad into these fascist outfits indicates a strong imperialist
link, particularly with the US/UK forces, which are also on a high-pitched
anti-Muslim campaign.
Particularly the IDRF
has been raising gigantic sums of money to promote the anti-Muslim hate
campaign; similar to that which is being conducted in America. A lot of this is
going into the Sanskritisation campaigns of the Sangh Parivar of tribals and
dalits. Many of these organizations have been implicated in the violence against
minorities. For example the active participation of the of the tribals of the
Vanvasi Kalyan Samaj and Vivekanand Kendra in the Gujarat pogrom is well known.
Both are funded by the IDRF. In MP organizations like the Sewa Bharati, VKA,
etc., and funded by the IDRF, have been implicated in violent actions against
Christians. Funds channeled into the country saw a gigantic boost after the BJP
came to power in 1998. Between 1994 and 2000 $3.2 million (Rs.13 crores) entered
the country; while in the last three years $3.8 million (Rs.18 crores) entered
the country. 80% of this went to Sangh Parivar outfits, 8% went to Hindu/Jain
religious organizations, 7% is unaccounted for and only 2% went to secular
organizations. Of these funds 70% has gone for ‘education’ — a euphemism for
Hidutva propagation and forced conversions of tribals to the Hindu fold — mostly
amongst tribals.
It is quite obvious
that a large section of big business and the TNCs, favour the Modi-brand of
Hindutva, which is in fact nothing but the naked policy of the Sangh Parivar and
the BJP itself. There are no specific mild or extreme policies within these
outfits; it is only that real politics forces them to tread carefully. The way
the Vajpayees and the Advanis have supported the massacres, though indirectly,
proves this. And the very fact that not a single person is implicated in the
gruesome rapes and murders is further indication that the existing system has in
fact sanctioned it.
With economic reforms
badly hitting all sections of the working people such a policy creates the right
type of diversion for the people whose anger would otherwise have burst out at
the crude flouting of wealth by these rich and against the highly anti-people
policies of the governments. The pro-imperialist policies of the government is
pushing all sections of the people, including the middle classes and small
business, to the wall; agriculture is failing everywhere; Gujarat has itself
been severely hit by successive droughts and a devastating earthquake; crores of
people throughout the country have been pushed to ruin. Gujarat, inspite of its
industries, has been particularly badly hit. If it was not for this communal
polarization the people would have risen against the government and the
money-bags that have pushed them to ruin. The huge attack on the tribals by the
Narmada project, which gives crores of rupees to the powerful contractor lobby
and water to the rich farmers, has been balanced by the Sangh parivar’s
organizations whipping up hatred against Christians and conversions;
sanskritising their culture and lumpanising the youth. Moditva’s hate campaign
diverts people’s anger against the moneybags into fatricidal wars. No wonder he
is applauded by them.
|
