[Reader-list] Anil Chawla's response to Kulkarni's "Hindu Divided Family"

[Kshmendra Kaul]

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 
 
Dear friend, 
 
Namaskar, 
 
Sudheendra Kulkarni, who currently works as an aide to Mr. LK Advani, 
is an old friend. In 1975, both of us joined IIT Bombay for B.Tech. A 
couple of days back Sudheendra wrote an article "Hindu Divided 
Family", which you may read at 

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne130609hindu_divided.asp
 
Sudheendra's article has drawn considerable attention in media. I am 
replying to Sudheendra in an open letter discussing the role of Mr. 
Advani in BJP and also the defeat of BJP in recent elections. 
 
The enclosed open letter to Sudheendra  is about 2000 words. Please 
read it and send me your comments. 
 
With Best Wishes and Regards, 
 
Anil Chawla 

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Dear Sudheendra, 
 
I have just read your "deeply introspective essay" on tehelka.com 
about BJP's defeat in recent elections. The article is described as 
introspective, but I failed to find anything that could be called 
introspection by any stretch of imagination. True, you say that "I 
too carry my share of responsibility", but that is more courteous 
than introspective. 

 
All through the essay, you look upon BJP as a patient lying on an 
operating table and your role as that of an outsider trying to see 
all that has gone wrong. The patient is being blamed for all that has 
gone wrong, without in any way blaming either the virus or the team 
of doctors who have brought the patient to the present critical 
state. 

 
Please pardon me for being direct and on the face. I guess as a 
former classmate I can take this freedom. I campaigned for Janata 
Party in 1977 elections. Ever since then I have been in and around 
the party (JP/BJP) working at various levels. Sure enough, I have not 
been an aide to Mr. LK Advani (LK) like you have been. Both of us 
began dabbling in public life together at IIT Bombay. I have spent 
more than three decades in close proximity with BJP and RSS without 
ever being offered a post. I am not alone. There are thousands like 
me who have served in their own humble way. What has always surprised 
me is that someone like you who was a committed fulltime communist 
for almost two decades, suddenly did an ideological somersault and 
landed up straight in the top rungs of BJP. When you are in mood for 
some introspection, please do think about this. Probably, the roots 
to the present malaise in BJP can be traced to your own personal 
journey. 

 
When a communist suddenly becomes an ideologue for a party like BJP, 
there is bound to be skepticism and even some ridicule. It becomes 
imperative on the neo-convert to prove that there has been a genuine 
transformation of the soul and not just a change of coat. Even if the 
neo-convert does manage to prove his credentials, there is no way 
that he should ever be allowed to rule over the heads of people who 
have devoted their life to the cause. In your case, (a) you have 
never proved that you have really changed and (b) you actually landed 
up on top of the ranks in a manner that is most inexplicable. I say 
that you have not been able to prove your credentials because I have 
read some of your articles and I can say with a fair level of 
confidence that you remain at heart a communist who is trying to put 
on the camouflage of a Hindu. 

 
Dear Sudheendra, I have nothing against you personally. Your 
appointment as National Executive member of BJP, at the time of your 
joining BJP, and later as Prime Minister's key aide had pleased me 
enormously. One always likes to see old friends in positions of 
power. The problem is that your case is not an isolated one, but a 
representative one. There are many in Delhi and Mumbai who have been 
able to gain access to LK's coterie by hook or by crook and it is 
these who now rule over BJP. 

 
When you analyze BJP and RSS with a cold surgeon like approach, you 
ignore the role that LK's family and coterie has come to play in the 
party. Elections of 2009 were not fought by BJP against Congress, but 
were reduced by LK and his gang to a war by LK against one and all. 
The party has been systematically hijacked and decimated over the 
past decade and a half by LK's coterie. You just need to look at the 
campaign material prepared by the party for the recent elections. 
There is only one face -- LK's. Even Atal ji was not considered worthy 
of being put on the hoardings and posters. Congress gained mileage 
from photographs of Gandhi and Nehru decades after their deaths. 
Communists continue to revere Lenin and Stalin till today. Contrast 
this with the way LK and his war team dumped Atal ji most 
discourteously even though he is alive and continues to be revered by 
millions in the country. 

 
You say that the BJP leadership is in disarray. If it is true, the 
only person who is responsible for the mess in the party is LK and no 
one else. He has ruled over the party with an iron hand for more than 
two decades. In fact, the words "Majboot Neta" (Strong Leader) that 
were used to describe LK during the recent election, apply only in 
respect of the way LK behaves in the matter of crushing his critics 
and opponents within the party. He is ruthless in demolishing anyone 
who as much as raises an eyebrow against him. He has no patience for 
anyone who even dreams of being his equal within the party. Can you 
please name for me two people who are LK's equals within BJP, in LK's 
vision? LK's desire to stand as a tallest leader made him choose only 
pygmies for all critical positions in the party. The only way that 
one could rise up in BJP with LK at helm was to act as a subservient 
spineless dwarf. 

 
The problem with dwarfs is that while they are very good for boosting 
one's ego, they have limited use when one faces a war-like situation. 
In the recent elections, LK decided to fight it all alone. LK and his 
family and coterie thought that their rag-tag army of laptop 
professionals could substitute for the well-oiled and tested 
machinery of BJP, ABVP and RSS. The irony is that the blame for the 
defeat is now being put on the doors of the organizations that were 
treated most shabbily when LK and his team were dreaming of victory. 
LK and his team are now complaining that no one from BJP top 
leadership stood up to defend him when he was under attack. The fact 
is that among BJP leadership, the ones who command any stature were 
always ignored, attacked and pushed to the sideline by LK and his 
gang. So when LK came under attack he looked around for support and 
found none. Of course, there were many rats who were raising their 
feeble voices in his support. Unfortunately, the voices of rats do 
not count. This is something that LK should have thought before he 
appointed rats in all the key positions. 

 
You talk about the party's social base. Did LK do anything in this 
regard during the past five years? The answer is an emphatic NO. When 
LK did his last ‘yatra' before 2004 elections, a photograph of his 
starting point was circulated. It showed LK standing with his 
daughter and wife. There were no BJP leaders on the dais. LK defended 
the presence of his family by saying that he drew strength from them. 
This is the root of the problem. In the past decade or so, LK stopped 
drawing strength from the party or Sangh parivar, and started leaning 
on his personal family ignoring the larger family to which small 
humble persons like me belong and from where we draw our strength. LK 
saw the party and Sangh pariwar as a tool to achieve his personal 
ambition at all costs. In the past decade, LK's focus was on building 
his personal image, his family strengths, his mafia-like grip on the 
party. The thought of getting or building leaders who command or 
could potentially command respect in various social groups seems to 
have been far removed from LK's mind. 

 
I attended the function at Bhopal of LK's unveiling of his 
autobiography in Hindi. What an unabashed projection by a person who 
has no achievements worth mentioning even in one paragraph! Future 
historians will mention LK as a classic example of a person who had 
illusions of grandeur. They will write that he was a manipulator who 
was ruthless to independent thought within his party and rose by 
methods that ruined the party. Having said that they would probably 
add - he saw films and wrote two eminently forgettable 
autobiographies. What else is there to mention about LK's lifetime 
achievements? Are there any articles / books written by him on 
social-political issues? At least I am not aware of any. He is a 
self-centered person who cannot see beyond himself and his interests. 
If he puts pen on paper it is to describe his own self because that 
is all that he can ever see. If he talks about Hinduism / Hindutwa or 
any political ideology or national issues, it sounds hollow because 
he has never applied his mind to anything except his own interests, 
his family, his career, his ambitions, his dreams etc. 

 
You might respond by saying that all politicians today are like that. 
You would probably be right on that. But then they know that they are 
run-of-the-mill politicians with no illusions of being grand strong 
leaders. If LK had realized his own limitations, he would not have 
tried to fashion 2009 elections as an exercise to elect him as the 
prime minister. The worst thing that happened in 2004 and 2009 
elections is that the BJP, under the influence of LK, did not use the 
elections as an exercise to take party's ideology forward. In days of 
Jansangh, when it used to be absolutely clear that there was no 
possibility of winning, the party would still fight. In those days, 
it used to be clear that fighting an election was an opportunity to 
propagate our ideology and thoughts to a bigger audience. In the 2009 
election, the campaign was focused only on the persona of LK ignoring 
even the party's manifesto. 

 
As an old hand of the broad ideological historical process that I 
call as Hindu nationalistic movement, I have no serious regrets about 
BJP losing 2004 or 2009 elections. But I do regret that the party 
which was making an attempt in its initial years to define a new 
vision for Ekatm Manavwad (translated by me as Monistic Humanism) 
lost way. I regret that instead of focusing on issues and ideas the 
party focused on an individual. I regret that the party for whom 
thousands shed blood and lives became a tool in the hands of some who 
want to live a seven-star lifestyle. I regret that personal ambitions 
and aspirations of one man became the focus of many organizations 
that are known for the sacrifices of their leaders. 

 
Dear Sudheendra, I agree with you wholeheartedly when you say, "The 
BJP can indeed bounce back. But it can do so only if it first renews 
and empowers itself comprehensively -- in its ideology, its 
geographical-social spread, its own political strength, its mass 
activity, its alliance-building, its cadre-based organizational 
network, and its leadership". The difference is in approach. While 
you would like to probably do it with LK and his cronies at the helm, 
I shall like Sangh pariwar to put the dark days of LK and his cronies 
behind. 

 
Sangh leadership must act to decisively purge BJP of LK and his 
individual-centered style of working. Competence and not loyalty to 
this or that individual must be the criterion for all appointments. 
Ideology must take centre-stage once again and those who can help 
with defining and clarifying ideological issues should be in key 
positions and not sycophants or moneybags. 

 
I am making this letter public because I think that the issues that 
are discussed here are very important and need a wider debate. Of 
course, I know that this will put me at the risk of harsh retaliatory 
action by LK and his coterie. I guess that I have to take this risk 
in wider national interest. I hope I can count on you as an old 
friend if the action turns nasty. 

 
With Best Wishes and Regards, 

 
Anil Chawla 

 
www.hindustanstudies.com 
www.samarthbharat.com 
www.indialegalhelp.com 

 
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.indian/msg/eb5d518cb3a23927