India The Awesome Wrath of Rama

By Guy D. Garcia

The god Rama is worshiped by many of India's 696 million Hindus as the embodiment of chivalry and virtue. But it was Shiva, the god of destruction, who showed his face last week as thousands of Rama devotees marched toward a 462-year-old Muslim mosque in Ayodhya, a site holy to both Hindus and Muslims in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Shouting "Break the mosque! Break the mosque!" about 100 stone-throwing crusaders pulled plaster from the walls and planted saffron-colored flags atop the shrine before they were driven off by police and paramilitary troops armed with tear gas, riot sticks and guns. At least six militants died; next day an additional 16 were killed as police used bullets and bamboo staves to hold back the crowds.

In defiance of government policy, Hindu militants have vowed to tear down the Babri mosque, which they believe was built on Rama's birthplace, and erect a temple of their own. As a result, more than 257 people have died over the past two weeks as clashes between Hindus and Muslims spread to cities in six other states.

The spasm of communal violence has almost brought down the 11-month-old government of Prime Minister V.P. Singh, who offered to resign for the second time in three months. It was the most serious challenge yet to Singh, who is struggling to hold his party together, even as the rise of Hindu nationalism threatens to undermine the secular foundations of the world's most populous democracy. Said S.R. Bommai, president of the Prime Minister's Janata Dal party: "The country is at a crossroads. We have to choose between secularism and religious fundamentalism, between democracy and mobocracy, between unity and disintegration."

The Ayodhya incident was just the latest blow to a government shaken by a series of crises. Two weeks ago, the Prime Minister's ruling coalition lost its majority in the parliament after Singh ordered the arrest of L.K. Advani, a Hindu nationalist who had refused to halt a five-week religious march to Ayodhya to support the construction of the Rama temple. Advani's Bharatiya Janata Party responded by withdrawing its backing from the government, a move intended to provoke Singh's downfall in a vote of confidence scheduled for this week.

Another volatile force tearing at India's fragile unity is the politics of caste. Two months ago, Singh opened that pandora's box by announcing that he was setting aside 27% of government jobs for Indians who belong to 3,000 designated "backward castes." The Prime Minister took the initiative to enlarge his support among lower-caste voters and cut into the B.J.P.'s and the opposition Congress (I) Party's power base. But it had the unanticipated effect of arousing ancient animosities among caste groups in the north and stirring violent protests, including self-immolations, by upper-caste students who felt they were being squeezed out of an already tight job market.

Singh is also wrestling with problems inherited from his predecessors, including separatist movements in Punjab, Assam, and Jammu and Kashmir that have claimed 4,000 lives this year. These rebellions are a reaction to the increasing centralization of power in New Delhi, particularly during the tenures of the late Indira Gandhi and her son, Rajiv, who was ousted as Prime Minister last November.

To a certain extent, the turmoil that now threatens Indian democracy may be a consequence of its very success. During the 1980s the Indian economy grew at an unprecedented rate of more than 5% a year, largely owing to Rajiv Gandhi's liberalization policies. According to Swaminathan Aiyar, a leading economic analyst with the New Delhi-based Times of India, that growth may have lifted as many as 150 million Indians above the poverty line, reducing from 48% to 29% the portion of the population that is officially poor.

The rush of prosperity spawned entirely new political forces as the expectations of the formerly destitute rose along with their incomes. The Hindu nationalists have managed to ride that social wave, as have parties and movements representing untouchables, farmers and groups like the Yadavs, a low-caste group in north central India. Says Mulayam Singh Yadav, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and himself a Yadav: "Before, democracy was only for the powerful. But now real democracy has arrived." Observes a senior government economist: "The poor are organizing themselves as Muslims, as ((ethnic)) Jats, and so on. They want to get their share, to get on the bus to power. It may be chaotic, but Indian democracy is working."

But for how long? The B.J.P. has touched a responsive chord with its calls for a "Hindu Rashtra," or Hindu nation, a society and government centered on respect for Hinduism and in particular Rama. The party's emphasis on depriving minorities, especially Muslims, of special rights such as funding for religious schools and a separate civil code has also tapped a powerful vein of resentment among anxious middle-class Hindus, who feel their interests are being ignored by New Delhi. Indians have taken as well to the party's emphasis on civic virtue and piety. But some leaders are worried that in a polyglot society like theirs, such self-righteous credos can too easily degenerate into cultural intolerance. At B.J.P. rallies, it is not unusual to hear the slogan "The only place for Muslims is the graveyard or Pakistan." Warns a Singh adviser: "We are seeing the Indian face of fascism."

Equally disturbing are signs that Hindu activism is reverberating beyond India's borders. In Bangladesh gangs of Muslims armed with knives or clubs attacked at least 11 Hindu temples in the southern port of Chittagong in retaliation for the Ayodhya assault; hundreds of Hindu homes and shops were burned. Major demonstrations also broke out in several cities in Muslim- dominated Pakistan.

If Singh, who is under mounting pressure to quit from dissidents within his own party, loses the vote of confidence this week, new elections could be called within a few months. The Prime Minister can point to accomplishments in foreign policy, including a peace settlement with Nepal, and such populist but expensive programs as debt relief to farmers and job guarantees for the poor. He can also emphasize his support for "secular" values opposed to what he calls the B.J.P.'s efforts to "lay the foundation stone of a theocratic state."

Singh can probably count on the support of segments of the backward classes in the north and of the country's 96 million Muslims, who have applauded his efforts to protect the Ayodhya mosque. But he will have a harder time swaying the rest of the population, which is more concerned with rising inflation and a growing budget deficit. The B.J.P. will fight back with its platform of Hindu Rashtra, trying to convert religious fervor into votes. Where Rajiv Gandhi's Congress (I) Party might enter the equation is anyone's guess. But in order to survive, the winner must find a way to appease Rama without sacrificing Indian democracy.

With reporting by Edward W. Desmond/Ayodhya and Anita Pratap/New Delhi