Catch – 22: Jaswant, BJP, GJMM and Gorkhaland,

"You have no respect for excessive authority or obsolete traditions. You're dangerous and depraved, and you ought to be taken outside and shot!"

The founding fathers of our great country knew that, for the democracy to prevail in true sense, it was not only important but also necessary to enable individuals to be able to express themselves. Hence, the right to freedom of speech, expression, thought, belief and religion popularly known as the Fundamental Rights, is enshrined in the Part III of the Constitution of India. It is this provision, which allows us to live our lives without the fear of someone else robbing us of what makes us an individual and what is rightfully ours. Be it our thoughts, beliefs or our opinions.  

Fundamental rights

Even though fundamental rights do protect our right to expression, however, time and again we have seen this right of ours being encroached upon. Today the nation heard the shocking news of Mr. Jashwant Singh being sacked from Bharatiya Janta Party [BJP] for apparently writing a book that challenged a long held myth, and asserted that it was not Mohammad Ali Jinnah but rather Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel who were to be blamed for the partition of our great nation.

It is a shocking revelation, coming from a person [Jaswant Singh] who was one of the founding members of the ultra-nationalistic BJP. Mr. Singh has always been with BJP right from its formation in 1980s. He was never a popular mass leader, but rather he was an organization man, a trouble shooter. Along with Atal Biharee Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani and few others he helped to build BJP into a national party. His dedication to the party lead the party to be dedicated to him as well, he is one of the rarest breed of the current parliamentarians to have held the posts of Defense, Finance and Foreign minister. Mr. Singh was a man of rare integrity and honesty, so much so, that he was awarded the Outstanding Parliamentarian of The Year [2001], the highest honor for any parliamentarian in our country.

Fundamental wrongs

So what brought his termination? The official reason given is that, the book he wrote “Jinnah: India-Partition Independence” went against the fundamental nationalistic ideology of BJP. I find it difficult to digest, that he was expelled just for that.  But if he was expelled from BJP just for writing that book, I guess, BJP leaders needs to read our constitution properly and understand that the right to freedom of expression is what differentiates us from most other countries like China.

From what I have followed, the book is just an excuse [and very lame at that] for expelling Mr. Singh. There is something which Mr. Singh did in the recent past that lead to his termination. He challenged the Party hierarchy. When the people who were responsible for the BJP’s political debacle of parliamentary elections 2009, were rewarded by being made the leader of opposition and given higher posts within the party, Mr. Singh challenged the decision. In fact his was the lone voice which called for ascertaining responsibility and punishing those who did not fulfill their duties.

Everyone knows that, even though the freedoms of expressions are protected by the constitution in our country, it is not applicable, if you antagonize people higher up than you. What Mr. Singh did [challenging authority] was fundamentally wrong under the Indian political system and even his fundamental rights could not protect him from being expelled from the party that swears by everything Indian.

GJMM – BJP – Singh – Gorkhaland

Political circles in and around Darjeeling were shaken and stirred when Mr. Singh decided to accept the invitation from GJMM to run for the parliamentary seat from Darjeeling. For GJMM the logic was simple, they needed a national party to support the demand for the separate state of Gorkhaland and a high profile leader who could draw the attention of the nation towards the demand. In Mr. Singh, GJMM found what can be described as “a match made in heaven.”
Mr. Singh’s background in the army, his previous experiences as India’s central minister, and his profile in the Party et al. made Mr. Singh one of the most exciting candidates to have run from Darjeeling constituency in the recent past. The people of Darjeeling loved Mr. Singh and even he could feel the love and the warmth of the people here, he had said “I have never felt such warmth and I have never felt so welcome  in my life,” after he visited Darjeeling for the first time to fill his nomination papers. He is so loved that a young teenager even kissed him during one of his election rallies. No doubt Mr. Singh won by the highest margin in all of West Bengal, over 200,000 votes.

For GJMM leaders Mr. Singh was their “ace in the hole.” After winning the elections the tie-up with BJP seemed to be reaping fruit, BJP leaders Mr. Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Mrs. Sushma Swaraj both raised the word “Gorkhaland” in both the houses of the parliament. People in Darjeeling were thrilled. Darjeeling MP Mr. Singh facilitated the meeting between GJMM leaders and the Home Minister and other Central Ministers after hurricane Aila left a devastating toll, people were ecstatic and they loved their MP. People were in fact waiting for the BJP to officially introduce an official bill on Gorkhaland in the parliament.

Everything seemed to be going right, but the book happened and Mr. Singh has now been expelled from BJP.

Aab Aap Kyaa Karogey?

The Gorkhali’s world over are known for their loyalty, and it is perhaps this loyalty which will be tested to the limit in Mr. Singh’s case.

Morally speaking, The GJMM leaders have loyalty torn three ways, foremost their loyalty lies with the people of Darjeeling, Duars and Terai who have unequivocally supported them in their quest for Gorkhaland. GJMM is not only expected to, but also morally obliged to succeed in their demand for Gorkhaland. Hence, any decision they take should be based on sound rationality.

Strategically speaking, GJMM had tied up with BJP and not Mr. Jaswant Singh per se for the recently concluded Parliamentary elections. There is further talk of an alliance between GJMM and BJP for the Siliguri Municipal Corporation polls. Needless to say an alliance like this could be very fruitful, and GJMM along with BJP stands to gain a lot if they win some seats. They can make inroads where non-exists now. Therefore, keeping in view the strategic alliance, the prudent thing for GJMM to do at this moment seems to be, to ask for Mr. Jaswant Singh’s resignation on moral grounds. Given the fact that Mr. Singh was informed of his expulsion over the phone and not in person, it might so happen that his remaining as Darjeeling MP may be detrimental to the existing relationship between BJP and GJMM, which may eventually hamper the demand for Gorkhaland.

Ethically speaking, “a friend in need is a friend in deed”, thus at this juncture GJMM is ethically expected to retain Mr. Singh as Darjeeling MP. Mr. Singh has shown genuine concern towards his constituents and has raised his voice both inside and outside the parliament for issues concerning Darjeeling. In fact his mere presence has transformed the demand for Gorkhaland from being a regional issue to a national agenda. It could be sensed from the fact that, even in his press conference yesterday, a reporter asked him if he being expelled from the party was “a deceit against the people demanding Gorkhaland?” This goes on to show that the demand for Gorkhaland has for some reason been more intricately linked to Mr. Singh rather than BJP as a whole.

Catch – 22

The GJMM leaders have already issued a statement claiming that Mr. Singh’s expulsion from BJP is not going to impede the Gorkhaland movement. They have rather claimed that, Mr. Singh could use his expertise and connections more freely for the formation of Gorkhaland, now that he is not bound by BJP. This might be true, but, a lone MP may not be as effective as 100 plus MPs.

Moreover, the logic for tying up with BJP in the first place was to have more voices in the parliament, had it not been the case, then GJMM would have been better off sending an independent candidate to parliament. The idea of retaining Mr. Singh, in itself, defeats the whole purpose for which he was elected in the first place.

The situation as it stands today, is like a two edged sword.

On one hand, GJMM could let Mr. Singh continue as MP and he could focus more on his constituency and his constituents. This might allow him to study the problems that his constituents face, basic problems such as drinking water, roads, education, health care etc. But doing this might antagonize BJP and Gorkhaland may have to wait for another 5 years.

On the other hand, GJMM could ask for Mr. Singh to resign and demand a mid-term poll, thereby making the alliance with BJP stronger. The victims in this case would be a scholar and a gentleman Mr. Jaswant Singh and the sense of self-righteousness that GJMM leadership tend to show, and also it would be akin to  leaving your best friend to fend for her/himself in her/his time of distress.

From what I see, GJMM leaders need to take this situation seriously and give it a serious thought, as how they deal with Mr. Jaswant Singh, might make or break the demand for Gorkhaland.

For GJMM, this I guess, is what my dad used to describe as a typical “Khayis ta hasiya… aabo hagyera hyer,” situation.

Hope! I made some sense

Upendra