Every December, the sleepy little town of Chikmagalur in
Karnataka would be swathed in saffron and resonate with hate speech. On the
pretext of celebrating Datta Jayanti at the Dargah atop the Bababoudhangiri
Hills, a mere 35 km from Chikmagalur, the sangh parivar organised
thousands of people at this town for a political event titled Shobha Yatra. Over
the last few years, such hate-mongers as Praveen Togadia of the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad and Pramod Muthalik of the Bajrang Dal have participated in the Shobha
Yatras and spewed venom on the minority Muslim population.
In the state of Karnataka – which the Bharatiya Janata Party has
for long claimed as its ‘gateway’ to power in the South – the Baba Boudhangiri
Dargah issue provided an opportunity to whip up communal hatred. Though for
centuries the Dargah has been the centre of communal harmony with both Muslim
and Hindu followers offering prayers, the sangh parivar launched a
vicious campaign of hate and lies saying it would ‘liberate’ the shrine. They
claimed it was a Hindu shrine that had been appropriated by Muslims, they
declared they would install Dattatreya’s idol inside the cave shrine, they
insisted that a Hindu (read Brahmin) priest should be appointed in place of the
Muslim Mujawar. Their campaign had hit such shrill tones that Praveen Togadia,
grinning widely, declared to television cameras three years ago: "We will make
this the Ayodhya of the South!"
Unfortunately for the sangh parivar, the secular forces
in the state got their act together and last December Chikmagalur saw a marked
difference. This time there were no saffron flags, no hate speeches, no banners,
no rally, no nothing. In fact, the situation was a total contrast to what had
happened the year before. December 2003 had seen nearly 1,000 secular activists
put behind bars while the saffron brigade was allowed to conduct its vicious
campaign on the streets of Chikmagalur. But December 2004 saw a few BJP
legislators, Bajrang Dal leaders and sangh parivar supporters cooling
their heels in various police stations while 5,000 secular activists gathered at
the neighbouring district capital, Shimoga, for a ‘victory’ rally.
In effect, the sangh parivar’s ‘Datta Peeta’ juggernaut
had been brought to a grinding halt. More importantly, the sangh parivar’s
attempts to gain political mileage in the guise of saving ‘Hindu religious
traditions’ stood completely exposed.
How did this change come about? The answer lies in a combination
of factors. The consistent campaign of the Karnataka Communal Harmony Forum and
the Left parties, the ‘secular’ compulsions of a Congress-Janata Dal (S)
government, which formed a post election coalition and assumed power with the
avowed intention of keeping the communal BJP out, the fortunate posting of a
determined district commissioner and superintendent of police to Chikmagalur,
and finally, the results of some by-elections which proved to the Congress party
that ‘soft Hindutva’ brought it no electoral dividends!
Though in December 2003 the Karnataka Communal Harmony Forum had
put up a stiff resistance, we realised that we needed to make a more concrete
effort. Therefore, throughout 2004 we pursued a two-pronged approach to counter
the communal forces ideologically as well as programmatically.
The first resulted in constituting a study committee to
investigate the socio-cultural and legal history of the Baba-Datta tradition. It
was aimed at finding out whether there was any semblance of truth in the
sangh parivar’s claim regarding the practice of Datta Jayanti. The study
committee culled out facts from historical documents such as official
declarations from the time of Tippu Sultan and the Maharaja of Mysore, land
records from the time of British rule, the Government Gazetteer, court
judgements and the sangh parivar’s own affidavits. The committee found no
basis for the sangh parivar’s claims. The study committee published its
findings in the form of a report, which was placed before the public. Based on
the findings, the Forum also threw a challenge to the sangh parivar to
counter the report, which of course, it has so far failed to do. (The report has
now metamorphosed into a full-fledged book entitled Benkiyagalollada Belaku
– meaning ‘light that could not be turned into fire’ – which was released this
month. An English translation is now in the process of being published.)
Our second strategy was to adopt a suitable programme of action
to counter the communal forces face to face on the streets and at the grass
roots level. This programme was twofold: to have detailed discussion sessions
with local media persons and politicians, and to carry out a district and
taluka level campaign. Both action plans were flagged off, symbolically, in
Chikmagalur. The meeting with the media and political persons was fairly
successful as the Forum could convince them, in the light of the findings of the
study committee, that the claims of the sangh parivar were totally
untenable and baseless. The Forum also produced a film on the hate speeches made
by leaders of the sangh parivar during the Datta Jayanti celebrations in
previous years, which also had the desired effect.
Simultaneously, the Forum kept up the pressure on the State from
the day the coalition government assumed power. Besides, we had also sought
permission to hold a ‘communal harmony meet’ on the very days when the sangh
parivar would hold its Yatras in Chikmagalur, thus pressurising the
government to tackle a street confrontation between the secular and the communal
elements.
As a result of all these efforts, when the state government
convened an all-party meeting on December 8, 2004, the non-political Karnataka
Communal Harmony Forum was also invited. Since we had already managed to
convince local leaders of the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) and had given them
copies of our report, that meeting ended with everyone – Congress, Janata Dal
(S), Communist parties, the Karnataka Communal Harmony Forum – agreeing that
under no circumstances should hate-mongering be allowed. The dissenters,
naturally, were the BJP members and organisations sponsored by the sangh
parivar. They insisted on continuing what they called a "long held
tradition" by celebrating Datta Jayanti at the Baba Boudhan Dargah.
Fortunately, the government had posted deputy commissioner
Kataria in Chikmagalur district. A no-nonsense officer, he had in the month of
October thwarted the Chikmagalur MLA, CT Ravi’s attempts to install an idol of
Dattatreya in an area belonging to a local Muslim organisation. This attempt was
only a precursor to the kind of mischief the sangh parivar had planned
under the guise of celebrating Datta Jayanti. Kataria had taken a firm stand
establishing that he would adhere to court orders.
II
To understand the issue in its entirety, it is necessary to
review the history of the shrine and the genesis of the sangh parivar’s
campaign. Popular lore has it that Baba Boudhan, a contemporary of Prophet
Mohammed, came to this region a long time ago and strove for the uplift of the
lower castes in the region who were being exploited by the upper castes. Baba
Boudhan gradually acquired a number of followers, some of whom converted to
Islam while others preferred to remain in the Hindu fold. He is also credited
with having introduced coffee to this region, the economic mainstay of most
people even today.
Gradually, Baba Boudhan came to be known as Dada Hayat to his
Muslim followers and as Dattatreya to his Hindu followers. The Dargah where Baba
Boudhan is said to have meditated soon acquired the syncretic name of Sri
Dattatreya Swami Baba Boudhan Dargah.
It is one of the oldest Sufi shrines in South India and for
centuries both Muslim and Hindu devotees have been offering their prayers there
making it one of the best symbols of a syncretic-secular culture. It is
precisely for this reason that even though the Dargah was under the supervision
of a Muslim Shakadri, the shrine had remained with the Muzarai department
instead of the Wakf Board.
However, in the ’70s, the then Congress government decided to
bring the Dargah under the control of the Wakf Board. The Shakadri, who opposed
this move, argued before the Chikmagalur civil court that since Hindus also
worshipped at the shrine it should not be brought under the purview of the Wakf
Board. When the case (No. OS25/78) went up to the Chikmagalur district court,
scenting an opportunity, the sangh parivar entered the scene. A sangh
parivar sympathiser, Nagaraj Rao joined issue and appealed before the courts
that since both communities worshipped at the Dargah, bringing it under the Wakf
Board’s control meant that Hindus would be denied their right to offer prayers.
In 1980, the Chikmagalur district court ruled that "this shrine
belongs to both communities and that the Sajjade Nishan is the religious head of
both Peeta-Dargah. The Wakf Board has no claim over the shrine." The Court not
only said that the management, control and affairs of the shrine should continue
as they were prior to June 1975, the court also said it should be reverted to
the Muzrai department.
The Wakf Board, however, was unwilling to let go. It appealed to
the high court, which upheld the district court’s judgement. In a related
development, on a complaint by sangh parivar sympathisers that the
Shakadri had failed to provide proper amenities to devotees during the annual
Urs that is celebrated at the Dargah, the district administration took monetary
control of the Dargah away from the Shakadri. He questioned this too before the
high court, which ruled "the management of this Peeta, also known as Dargah, the
Urs celebrations and the management of this property should revert back to (the)
situation existing prior to June 1975. The endowment commissioner should conduct
enquiries as to the situation which existed prior to ’75 and ensure its
implementation."
Following this, the district administration conducted enquiries
and listed the traditions that existed at the shrine prior to June 1975. It
should be pointed out that while doing so, the administration had taken into
account the appeal filed by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad as also the Shakadri’s
statements before the courts. Based on the district commissioner’s report, the
endowment commissioner issued an order listing out the forms of worship that
were in practice at the shrine before June 1975.
According to that list the Sajjade Nishan is the religious head
to the shrine, a Mujawar appointed by the Sajjade Nishan is the only person
authorised to enter the sanctum sanctorum and offer blessings to the devotees,
that the faithful offer coconuts and camphor as part of their prayers, that all
financial transactions during the annual Urs celebrations should be under the
control of the Sajjade Nishan.
In the meantime, the tussle between the Wakf Board and the
Shakadri went up to the Supreme Court. There too, the district court’s judgement
that the status prior to June 1975 should be maintained was upheld.
It is significant that in none of the appeals before the courts
had the sangh parivar sponsored organisations made any mention of Datta
Jayanti being celebrated at the Dargah. Also, nowhere had they claimed that
Hindus were being denied the opportunity to offer prayers at the shrine.
But the late 1980s saw the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation gaining
momentum. Inspired by this, the sangh parivar spawned a local
organisation called the Datta Peeta Protection Committee. In order to convey the
impression that Datta Jayanti had been traditionally observed at the Dargah even
prior to 1975, they seek permission to observe Datta Jayanti celebrations at the
Dargah for the first time in 1988!
Over the next few years they managed to observe a one-day
celebration in connivance with a pliable local administration that was more than
glad to allow Hindutva elements to have their way. In 1993, the Babri Masjid was
destroyed. This gave the sangh parivar impetus and they started mustering
more and more people in the name of Datta Jayanti celebrations. Simultaneously,
they introduced new ‘traditions’ such as a month long ‘Datta Maale’ (on the
lines of Shabarimale), ‘Datta Abhiyana’ and ‘Shobha Yatra’ rallies. Also, in
total violation of court orders, they started organising Vedic rituals such as
Homas and Havans at the Dargah. (For more details on how the sangh parivar
is trying to replace people’s culture with Brahmanical Vedic rituals, see
Communalism Combat, Nov.-Dec. 2004.)
Things reached a crescendo in 1999 when the BJP-led NDA
government came to power at the Centre. That year they declared they would
‘liberate’ the shrine from the clutches of the Muslims, they would install
Dattatreya’s idol and nominate a Hindu priest in the place of the Muslim Mujawar.
At the same time they also started inventing new ‘myths’ around the shrine.
Their propaganda claimed that Baba Boudhangiri was originally the holy abode of
Dattatreya Swami, which was later captured by Muslims. Therefore, the sacred
task of the sanghis was to ‘liberate’ the place from the Muslim hold,
re-establish the ‘original’ deity and carry out Hindu rituals.
Secular forces had been countering this false propaganda by the
sangh parivar since the late ’90s, but to no avail. In 2002, over 200
organisations comprising farmers, Dalits, women, progressives, intellectuals and
others got together to form the Baba Boudhangiri Souharda Vedike. In association
with the Left parties, the Vedike organised a rally to counter the sangh
parivar. But it was only in 2003 that the secularists decided to tackle the
saffron brigade head on. The Vedike decided to hold a rally for peace on the
same day that the sangh parivar was holding its Shobha Yatra at
Chikmagalur.
But the then Congress chief minister SM Krishna decided to toe
the soft Hindutva line. He jailed nearly 1,000 secularists and allowed the
saffron brigade to conduct its hate-mongering Shobha Yatra. The result of this
foolhardy decision was felt during the elections held to the state legislature
last year. All three Congress MLAs from Chikmagalur district who were also
ministers in Krishna’s cabinet lost miserably. In their place, all three seats
were won by the BJP.
Just as Rajasthan’s Ashok Gehlot and Madhya Pradesh’s Digvijay
Singh, Karnataka’s Krishna too had learnt that ‘soft Hindutva’ simply does not
win the Congress any electoral dividends! This electoral lesson was fortunately
not wasted on Krishna’s successor, Dharam Singh, or the Congress’ coalition
partner, the Janata Dal (Secular). Additionally, in the by-elections to the
Bidar parliamentary constituency held later on, the Congress managed to wrest
the seat from the BJP without playing the soft Hindutva card. This was a
significant victory since the BJP had earlier won from Bidar a record eight
times. Election results in Maharashtra (of polls held around the same time as
the Bidar by-elections) also proved that even the supposedly emotive issue of
‘insult to Savarkar’ did not pay off for the BJP.
Perhaps all these factors as also the pressure exerted by the
Karnataka Communal Harmony Forum and the compulsions of managing a coalition
government whose raison d’être was to keep the communal BJP out, added up. The
government finally decided to act relatively ‘tough’. First, deputy commissioner
Kataria imposed Section 144 on Chikmagalur and denied permission to the sangh
parivar to hold the Shobha Yatra a day prior to Datta Jayanti. The district
administration also pulled down the saffron banners and flags. Then the entire
district was cordoned off so that no sangh parivaris could enter. Later,
all the BJP leaders were rounded up and detained at the nearest police stations.
Despite all this, the government still shied from declaring a
ban on the illegal Datta Jayanti for fear of losing ‘Hindu’ votes. And when the
BJP denounced the ‘State-sponsored’ Datta Jayanti because rituals such as Homas
or Havans were not being held, the government succumbed enough to invite three
pontiffs to the celebrations in contravention of court orders. The government
could have taken a firmer stand and adhered to the court orders both in spirit
and letter.
Yet, the saffron brigade and the BJP today stand totally
exposed. In a desperate attempt the BJP declared that it would host its own
Datta Jayanti at some future date and organise Homas and Havans across the state
as a form of protest. So far, however, none of this has taken place. More
importantly, even the non-devout Hindu knows that a Datta Jayanti held on any
day other than that prescribed in the lunar calendar has no significance.
It has been clear to everyone for a long time that the sangh
parivar was never really keen on ‘rescuing’ the shrine by celebrating Datta
Jayanti. Instead it was more interested in the rabble-rousing Shobha Yatra held
a day prior to the Datta Jayanti. For it gave the sangh parivar ample
opportunity to fan communal passions in the name of ‘protecting’ Hindu religion.
But with the government allowing Datta Jayanti and banning the Shobha Yatra, the
sangh parivar lost its steam. The resistance it put up was so weak that
less than a 100 people – including MLAs and other leaders – courted arrest.
Compare this with the 1,000 secularists who faced jail the previous year and the
contrast is glaring.
For the Karnataka Communal Harmony Forum, it was partial yet
sweet success. Our aim now is to ensure that in December 2005 the government
will be forced to comply with the court orders in full. Because we realise that
in achieving that goal, we will not only be honouring the law of the land, but
we will also have succeeded in preserving our secular heritage as epitomised for
centuries in the Sri Dattatreya Swami Baba Boudhangiri Dargah.