Secular Communal Divide

Since the previous elections the main election issue of the UPA and the left is "to ensure that the communal forces do not come into power". I know that the BJP follows the hindutwa ideology. Supporters might argue that hindutwa is not a religious ideology, its a way of living or something in these lines, but to be quite honest, as a non Hindu, I have the impression that hindutwa represents a Hindu religious ideology and fear the fact that there will be religious intolerance if the BJP comes in power. Even if the BJP and their supporters disagree with me its there job to ensure that I feel safe with them being around. With their past track record and their carefree press conferences they have done themselves no favors.

I agree that the BJP has a "communal" image. Most of their elections have been fought on the basis of its Hindutwa ideology, but is it right/wise on the part of other parties to make all elections a competition between the communal forces and the secular forces? Personally I believe that it will start a dangerous trend. Even if the BJP wants to be a secular or a party whose main ideology is not hindutwa they wont be able to do so as a major chunk of its vote bank are the Hindu hardliners and if they try modifying their ideology to a more secular one the hardliner vote might get diverted and the secular voters who already have a bad image of the BJP wont vote for them.

I personally believe that if not for their stand on hindutwa BJP is quite a good party. Unfortunately the BJP is left with no choice but to follow that path. Most of the secular/ non Hindu vote goes to the UPA/Left and various other parties, the only people in India with not much political representation are the Hindus which the BJP target. If the political parties separate BJP as a communal party they would have no choice but to fight election on the basis of religion. Even though this is happening now, the danger of this communal secular divide is that it will force the BJP to take a harder stand on its hinduwta agenda which will be quite bad for the country once they come in power.

I hate the current political situation in India. Parties just know to oppose each other and their focus is on belittling the opposition not the betterment of their constituency or country. I am not saying that the BJP does everything in a moral way. I just felt that there was too much emphasis given on this "communal secular divide". Making religion as an election statement is never good. If you consider all the political parties as companies selling their products, the UPA and the left are saying is that, the reason why people should buy their product is not because its good but because the BJP's is bad and that’s not a good way to market your product.

For India to progress many thinks need to happen and one of those things is that political parties should be more responsible and work for the development of the nation rather than coming into power. Even though we are the largest democracy in the world we need to learn many things from other democracies. The situation here is not hopeless but there is scope for improvement, which is need for us to become a super power.