The Congress party is still searching for inroads in Gujarat as Narendra Modi consolidates his position with victories

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Modi delivers a right hook

On October 12, the Gujarat Congress was dealt a severe blow by the BJP with chief minister Narendra Modi's party sweeping elections to six municipal corporations.

After the civic poll results were announced, a pall of gloom descended on the GPCC headquarters in Ahmedabad. The party office wore a deserted look for two days.

Modi has been in the saddle since 2001. Nearly a decade on, he seems to have all but decimated the 130-year-old national party in Gujarat.

Unlike in the civic polls of 2005, the Congress did not even reach the halfway mark this time around. BJP wrested all the six municipal boards with a thumping majority. The ruling BJP maintained its winning streak in the panchayat and other civic polls held on October 23. Elections were held for 24 district panchayats, 208 taluka panchayats and 53 municipalities. Out of the 24 district panchayats, the BJP won a clear majority in 21 while the Congress got a majority only in Gandhinagar and Tapi districts.

Out of the 208 taluka panchayats, BJP won 123 and Congress 30. BJP won 42 of the 53 nagar palikas against Congress' meagre tally of 4. In the three taluka panchayats, the verdict was fractured.

It was clear that 'Modi magic' still works in Gujarat despite the many controversies that surround him, not the least of which involves his lieutenant and former state home minister Amit Shah.

Congress attributed Modi's victory to an alleged manipulation of the electronic voting machines. The party claimed that the elections had been rigged and the EVMs had been tampered with.

At a press conference held in Ahmedabad, former chief minister and Congress leader Shaktisinh Vaghela alleged, “The former officer on special duty in the chief minister’s office was responsible for manipulation. The EVMs were controlled by the CM's office.”

Vaghela wondered how on polling day, the vote percentage that stood at 25 per cent at 4 pm jumped to 44 per cent in the last hour. Interestingly, when a section of BJP leaders talked about EVM rigging in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress leadership had described the allegation as an insult to democracy.

In a role reversal of sorts, BJP has now lashed out at Congress for its criticism of the EVMs in context of the Gujarat civic polls. BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, “After being totally wiped out in the civic body elections as well as panchayat polls in Gujarat, Congress is now trying to put the blame on EVMs. They should instead introspect on why the people did not vote for them.”

The writing is indeed on the wall for Gujarat Congress. After the exit of late chief minister Chimanbhai Patel, the state Congress doesn’t have a leader with mass appeal. Various factions in the party are only interested in serving their own narrow interests.

This factionalism was seen in the ticket distribution before the polls. Various local Congress establishments were attacked by the party's own volunteers. Many official candidates found the pitch queered by rebellion within the ranks.

In contrast, Modi had begun preparations two years ahead of the municipal and panchayat elections. While the chief minister went about cementing his hold over the people, Congress played the blame game and accused Modi of “misusing” central aid and projects to increase his own popularity among the electorate.

Modi, on the other hand, tried to win over the common man by initiating many popular schemes like Gunotsav, Garib Kalyan Mela, Kanya Kenavani Mela, Ranotsav, Patang Mahotsav, Vanche Gujarat and Vibrant Navratri. Critics say that he is wasting public money on these shows but results have demonstrated the efficacy of his strategy.
Recently, the UPA government declared Gujarat as No.1 in implementing the 20-point programme. Whether it is the central plan or the state’s own projects, Modi has succeeded in implementing them all. His PR department is so strong that it never fails to publicise any achievement of Modi's.

After winning the civic polls, Modi asked partymen to start preparations for the next Assembly elections scheduled in 2012. The Congress leadership in the state is still unsure of the road ahead. Modi’s development plank has proved effective in neutralising issues like the Gujarat riots and Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case.

BJP and RSS accept that Gujarat is their laboratory and the first Hindutva experiment was carried out in this prosperous state. Up to the 2007 Assembly elections, Hindutva was an important poll issue but after that they realised that if the BJP wants complete majority then it should woo the minorities too. Modi proved this truism in these elections.

It was for the first time after the 1998 attacks on Christians in Dangs that Modi allotted tickets to Christians in the heartland of Shabari Kumbh. Muslims were also given BJP tickets. Christians accepted Modi’s call and all five BJP Christian candidates from Dangs were elected.

After two days of halla bol, Congress is silent now. Will the party reinvent itself to upstage Modi?

GPCC president Siddharth Patel, who resigned after the debacle, told the media that the EVMs were purchased by the Gujarat government five years back from a firm in Hyderabad and that these machines were outdated. “These days when one can manipulate another person’s mobile phone using bluetooth, how can EVMs be tamper-proof?” asked Vaghela, demanding that the Gujarat government should order a thorough and independent inquiry into the entire question of acquiring and employing the electronic voting machines in the recent elections.

After the thumping victory in the Gujarat civics polls, the BJP has done a complete volte-face on the EVMs issue after having consistently campaigned against the use of these voting machines since the last Lok Sabha elections. But, quite clearly, Modi's victory in the municipal and panchayat elections this time around is above board. It is the undeniable charisma of the man, not any covert manipulation of the machine in question, that has triumphed for the saffron camp in Gujarat.

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How a young Indian leader was sculpted

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Sudarsan Pattnaik, winner of several sand sculpture championships, speaks to Anu Gulmohar about his solitary struggles and how his passion for art translated on the only freely available canvas...

Once upon a time there was a little boy who used to live very close to the Golden Sea Beach at Puri, Orissa. His family struggled to make both ends meet and when he was about ten years old he had no choice but to quit school and begin working at his neighbour’s home. At the break of dawn, the boy would go to the beach and do what he enjoyed the most – making sand sculptures – and would then head for work. Slowly, he got better and better at his craft, and people at the beach started noticing. They encouraged him and told him how good his sculptures were. In time he went on to draw attention of the media and eventually word got around of his art. He was invited to participate in an international sand sculpting championship. Now 33 years old, I met Sudarsan Pattnaik on October 25, 2010, the day he was to be honoured for being a Young Indian Leader by Network 18 and presented with a trophy made by Swarovski Elements. The glittering crystals of the shades of our national flag – saffron, white and green – on the trophy symbolised how he was truly our country’s pride.

Besides representing India in over 40 championships and winning several of them, Sudarsan was also the Winner of the World Championship of Sand Sculpting in 2008. “Sand sculpture was an art which did not require any investment. The sand at the beach was the natural canvas,” said Sudarsan. The journey from being just another pebble on the beach to the star of the evening hasn’t been an easy one for him. Even after being noticed and invited for a championship in America, troubles were far from over for him. “I tried to go there but it was very difficult for me because of my monetary constraints. At that time the cost of the tickets was about Rs 40,000. I tried to collect money from several people, whatever little they could contribute – Rs 100, Rs 20 or Rs 10. I managed to collect the sum I needed but when I went to the US Consulate, they refused to give me a Visa as I didn’t have a house or any bank balance. The first time I was able to travel to another country was to UK where we held a demonstration in London’s World Travel Market.” And Sudarsan never looked back since. Last month, he was in the US and bagged three prestigious awards at the North American Championship. This year he also won the People’s Choice Award at the International Sand Sculpture Festival in Berlin and at the CNE 1st International Sand Sculpting Competition held in Canada. He also received a Gold Medal at the Moscow World Sand Sculpture Championship. “I have won the maximum people’s choice awards in the world,” claims a proud Sudarsan.

What makes this naturally talented sand sculptor’s work stand out are the subjects that he picks. “As an artist I thought that either we can just participate in championships or we can use our art to convey important messages. I decided that we should do something more with this art, for the society. So I started creating issue-based sand sculptures. For example, after the tsunami, I had created a sculpture urging the world to help the tsunami victims. This also helped our art form reach out to many more people. Even at championships I pick up topical issues. When I won the World Championship my subject was Climate Change; in the championship I participated last month in the US, my topic was the recent Oil Spill.”

Having made India proud at international championships so many times, one would expect Sudarsan Pattnaik’s name to be on everybody’s lips, but sadly that is not the case as yet. He does receive congratulatory messages from the President and has been felicitated in person in 2005 by the then President APJ Abdul Kalam and in 2008 by the then Minister of Culture and Tourism Ambika Soni, but no other support has come his way. “In our country an artist does not receive enough support. If this was not sand art but sand sport, we might have received some more support! When my international colleagues win championships, they receive sponsorships but in my country I haven’t had such luck as yet,” he laments.

Fifteen years ago, he started the Sudarsan Sand Art Institute. Today, he has students from all over the world, though monetary constraints haven’t allowed him to set up proper infrastructure as yet. “I hope that this art of sand sculpture becomes more popular and more sand artists come around. I wish to create a sand sculpture park along the lines of Rock Garden in Chandigarh, where students could learn the art and tourists could view the sculptures. It would be the world’s first sand art park. This is a desire that I have, but so far I haven’t been able to even get the land that this project would require. But one needs to keep trying,” he says calmly. And as he keeps trying to make his sand castles in the air a reality, ever so often he gets a pat on the back when the world honours him with titles such as ‘Young Indian Leader’. Come high tide or low, let’s hope Sudarsan Pattnaik is able to sculpt his future according to his designs.

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INDIA'S BEST COLLEGES, INSTITUTES and UNIVERSITIES

The largest organised Christian group in the country, the catholic church has to choose between the Vatican and India

its future depends on the choice it makes today

The atmosphere is heavy, the mood solemn, the occasion pious. You can hear the humming strains of the 'Om' chant. A priest, wearing a rudraksha with a chandan tilak on his forehead is in a state of meditation. A coconut is placed before an idol. A diya illuminates the sacred gathering. The place of worship is a church, the idol is that of Virgin Mary and the priest a reverend. The point is not to be surprised but to take note of Indianisation of the Church.

The Church is trying to reinvent itself and it is trying to come close to local customs and culture. 'Om' is no longer a patent of Hindu spiritualism. Christian priests have embraced it with an open heart. You will find various churches in different parts of country who don't ask the bride and the groom to kiss each other at their wedding. Instead, the bride wears a mangalsutra around her neck and the church itself looks more like a Hindu temple.

John Dayal, secretary general, All India Christian Council, explains the phenomenon to TSI: “When Christian missionaries came to India (precisely during St. Thomas' arrival in the country in the 4th century A.D.), the Christianity they propagated was more in tune with the Christian faith in Turkey and Ethiopia. Their Christ and Mary were conceptually different from those of Europe. The European brand of Christianity arrived in India with the Portuguese explorer Vasco De Gama. Another important issue is thatr of 'inculturation'. The Indian people fall into several castes and sub-castes. Regional variations are also present. In order to spread the faith, it was necessary to accept this reality of India. This perhaps explains why Christmas is celebrated in Jorhat is an entirely different manner than in Goa or Tamil Nadu,” he comments.

Catholic Christian ashrams and priests who adopted Hindu customs and rituals have become so popular in Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh that about a decade back, local Hindu organisations publicly felicitated the Christian priests. In the last two decades, many such Catholic Churches have been established. Patrick D'Souza, a bishop in one such church in Varanasi, says: “We want to show that we are not different. And rather, we are very much a part of the vibrant local traditions of Varanasi.”

However, early attempts at bringing in Hindu and Indian customs and traditions into the Church were random in nature. However, this process got organised after the Second Vatican Council meeting in 1965. What was a haphazard experiment has now become a deliberate strategy. John Dayal says, “This Vatican Council liberated the Church from the tyranny of Italian culture.” In South India, there are many churches which are built according to the Gopuram architectural style. Priests there wear angvastram and not robes.

Problems started surfacing when a certain section of the Catholic clergy went so far as to resorting to Hindu literature, astrology and palmistry. Jesus was portrayed as a Brahmin with the sacred thread which raised conservative Christian eyebrows. Dalit Christians tried to portray many Hindu characters from the Shastras and the Puranas as Biblical characters. This infuriated purists in the religion.

This growing influence of Hinduism has a section of Christians worried. In Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya where the Baptist Church is dominant, people are not in favour of this growing Hinduisation of Christianity. Protestants are particularly vocal against this trend. “To a certain extent, Indianisation is acceptable as long as it is not at odds with the fundamentals of Christianity. But if Jesus wears the Brahmin's sacred thread, I will oppose it,” says John Dayal.

Dalit Christian leader R.L. Francis terms this process as a gimmick to fool people. He tells TSI, “The Church should be desi from the soul and it should not be confined to mere symbolism. Instead, it should go for structural changes in its administration. The Church should not be dependent on the Vatican for election of bishops. They should be elected by the community people.”

A former member of the National Minority Commission, James Massi, is against Brahminisation of the Church in the name of Indianisation. Dalit Christians fear that if the Church tilts towards Brahminism, they will have to look for other options. It is not that the Church is unaware of these critical issues. Babu Joseph, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishop Conference of India, tells TSI, “I agree with these observations. However, if the Church has to grow in North India, these things cannot be avoided.”

The process of inculturation is not completely new. The credit should go to Robert De Nobili three centuries ago. Upon his arrival in India, he soon realised that it would be very difficult to convert Indians into Christians as the Hindu society was divided and subdivided into various castes. He started living like a Brahmin and studied the Vedas to interpret Christianity in an Indian way. He convinced 1 lakh Hindus to convert. He even portrayed the Bible as the Fifth Veda. However, after his death and the subsequent advent of the Portuguese, these experiments were abandoned by the Catholic Church. “This is when the Roman and Gothic-style churches came into existence. These styles were totally alien to local people. This hampered the spread of Christianity in the country. So suddenly, the De Nobili way has become fashionable, more than 300 years after they were introduced.

The Catholic clergy, now, at least accept that inculturation has a profound meaning while evangelisation has a wider meaning. “Now, they have realised that insistence on the European-style of Christianity will only create aversion in the minds of common people. People also did not like the blatant criticism of Hinduism by the missionaries,” explains John Dayal.

However, those who converted into Christianity in the hope of salvation and to escape the oppressive Hindu caste system have become suspicious of the designs of the Church. R. L Francis terms this as a situation of utter confusion. The general Hindu reaction to inculturation has been quite restrained in accordance with the Hindu philosophy of 'Sarvadharmasambhava'. However, right-wing leaders such as Acharya Giriraj Kishore have expressed concern that this will create more confusion in the minds of the illiterate and poor people.

The Catholic Church in the country is at a strange crossroads where it has to choose between the Vatican and India. Its future depends much on the choice it makes today.

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