***This Is the first instalment of a four-part series on India based on a recent trip to New Delhi by the author who is Executive Editor of The Daily Star.

Have the vhp (vuw« Hindu Pwlab-d) RSS (R«»htrlya Sevak Sangha) and the BJP (Bha ratlya Janata Party) succeeded tn derailing the secular thrust of Indian politics? Is It lime to say that the secular Ideology, for which India deservedly received so much praise during the past four decades, has come to an end? Have these communal forces sufficiently captured the Imagination of the majority Hindu community, for us to conclude that the Indian nation, as we knew It. will never be the same again? Along with Muslim Pakistan, are we now to have a Hindu India? These, and similar questions were upper most In my mind, as I arrived tn New Delhi to participate in the global launching of UNDP's Human Development Report. 1993

A common answer to the above question is. it is still too early to tell. In my opinion, it is also too dangerous a prospect to speculate on. We are often glib, and a bit too quick tn mak a sweeping statements about

la becoming Hindu, without sufficiently thinking as to what will become of Muslims— nearly 150 millions of them— if India really becomes a communal country

There is of course a gale of Hindu communalism sweeping across northern India and there is no doubt in anybody s mind that India today faces the most serious and perhaps the most critical challenge to Its fundamental character. What Is at stake here Is not only India s future but also that of the whole South Asian region. To that ex tent what is happening in India today is of extreme importance to both Pakistan and Bang ladesh.

I have followed developments In India very carefully, and what I read and saw on the television made me sa^. So ft was with a heavy heart that I revisited the Indian capital al most six months after whai Is now popularly termed in the mainstream Indian press as "Black Sunday" (referring to 6 December '92 destruction of the 400 year old Babri mosque). Il was my intention to use the visit to get a sense of the mood in Delhi, six months after the event'. My interest was a little more than usual as I was perhaps (and I am guessing here) the only journalist from Bangladesh who was present on that fateful "Black Sunday in New Delhi (attending a Non Aligned media conference on Right to Communicate). I was a personal witness to the shock, the anguish and the deep disappointment of many editors, journalists, intellectuals and professionals that I had met immediately after the destruc lion of the Babri mosque— an event that has turned out to be the most serious challenge to the survival of modern India. As we can recall, the imme dlate reaction to the Babri mosque destruction was Hindu Muslim riots all over India, which resulted In more than 2,000 dead. But what came more of a shock to the Indian Muslims was the way the Narasimha Rao government handled the event It came out subsequently that the Kar Sevaks (volunteers who tore the masjid down) were specifically trained, and that expert masons were hired for the purpose. It also came out that Intelligence report had it that Hindu miH lants had planned to tear the mosque down on 6 December All this Information was avail able to the government These revelations have greatly eroded the credibility of the govern went, and especially of Narasimha Rao. In the public

The Muslima particularly felt betrayed, generally by the Congress, and especially by the Prime Minister. His initial commitment of rebuilding the mosque at the very spot where it Mood, Is no longer repeated In public. In fact what appears to be of the highest priority now Is maintaining the sanctity of the make-shift temple erected by the mosque demolishers. The political advice that Is now re portedly being accepted by the Indian Premier. is that it wouldcost Congress the lota] Hindu vole If that temple is touched. So much so that reference to the Babri mosque Is being gradually replaced by the innocuous term such as "Ayodhya structure" the "structure al Ayodhya” etc in sections of ihe Indian press, and fn the lexicon of politicians.

There was one overriding sentiment among the people I had met then, that the rise of Hindu fundamental tom marked a serious threat to the India that they knew and loved. They all strongly felt that the rising communal forces must be re slsted at any cost. They all held the view that by demolishing the Babri Masjid. Hindu fundamentalism had finally over played its card and that there would now be a massive back lash from secular India.

Steeped in the values and principles of the Independence struggle, and convinced that India s future lay In forging unity and not In Inciting div1-siveness. the secular forces — political, social, economic and professional -- would mount a nationwide struggle to defeat the Hindu communal forces There was a widespread belief that the India of Gandhi, Nehru. Maulana Azad and Ambedkar would definitely win over that of Thackcry. Joshi and Advani. As Khushwant Singh, perhaps the most venerated of all journalists in India today, wrote in the Hindustan Times (19 December '921 Ihnl the destruction of the Babri mosque did not mean the end of India's secular pretensions, it only strengthened the resolve further. The murder of Mahatma Gandhi did not kill secularism. On the contrary it infused his spirit of religious tolerance into the whole nation. The murder of the masjid will do the same." In a statement that reflected the underlying spirit and faith of secular India, the doyen of Indian journalism said. The destruction of Babri Masjid has fired good Indians with the resolve to fight the fire of fanaticism."

All of this was six months ago What was the situation now? Did the post Babri demo Ittlon events justify the optimism my journalist friends ex pressed last December? During my visit to New Delhi I searched for the secular offensive' that my friends had told me about. I was desperately looking for the "fire" In good Indians to fight fanaticism, that Khushwant Singh wrote about What 1 found was not the offensive but pockets of protest, desperate, fragmented and mostly ineffective I found my Journalist friends confused.

despondent and disturbed, almost desperate. The past six months have brought the Hindu Muslim question into the centre-stage of Indian poll Ik s as never before• The secular forces. Instead of converging and gathering strength to tackle the fundamentalist threat, have instead become dispersed and fragmented. The leadership they expected from the traditional bastion of secularism — the left parties and the Congress — have totally failed to rise up to the challenge. In fact there is widespread doubt as to whether Narasimha Rab is really as committed to the secular principle as Congress leadership traditionally was. On the contrary it is Hindu communal forces that have gathered strength and is II they wha In ail sense of the term are on the offenafee?

The Indian President tn his Republic Day message (26 January 93) talked about India standing at the crossroads of history One path, he said was of understanding and mutual accommodation leading to dignity, prosperity and happi ness for all The other was of "endless strife From what 1 could see during my very short visit, and what I could either from my talks with a cross sei-Uon of people, the direction that India was taking at the 'crossroads' was ominous A hysteria of yet unfathomable magnitude appears to have gripped the minds of the major Ity community

As one journalist put It to me. the Hindus of India today are "a majority community with the emotional and behavioural characteristics of a minority ’ It took me a while to understand the meaning of this statement A great sense of deprivation and of being somehow sidetracked have permeated the middle class Hindu mind, the same •middle class that usually acted as the bastion of democratic and modern values. Totally un founded slogans of stopping "Muslim appeasement"; "all Muslims are Pakistani sympa thizers"; "Muslims always want special status'; Muslims are foreign invaders"; "Muslims have forcibly converted and oppressed the Hindus" and sfo gans to that effect have come into the common parlance in everyday conversation.

Several book stores that I visited in Caunnaught Place (a very centrally located shopping area) and In the Khan Market area (located very close to the UN offices and the Indian International Centre) are now stocked with books on how Muslims had invaded, op pressed and exploited India. The more disturbing ones among them chronicle' how many temples and places of worship Muslims had destroyed and turned into mosques. From the display, and number of titles. It was obvious that these books are now In great demand.

The changing social and Intellectual climate has also had Its Impact on the dally lives of the Muslims. 1 don't easily tell my name in a crowd if I can help It" said a Muslim student from West Bengal who has been studying music in Delhi for the last 10 years. This I have started doing after the blasts In Bombay and Calcutta. Do you not feel a part oT the local scene, having been here for ten years ? "I did. and still do, in manv sense, thines have changed a for since the destruction of Babri mosque Therr la a new and very unrom fertabie sense of "us" and "them" between Hindus and Muslims What about the friends you study with Do you feel any change of attitude In them? ‘Not at all For my student friends, this la nothing but a game played by politicians to get to power We are just as friends as we were before But the outside environment has changed a lot. What I really miss is travelling, just getting up and going to any place at any time I do not venture out of Delhi unless the destination Is fixed and the travel to arranged by people well known to me or my friends."

Forty fhre years into inde pendence. the heart of ancient and medieval India that was Delhi, the stunningly beautiful capital of the Moghul Empire that was Delhi, the ghtlering colonial power centre that was Delhi, the very heart of Inde pendent and regenerative India that was Delhi, has. unfortunately. and within a very short lime, also become a very divided and suspicious Delhi like every other Third World capital and a megapolls. Delhi has always been divided There was a tree lined, wide boulevard, immaculately clean Delhi. Compared to It there was the historically rich, overcrowded, narrow and dirty and dangerous Delhi. There was the poor Delhi and the plush. But now there are new and bitter divides They are the Hindu Delhi, the Muslim Delhi, the Sikh Delhi and the Tamil Delhi. Therr is also the so called Illegal immigrants' Delhi.

The Delhi of concerts and festivals Is still there (though the season to winter and not the hot and dry summer), but the attendance Is thin and they usually finish early. From late private parties, guests try to re turn In groups and single women request the hosts to gfve them a ride home This is post-Babrt Delhi.

As the cloud of communalism increasingly darkens the secular and democratic Indian sky, there is a lot of nostalgia for the bygone days of visionary and powerful leadership, of the days of Independence struggle. Therr Is particular attrac tion for Nehru who was the architect of modern India. Democratic government. secular Constitution and a socialist mooring to the economy, are among the many k-gacies of Nehru. The popular finance minister Monmohan Singh has dealt a death blow to the Nehruvlan economy. The BJP is threatening India's secular character, and appears — at least at this stage — to be winning. If that be so. then how long before democracy falls by the wayside?

(Tomorrow : Interview with Janata Dal MP. M Shahabuddin)