ARMED AND DANGEROUS

Bollywood, as even its most ardent admirers will admit, definitely has a touch of the bizarre. Exaggerated portrayals of personalities are the norm rather than the exception. But what if life, in a Hitchcockian twist, begins imitating art or what passes for it in Bombay´s moviedom?

Since the 1980s, Hindi films have portrayed screen politicians as the vilest of villains who often strut about with their own private army of goons. So, what lies in store for the Indian public? Private armies, no less, trained by every major contender in the upcoming polls to capture the state assembly of the Hindi heartland, Uttar Pradesh.

It all started with the Samajwadi Party (SJP) led by no less a personage than India´s Defence Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, announcing that it would set up a 'Lai Fauj', or Red Brigade. Mr Yadav told a party convention that the brigade would be used to wipe out 'insects' and 'snakes'. For 'insects', read the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and for 'snakes', the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the SJP´s arch rivals in the state. 'We have seen how the administration worked in favour of the BJP during the parliamentary elections. Our Red Brigade will prevent such attempts at rigging and also protect the booths,' an SJP leader announced to the press.

Mr Yadav´s bete noire, Kanshi Ram of the BSP, in true filmi style, could not resist such a challenge. He has announced that his party will raise a million-strong 'Neela Dasta', or Blue Brigade, 'to deter anti-social elements and supporters of Mulayam Singh Yadav from booth capturing.'

And what of the party that mobilised a saffron army to demolish a centuries-old mosque? Surely, the BJP could not be second or third to anyone. It is strengthening and educating its 'Chunav Sena', or Election Army, in methods of mobilising support for the party and preventing booth-capturing, says BJP state unit president, Kalraj Mishra.

These 'armies' are to be made up mostly of unemployed youth, who will receive training in poll practices and malpractices. The SJP and BSP have openly said that the youth will also be trained to wield lathi sticks in self-defence. The BJP denies it will arm its men, but there are reports of training in 'self-defence' by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) cadres. The stakes are high, for Uttar Pradesh, with 85 parliamentary seats, holds the key to power at the Centre. It has often been said that whoever controls UP. will control the rest of India, and as the red, the blue and the saffron take their positions, a technicolor action blockbuster is in the making.

Intelligence agencies have warned that the presence of these armies could trigger violence in the assembly elections, which are tentatively scheduled for October, The public is already scared and apprehensive. It is here that life begs to differ from art. Instead of a flamboyant hero with flying fists making an entrance to demolish the threat to the public, that role goes to the dour and taciturn Election Commission, which conducted one of the freest and fairest general elections ever held this summer.

The Election Commission has threatened to initiate legal action against whoever forms such armies. Commissioner G.V.G. Krishnamurthy says the role of ensuring free and fair polls is his office´s and no vigilante group need apply. 'It is also time to remember, howsoever high a political party or leader might be, the people of the country are above them,' Mr Krishnamurthy said, like a true hero.

What are the antecedents of those who would let loose their armies on the terrorised people? Mr Yadav and his party men have been accused of using all kinds of threats and intimidation to bring recalcitrant legislators in line. His party harbours erstwhile bandits and listed mafia dons.

Just as the BJP was warming up to the theme of the criminal-politician nexus as it related to Mr Yadav, 13 dreaded criminals from eastern UP went and got arrested from a state guest house in the capital, Lucknow. The guests had been signed in by BJP Members of Parliament. From these ´VlPs´, the police recovered large quantities of sophisticated arms and ammunition.

How about the BSP? Early this month, criminals of the dreaded Surajpal Gang indulged in wanton shooting and the murder of one of their rivals right inside the premises of the Governor´s residence. No arrests have been made because Mr Surajpal is a prominent BSP activist.

In films, the politicians are usually shown to appeal to patriotic sentiments and the public´s naive expectations of prosperity and progress. In the reality of today´s U.P., the political contenders have sharply divided the state along caste and communal lines, and feel no need to appeal to those outside their exclusive vote banks. The bjp plumps for the upper caste Hindus and is not averse to raising another temple-mosque dispute to gain popularity. The SJP calls on all Yadavs, Muslims and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to vote for it, while the BSP has Dalits as its chief backers.

Will this great Indian circus in the Hindi Heartland hurtle towards a cinematic climax of blood and gore that wipes out evil in one fell stroke? Or will it putrefy slowly till the population gives up all hope in democracy? It is time the director called 'Cut!' before things really get out of hand.