Year in Review 1998 Vajpayee, Atal Bihari

In May 1998 India exploded five nuclear bombs in quick succession, reminding the world that the nuclear era was far from over. Though condemnation for the acts was nearly universal in the West, India's newly elected prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, struck a defiant tone. Undaunted by the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Japan and supported by his countrymen, Vajpayee declared that "India has the sanction of her own past glory and future vision to become strong." Prior to elections in early 1998, Vajpayee had been viewed by many as the moderate face of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Vajpayee was born on Dec. 25, 1926, in the town of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. He became politically active as a teenager and was briefly jailed by the British colonial administration. Though initially attracted to communism, he became disillusioned when the communists supported the creation of Pakistan in the 1940s. Vajpayee dropped out of law school and became editor of a publication run by the Hindu-nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a self-defense force created in 1925 to protect Hindus in riots and promote Hindu culture.

Vajpayee was first elected to Parliament in 1957 as a member of the Jan Sangh, a forerunner of the BJP. During Indira Gandhi's rule as prime minister under a state of emergency (1975-77), he was jailed along with thousands of opposition members. In the late '70s Vajpayee served as foreign minister and earned a reputation for improving relations with Pakistan and China. He helped found the BJP in 1980, but his moderation was overpowered by hard-liners. Vajpayee--one of the few Hindu leaders to speak out against the 1992 destruction of the historic Muslim mosque at Ayodhya--was sworn in as prime minister in May 1996 but served only 13 days in office, failing to attract needed support from other parties. In 1998 the BJP won a record number of seats but was forced to make a shaky alliance with regional parties, many of which opposed Hindu nationalism.

Though Vajpayee had campaigned on the promise of international "peace and reconciliation" and been praised for his eloquence, integrity, and conciliatory gestures toward India's 120 million Muslim minority, relations with Pakistan deteriorated in the months following the nuclear explosions. Despite pleas from the international community urging India and Pakistan to hold peace talks, Vajpayee and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan found it difficult even to agree on the topics open for discussion.

BENJAMIN SCHALET

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HINDUISM

From January to April 1998, millions of Hindus from around the world made the pilgrimage to the holy city of Haridwar, India, on the banks of the sacred Ganges River for the triennial Kumbh Mela, the great "Festival of the Pot." Because this Kumbh Mela was the last one of the 20th century, it was considered especially auspicious, and far greater numbers than usual made the pilgrimage to Haridwar, one of the four sites among which the festival rotates. On April 13-14 an estimated four million pilgrims ritually bathed in the Ganges to mark the most propitious day of the festival. Local government officials took special measures to prevent not only the sorts of mishaps, including crowd stampedes, that had marred several past celebrations of the mela but also possible terrorist activity arising from the Hindu-Muslim conflict in Kashmir.

Although the Kumbh Mela concluded without major incident, another pilgrimage was marked by tragedy. As many as 60 pilgrims were among the more than 200 who died in landslides in northern Uttar Pradesh, near the Tibetan border, in August. The pilgrims were members of various groups making their way to Lake Manasarovar and Mt. Kailasa in the Tibetan Himalayas, sites sacred to Hindus as, respectively, the mythic source of the Ganges and the paradisiacal abode of the god Siva. Torrential monsoon rains had loosened the sides of the hills flanking the perilous route to these sites, and little could be done to rescue many who were stranded in remote, inaccessible mountain areas. The Indian government ordered the cancellation of the pilgrimage, and the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh called for a study of an alternative, less-hazardous route for future pilgrims.

Another major pilgrimage was conducted during July and August to the sacred cave of Amarnath high in the mountains of Kashmir, where Siva was worshiped in the form of a large stalagmite. Kashmiri militant organizations, seeking the separation of the state from India, had imposed a ban on the pilgrimage and attempted to disrupt it with explosive devices, which Indian security forces discovered before injuries could be inflicted.

The installation in March of a new coalition central government led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised fears among moderate Hindu and Muslim political leaders that the BJP would advance a religious ideology inimical to communal harmony. The new prime minister, A.B. Vajpayee (see BIOGRAPHIES), quickly sought to allay any fears that his government would pursue a Hindu nationalism that would violate the principles of a secular state embodied in India's constitution. His critics, however, attacked the government's decision to undertake nuclear bomb tests that bore the project name of Shakti, a word denoting sacred power in Sanskrit. In April a prominent Hindu religious leader, the abbot of monasteries in West Bengal state, spoke out against a Hindu nationalism that might exacerbate communal divisions.

In August, on the occasion of the 51st anniversary of India's independence, the Orissa state government announced a major project to restore some 400 ancient monuments, including temples as old as 700 years. The state and central governments had long been concerned about the 3,500 monuments in Orissa, the largest number in any state in the country; only 500 were protected in any manner against the vandalism that had stripped ancient Indian temples of sacred images for illicit but highly profitable marketing.

H. PATRICK SULLIVAN

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HARE KRISHNA

In full International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) popular name of a semimonastic VaishnavaHinduorganization founded in the United States in 1965 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta (Swami Prabhupada; 1896–1977). This movement is a Western outgrowth of the popular Bengali bhakti (devotional) yoga tradition, or Krishna Consciousness, which began in the 16th century. Bhakti yoga's founder, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1485–1534?), advocated the pursuit of mystical devotion through repetitive chanting, especially of the Hare Krishna mantra:




Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama
Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

As a young man, Bhaktivedanta was instructed by his teacher to carry Krishna Consciousness to the West. After fulfilling family obligations, he took the vows of a sannyasi (a religious ascetic who renounces the world) and moved to the United States. His first converts were hippies in New York City, who shaved their heads and adopted Indian clothing as signs of membership. They took to the streets to chant and dance (a practice called kirtan) and to airports to sell their teacher's books. In the process, they became one of the most visible symbols of the new religious movements in the 1960s.


The teachings of the Hare Krishna movement are derived from ancient Hindu scriptures, especially the Srinad-Bhagavatum and the Bhagavadgita. Adherents believe that Krishna (an avatar of Vishnu) is the Supreme Lord and that humans are eternal spiritual beings trapped in a cycle of reincarnation. The nature of the cycle for individual beings is determined by karma, the law of the consequences of past actions, which returns beings to physical existence. According to the movement's doctrine, it is possible to change one's karma by practicing extreme forms of yoga; however, the Lord has provided an easier method, the recitation of his holy names, Krishna and Rama.


Believers devote their lives to serving Krishna and spend several hours each day chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. They are vegetarians, and they renounce the use of alcohol and drugs. Sex is allowed only for procreation within marriage. Male devotees shave their heads, leaving only a small tuft of hair called a sikha, a sign of surrender to their teacher. Each morning male and female believers mark their foreheads with clay as a reminder that their bodies are temples of Krishna.

Prior to his death, Bhaktivedanta appointed the Governing Board Commission to guide the movement internationally. Included in the commission were several people he had designated as teachers (gurus), and, as the movement expanded, more gurus were named. By the end of the 1990s, there were about 225 Hare Krishna centres in 60 countries, including 50 centres in the United States. While the number of formally initiated members is only a few thousand, several hundred thousand regularly worship at the Hare Krishna temples, including many expatriate Indians.


The Hare Krishna movement was among the first groups to be targeted by anticult organizations in the early 1970s. During the 1980s it was frequently accused of brainwashing, and anticult groups attempted to deprogram some Hare Krishna members. Claiming psychological and emotional damage, several former members sued the organization unsuccessfully.

John Gordon Melton

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