"You seeee, sometimes we must do things that are not...?" The Minister for Law had a habit of turning a simple sentence into a question like this, by raising his voice in anticipation and then pausing before the final word.
"... Easy," he concluded, like a teacher answering on behalf of a slow student.
Guru Vaishnu and his followers had benefited greatly from the generosity of the Tamil Nadu Government, but now the popular sect leader was seeing the other side of the Government's generous support. He had never liked this Minister, whose political career had always depended on Mafia-like control of the slums in his electorate; yet here Vaishnu was, seated in one overstuffed chair facing his opponent, who was seated in another overstuffed chair. K.A.
Krishnamurthy smiled wickedly through a mouthful of crooked teeth as he spoke.
His hands were clasped on top of his huge stomach, and his thumbs rolled around each other as he spoke.
"Your people can finish the job in a...? ... Day. And then you will have a second...? ...Temple. You see how easy it is?"
Krishnamurthy was talking about a slum village that he wanted levelled.
He was asking Guru Vaishnu's followers to perform the unpleasant task of burning down the thatch huts, in return for use of the land when they were finished. But what he was asking was much more than a request. If Vaishnu refused, he knew that he and his followers would bear the wrath of this Government.
The village he was being asked to raze was in the electorate of one of Krishnamurthy's cronies, who had just failed in a bid for re-election. Slum lords retained their power through political terrorism, and the poor know that if they do not vote them back into power, retribution will be swift and cruel.
Krishnamurthy could have assigned the task to anyone else, but he was deliberately using it to push Vaishnu over the brink.
For a time he had, in co-operation with the Chief Minister, been able to exploit the hard work and good will of Vaishnu's army of volunteers. Huge amounts of money had been approved for various clean-up projects, and while the Vaishnuvites had faithfully carried out the tasks, for virtually nothing in return, Krishnamurthy and others in his party had pocketed the allocated funds. Corrupt use of funds was not unusual; what was different this time was that the projects were actually being done. At first, support for the Government had soared. But there was a growing awareness that it was really the Vaishnuvites who had transformed the image of the corrupt BJP Party in Tamil Nadu and in neighbouring states. Slum dwellers were starting to believe that change could come through the ballot box, but they were aware enough to know that a vote for the BJP was not necessarily a vote for the Vaishnuvites.
The BJP, like fundamentalist parties in other religions, existed primarily for the rich and powerful within Hindu society. Non-Hindu elements (chiefly Christians and Muslims, but also Communists) had, over the years, created unrest amongst outcastes and untouchables in India, by offering them more humane treatment in exchange for deserting their religion. Vaishnu and his followers, with their willingness to do the work of the untouchables, had appeared to be the perfect answer to the void left by untouchables (or dalits) who had deserted Hinduism. But their actions had so inspired the poor that some of the dalits were returning to Hinduism with a hew hope for change. They were politically aware enough now to represent a serious threat to the upper castes in Hinduism.
As yet, there was nothing overtly political about Vaishnu's movement; but the more discerning members of the BJP could see that the sect was having a political effect anyway. The election loss for one of their most promising incumbents was proof that the dalits were being dangerously influenced by the Vaishnu movement.
Krishnamurthy could think of no better way to solve both problems than to assign the task of punishing the poor to the very people who had, in his opinion, caused the slum dwellers to revolt in the first place.
"This is an important decision. Can I have a few days to discuss it with my people?" Vaishnu asked. He had known for some time that he was walking a dangerous path in his dealings with these people, but at the same time, Krishnamurthy's inhuman demand had shocked him.
"Two days. That is all the time we have. I will send for you on…? …Friday."
Vaishnu stood to his feet. "I will move quickly. I think we can meet your deadline."
"You know what this will cost if they do not agree? You will tell them?"
"Yes, Minister, I understand. I will do my best."
Later that afternoon, Vaishnu met with his top followers. The meeting had been arranged secretly, and was held in a humble hut, where they were forced to sit cross-legged on reed mats on a dried cow-dung floor as they spoke.
"We must move quickly," he said, after explaining what the Minister had asked of him and of them. "In two days, the Minister will come looking for me.
When he fails to find me, he will come looking for you. And if he cannot find you, he will take out his anger on our people. They must be warned to flee immediately."
"But where will we go?" asked one of them.
"We can go anywhere, as long as we do not go together. No more than two or three members to any one location. They cannot find an organisation that does not exist."
"Not exist?" the same man asked in dismay. "But what of our work? What of your teachings?"
"Our movement and my teachings are in their hearts now… if they have learned well. From today on, we each must seek to serve the God alone... or with the help of one or two others. If we work in this way, they cannot stop us."
"And where will you go?" asked one of the other men.
"Only the God knows. I will pray for wisdom, and each of you must do the same."