I Spy Hindutva

Here was an indirect lesson learnt from Facebook (or at least that's where it sprung up last). I got an invitation to this group called 'Death to the Fascist Hindutva Ideology'. For those of you who don't know me, I'm the kind that joins such forums. There were 90 odd discussion topics ranging from Gandhi's racist past to the 'Danger of Hindufication'1 and from the Hindu Student Council's alleged politics to the need for a common civil code in India. A few weeks later, I left the group a lot more informed than before but there was this one issue that was far from resolved – something I had sought to find an answer to when I joined.

What is Hindutva and what is it not?

The confusion involved in assimilating a definite image is portrayed aptly by Arun Kumar Tripathi and I seek to, humbly, translate it in the next paragraph.

Hindutva seeks to assert its victory2 in every feasible way. From all possible sources, it seeks to produce and display its success. In doing so, when Hindutva faces the ire of traditions, it turns to modernity. When rebuked by modernity, it sings the praises of traditions. When it fails to adopt the principles of communalism, it treads the path of secularity and on facing a dead end it retreats to seek solace with communalism again. It has abhorred both Gandhi and socialism, yet accepts them together whenever it feels the need ... It shows the same resistance as it displays acceptance to social justice. It opposes names like 'Enron' and 'KFC' in a nationalist fervor while at the same time embraces them celebrating liberalization and development ...3

Hindutva is the ideology of a section of the lower middle class. It feeds off of an anger that has embedded itself in their consciousness. This anger is rooted in a feeling of being cheated by that modernization that hasn't kept its promises. Young men who didn't get anywhere in life are susceptible to manipulation because what Hindutva offers is a sense of belonging from which they extract a sense of society and purpose. Sabiha Sumar depicted a similar setup in her film Khamosh Pani. “The rise of Hindu nationalism has taken thousands of boys into its folds teaching them that the true meaning of India is that it needs to be a Hindu State and that just as this film (Khamosh Pani) talks about non-Muslims being non-believers, in India, under Hindu Nationalist teachings, it is the Christians and Muslims who are the non-patriotic, non-true Indians”.4 Consider this statement: “In this land, Hindus have been the owners, Parsis and Jews the guests, and Muslims and Christians the dacoits ... Then do all these have the same right over the country?” 5

Every time I am asked what faith system I belong to, I run through that same drill of denying that Jainism is the same as Hinduism. That I am an atheist Jain is a matter of personal choice (after all, there exist differing conceptions of Jainism as well). However, it is because I run the risk of associating it with Hindutva that I deny it has anything to do with Hinduism.

I have often argued that words like 'Hindu' and 'Hinduism' are anachronisms, that looking upon Hinduism as a religion (faith) is in itself a misconception, that it is instead a way of life and that these words have been coined to suit the needs of different people at different times. As our own local Barsana Dham's Sushree Prabhakari Devi says, there is no reference to 'Hinduism' in the scriptures and there exists no one single authority on this 'Dharma'6. That 'Hinduism' is the pagan faith of invaders is a construction by Europeans who seek to revel in their 'superiority' by proposing the Aryan Invasion Theory7 – something that needs to be discredited for lack of any evidence. Dr. Joseph Runzo uses the term 'henofideist' for “one who has fidelity to a single religious worldview yet, aware of other cultures and their religious perspectives, acknowledges that other religious worldviews might be correct” 8. This, in essence, is how I perceive 'Hinduism' or Santana Dharma - the oldest spiritual tradition known to us - that dictates that all paths to God are correct. It is an eternal way of life. 'Dharmis' are panentheistic9 monotheists who believe that God is fully immanent and present in all things.

Om sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niramayah
Sarve bhadrani pashyantu, ma kashchid dukhabhag bhavet10
May all be happy, may all be healthy
May all see the divinity in everything, may there be no unhappiness (sorrow)

We live in a society where the language of secularism is being replaced by politics that breeds on ethnicity. However, and I come back to this in the end, there is a rising need to face an issue that has arisen from the decline of this secularity.

Fascism is an offspring an ideology that is non-secular in a way that it restricts generations to certain parameters from birth. These cultural limitations when applied to the foundations of a state produces a fascist society. In the Indian context, the deployment of religious and ethnic stigmas smells of fascism to me. If the government and/or its agencies support the mobs and mobilizes them towards communal violence and if the judiciary falls before this turn of events, then proclamations that 'India is secular because of Hindutva' 11 stands in a pool of shame. What this fascist ideology is breeding is blatant fanaticism, communal disharmony and an environment that 'stifles the natural inclination ... to cultivate a balanced and cautious judgement'.12

Some of the approaches that have been taken to implement Hindu Nationalism are reflected in the Fire, Water controversies 13 and the rewriting of Indian history. Attempts have been made to 'saffronize' at both the ground level (by editing textbooks) and by challenging conclusions of scholars who have attempted to rewrite history from texts such as the Vedas and the Puranas in a way that is hegemonic in its conception of the cultural diversity that once existed. A central minister of the former BJP-led government writes, “For centuries wherever Islam actually ruled it had been sacrilegious and traitorous to study, develop or propagate ....” 14. However, their major influence has been that on the Indian society-to-emerge by way of monitoring what is taught in secondary schools - the HRD15 ministry's attempt to impress its brick of beliefs on the wet cement that is the minds of the young.

One may argue that BJP's loss in the 2004 elections was a defeat to the 'one country, one people, one culture' fulcrum on which they based their ideologies and that the “big, historical development going on in India that wise men should understand ... (and) ... use for the intellectual transformation of India”16 never got going. However, while five years may not have been enough for BJP to successfully transition from cultural nationalism to political nationalism (effectively enough to retain power), Hindutva continues to thrive. And this is where my write-up derives any meaning. The issue at hand is nothing less than a possible death of Sanatana Dharma in India at the hands of Hindutva.

Hinduism and Hindutva now stand face to face, not yet ready to confront each other, but aware that the confrontation will have to come some day , says Ashis Nandy17, ... Hindutva will be the end of Hinduism ... That death of Hinduism in India will be celebrated by all votaries of Hindutva. For they have always been embarrassed and felt humiliated by Hinduism as it is.18


References

1 The thread starter's term for Hindu nationalization

2 In 1995, a Supreme Court ruling equated Hindutva with the development of a uniform culture by eradication of cultural difference coexisting in the country

3 Tripathi, Arun K. (~1996) Hindutva jo hai aur jo nahin hai , Vaani (New Delhi, India)

4 Q&A with Human Rights Expert Smita Narula , DVD Special Features, Khamosh Pani (2003)

5 Golwalkar- The Guru Of Hate, Ramchandra Guha, The Hindu (November 28, 2006)

6 here, way of life (also used for duty, religion)

7 Theory that India was invaded and conquered by nomadic light-skinned Indo-European tribes from Central Asia around 1500-1000 BC

8 Runzo, Joseph (2001) The Global Philosophy of Religion: A Short Introduction , Oneworld (Oxford, England)

9 one who believes that the one transcendent God interpenetrates every part of nature. Essentially, it says that (a) God is the supreme being and (b) God is everything

10 Swasti mantra (Chant seeking blessing for all), Adi Shankaracharya

11 "India is secular because of Hindutva": Advani , The Pioneer (Feb 15, 2003)

12 Hasan Mushirul (2007) The BJP's Intellectual Agenda: Textbooks and imagined History , compiled and edited essay in Hindu Nationalism and Governance , Oxford University Press (New Delhi, India)

13 Controversies over Deepa Mehta's movies; one on sexual politics and the other on widowhood

14 Shourie, Arun (1993) A Secular Agenda , ASA Publications (New Delhi, India)

15 Human Resource Development

16 Chowgule Ashok (~1993) Shri Klaus Klostermaier: On The Ethos And The Future Of Hinduism , www.bjp.org

17 Often referred to as the "Conscience of India" for his active participation in grassroots actions

18 Hinduism Versus Hindutva – The Inevitability of a Confrontation , Ashis Nandy, Times of India (Feb 18, 1991)