"India" vs. BJP: Three Shots: Over the years ('98 - '19): One long, one middle, one close-up

[Sukla Sen]

[Quite curiously, a line from the (Feb.) 1998 piece reads: "(I)t is quite possible [once they gain radically increased access to the levers of state power], or rather likely, that from their bag of tricks even more unorthodox ones will start popping out."

These days, "tricks" - too lethal, are aplenty. 

The latest one, right at this very moment, is "bulldozer justice".]

I/III.

'BJP's Real Agenda' (Feb. 7 1998)

(An extract)

<<The RSS, founded in 1925, had nothing to do with this epic struggle nor did (or does) it accept the evolving concept of pluralistic nationalism that inspired and informed the Indian independence movement. Its project of establishment of the Hindu rashtra is essentially based on the (redefinition - and thereby (reconstruction - of the ’Hindu’, not so much with reference to itself but more as contrasted with "the evil and the threatening ’other’ situated outside" and consequent building up of an ambience of mass frenzy and civil war, which is so very necessary to mobilise the amorphous masses of the Hindu as ’Hindu’ in a country where they not only constitute the overwhelming numerical majority but also occupy the commanding heights in all walks of life. And this is carried out with the tacit (or, if possible, explicit) patronage of the state machinery. In fact the RSS has evolved and pursues an elaborate programme to infiltrate/ permeate into and influence/manipulate the various organs of the state, e g, the bureaucracy, the judiciary, the police, and the army apart from the elected legislative (and executive) bodies (and also vital segments of the civil society). And as regards the ’vil other’,, contrary to the common perceptions, the Muslims, though the most convenient and common target, do not hold the exclusive right to be so constructed/ considered. Any section(s) of religious, linguistic and ethnic minorities, the dalits, the tribals, the poor, the homeless, the liberals, the socialists, the communists, the feminists - all are fit candidates to be enlisted as the ’other’, depending on the specific circumstances.

...

Once they gain radically increased access to the levers of state power the real game will start. Not only will Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura start picking up new momentum, it is quite possible, or rather likely, that from their bag of tricks even more unorthodox ones will start popping out. Prom [read: From] that point onwards, the script would be pretty predictable. Passions will be aroused. Khaki shorts and black caps will be out on the streets. The armed might of the state will back them up to the hilt. The BJP juggernaut will roll on, unstoppable. National ’reconstruction’, RSS style, will commence. And the death warrant for the concept, the dream, called India, which was shaped out of one of the most gigantic anti-imperial popular struggles of the 20th century, will be issued.

This piece seeks to be a small contribution to the large and growing body of efforts to confront the monster, scuttle the scary prospect and turn itself into a self-falsifying prophecy.>>

(Ref.: <https://www.epw.in/journal/1998/6/discussion/bjp-s-real-agenda.html> or <http://www.sacw.net/article768.html>.)

II/III.

'Indian Nationalism, Hindutva and the Bomb' (September 28 2003)

(An extract)

<<...(I)t is perhaps only in the fitness of things that the real break [with the Gandhian legacy] came when the BJP, the mass political/parliamentary wing of the hydra-headed RSS, came to power at the Centre - albeit aided by two dozen sundry political formations, in March 1998. In less than two months’ time the new government deliberately and publicly launched India’s nuclear weaponisation programme through a series of five nuclear explosions. This not only completely overturned India’s official position on the nuclear issue -acknowledging nuclear weapons as an unmitigated evil, being maintained - even if rather tenuously, till then; it also evidently signified a clear and categorical rupture with the Gandhian legacy - anti-colonial nationalism imbibed with the spirit of universalism, or whatever of it had remained.

...

The politics of ‘Hindutva’ - a term first coined and popularised by V D Savarkar in 1923 [for use in political parlance], and later identified with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) - an organisation launched in 1925 on the Vijayaa Dashami Day by one Keshav Baliram Hedgewar to champion its cause, has a rather fascinating history. But before trying to plot the trajectory of Hindutva, it is imperative to keep in mind that the project of ’Hindutva’ is, in its essence, one of building up mass mobilisation, geared to the task of forging a new “Hindu” nation-state - out of the extant one through its appropriation and negation, around a core ’majority’, propelled by whipped up feelings of ’insecurity, paranoia, hatred and aggression’ against an array of ’adversarial and menacing others’, both internal and external, by making extensive and manipulative use of real and imaginary, past and contemporary ’history’ of fissures and conflicts. While religion is put to extensive and intensive instrumentalist use in this task of militant, exclusionist, majoritarian mobilisation, elements of (ultra)nationalism are also put to good use by borrowing and (mis)appropriating the idioms and icons of (widely accepted) mainstream (secular) nationalism, particularly (though not exclusively) of its rightwing variety.

Mainstream Indian nationalism, on the other, came into being through the process and as the culmination of India’s long drawn out struggle for emancipation from the British colonial rule. At its core lies the widely cherished dream of a democratic, pluralist and egalitarian India - at peace with itself and the world without. Consequently the ’idea of India’ that emerged and evolved over the last 150 years or so during the course of this epic struggle (and also in its aftermath) essentially recognises the legitimacy of the multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural character of the Indian society and consequently pluralist, secular, integrative democracy as the only viable basis for the independent Indian state. It bears reiteration that Hindutva calls for nothing short of deliberate negation of this ideological basis and undermining of the post-independence Indian state, along with its rather elaborate legal-constitutional and institutional framework, while masquerading itself as the greatest defender of the Indian nation state.

Before proceeding further with our investigation an important caveat needs be entered here for any meaningful journey down the line. Indian nationalism from its very inception assumed an ‘omnibus’ character. This deliberate ‘all-inclusiveness’ constituted its key characteristic and made it eminently suitable as the foundational ideology for the ‘India in the making’, given the size and vast diversities amongst the peoples of the subcontinent - in terms of culture, language, ethnicity, social-economic station and, of course, religious belief/practice. As a result we could find the call for ‘Ram Rajya’ and activist support for the Khilafat movement to go hand in hand. This tendency to (uncritically) accept all and reject nothing, overlook otherwise evident differences and contradictions, in so far as they meet the basic criteria of anti-colonialism, however, made it highly incapable of clearly demarcating itself from and consequently taking head on various aberrant tendencies within the broad spectrum. Moreover, the demography and history of the subcontinent saw to it that Indian nationalism, and its principal agency - the Indian National Congress, assumed a distinct (upper caste) Hindu flavour notwithstanding its pluralist and egalitarian commitments, particularly of its most visible symbols - Gandhi, Bose, Nehru, and also Tagore. The quest for and invention of a “golden past” as a critical element and the psychological ballast in the struggle against the commonly perceived civilisational superiority of the colonial rulers further blurred the dividing line between ‘secular’ liberal nationalism and “Hindu” communalism.

It is against this backdrop that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS - National Volunteers’ Federation) opened its shop in 1925, apparently borrowing the basic organisational model from the Anushilan Samity - a militant nationalist organisation in Bengal, to propagate its distinctive brand of “nationalism” under the cover of “character building”. It placed itself outside of the arena of “political” activities, unlike its ideological ancestor the Hindu Mahasabha (Hindus’ Grand Assembly). This made it easier to avoid any direct confrontation with the Congress, the principal vehicle of Indian nationalism, and also adverse attention of the colonial rulers. The strategy was essentially two-pronged : to critique and discredit the mainstream nationalism (in the eyes of its actual and prospective adherents); and (rather surreptitiously) supplant its broad pluralist vision with its own hate-filled sectarian one. In other words : delegitmise/subvert Indian nationalism; and (mis)appropriate it. It is quite significant that this basic duality till this day continues unabated. Praise Gandhi to the sky - claim him as one of your own; celebrate the memory of Nathuram Godse - his unrepentant killer. Demand forced respect for the national flag; spread disaffection against it for containing colours other than saffron. Ditto for the national anthem and the Indian constitution. Even as regards the nuclear explosions : project it as a bold departure from the pusillanimity of the nationalist/Congress traditions; claim it as the continuation and culmination of the earlier policy backed by broad national consensus.

While it definitely goes to the credit of the RSS that it could follow this strategy of duality with high degree of persistence and fiendish finesse, it could hardly have been possible without the intrinsic fuzziness of Indian nationalism, more noticeable on its fringes.

...

To sum up, the rise of the Hindutva politics, constituting just not of ‘minority’/Muslim bashing but encompassing a changed conception of “nationalism” itself, since early eighties in particular, has a strong and clearly discernible correlation with the steady drift, decline and vicissitudes of the Congress, which had till then been not only the ruling power at the centre, albeit with a brief interlude, but also regarded as the very core of Indian nationalism.

...

Pokhran-II together with the demolition of the Babri Mosque, about five and half years earlier, constitute the two darkest spots in post-colonial Indian history - far more ominous than Gandhi assassination as it, in any case, had elicited massive and visceral disapproval on the part of the Indian masses. Both the cataclysmic events are symptomatic of a considerable closing of the gap, especially over the past quarter century or so, between Indian Nationalism and Hindu Nationalism - a rather unanticipated spin-off of India’s grand project for modernisation, and symbolise grave threats to the very concept of ‘India’ as had evolved through the epic freedom struggle. In spite of all the dismal consequences and, waiting to be realised, mind-numbing possibilities, Indian elite is yet to get over its phase of denial. It continues to most obstinately refuse, like a thoroughly spoilt brat, to acknowledge the stark reality staring in the face.>>

(Ref.: <http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article10225>.)

III.

'2019 Parliamentary Poll : Outcome: Drivers: Consequences : An Exploration' (June 15 2019)

(An extract)

<<Taking off from that basic proposition [as enunciated above], the new regime is likely to have two major focal points on the "political" front:

I. Dismantling of all opposition - both party and non-party.

Towards that, dislodging, maybe even dismissal, of, at least a few, opposition-run state governments.

ED, IT, CBI raids on opposition politicians; also, in some cases, buying out.

Tightening the screw, in a myriad ways – including enhanced digital surveillance, also as regards the civil society organisations and dissenting individuals.

II. Sharply spiking communal polarisation by way of (phased?) nationwide roll-out of the NRC, also scrapping of Art. 370 (and Art. 35A) and putting to good use the Mandir-Masjid issue(s), as per the demands of the situation.

Other expected developments are:

(i) Further intensification of non-state physical violence.

(ii) Mega sale of PSUs.

(iii) “Economic reforms”.

(iv) Stepped up trashing of environmental norms and safeguards.

(v) Tightening the grip over the education infrastructure and institutions.

(vi) Further defining of watchdog institutions.

(vii) More repressive laws, if felt necessary.

While the actual (detailed) work plan will evolve and be calibrated, based on the perceived ground situations, and be punctuated with some measures to project a “people-friendly” image – to confuse and divide the potential opposition, there is little scope that the general direction would be anything significantly different from the one sketched out above.

_It would no longer be business as usual, not even by the standards of the last five years._

*Conclusion*

Modi 2.0 very much presents us with the looming threat of the dismantling of the "India" - embodying the values of "democracy", "pluralism" and "egalitarianism", that had been wrought out in the crucible of the epic freedom struggle and, in the process, finally emerged on the 15th August 1947 - in pursuance of a project to supplant it with a "Hindu Rashtra" (Hindu nation state) - by mobilising the Hindus of India as "Hindus", drowning out all other identities linked to language, culture, gender, caste, class etc., constantly stoking hatred and violence against the constructed inimical "others".

Regardless of all the (innumerable) flaws and shortcomings that "India" – real and even notional, encapsulates, the success of the above project would prove to be an unmitigated disaster for the vast majority of the people inhabiting this land.>>

(Ref.: <https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSX4J7wt12TDUlBKNQ_x1AiIPFvYKiNay001ceKe6qrZD9kAy_8sdtYNE25Jbwk0A/pub>.)

[sukl...@gmail.com]

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Peace Is Doable

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